How to Sleep in the Heat
Wise & Well Weekly: Advice from our experts, great reads, and your feedback
Welcome back to your weekly dose of wellness, helping you make tomorrow a little better than today .
Sleeping in summer can be a challenge. Research into modern hunter-gatherer societies suggests that our ancient ancestors had a tough time with it, too. The hunter-gatherers—who live without artificial lighting or air conditioning—sleep about an hour less in summer than in winter. So if you are getting less sleep in the heat, don’t stress (stress is bad for sleep!). Do try these things, however:
Set your room temperature for somewhere between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, if you can. Everyone reacts differently to temperature, so find the setting that works for you. But do all the other smart things, too, to up your odds of falling asleep AND getting the deep, restorative sleep that really matters:
Get plenty of daylight outside, especially soon after you wake up.
Establish a physical activity routine, and cut back on junk food.
Manage stress so you don’t take it to bed with you.
Set a consistent bedtime and wake time.
Avoid alcohol.
In the following feature story, I go deep into what we can learn from our ancestors about all this, and I debunk the myth of eight-hour sleep needs, plus offer a more comprehensive explanation of why quality deep sleep is as important, if not more important, than duration:
The article is part of Wise & Well’s special report on Heat and Health. Here’s what readers are saying about it:
“Thank you for publishing this great collection of highly topical articles. The effect of heat on the human body and our planet is something we should all be concerned with.”
— Gill McCulloch
“I’m literally reading this while overheating at my computer in a warehouse in NYC…. it is too damn hot….”
— Desperado Supreme
“Terrific report… The depth of research illuminates the urgency of this heated issue. Your section on how heat exacerbates mental health conditions struck a chord. The implications are frightening, yet critical to understand.”
— Marshall Stanton
“It’s scary to think about how vulnerable we are to changes in temperature.”
— Sage Green
“Thank you for raising awareness about this pressing issue. Together, we can make a difference and build a more resilient and healthier future for everyone.”
— Kaouther
And here are a few of the other stories published in the report since last week’s newsletter:
THIS WEEK’S PRESCRIPTION: Nix Ticks to Avoid a Meat Allergy
Tick bites, in addition to causing other ailments, can produce an incurable allergy to red meat. “More specifically, tick bites can cause our body’s immune system to see certain components of red meat as a threat, and attack it,” writes researcher Sam Westreich, PhD. “An infected individual may become allergic to commonly enjoyed entrees like hamburgers, steaks, and meatballs.” And cases are rising. Among the preventive measures: If you’ll be out in the woods, use DEET or another effective tick repellent, change clothes soon as you get home, shower, and do a full-body tick scan. Westreich has more suggestions, and lots of science to unpack here, so …
HEALTHY READING
A selection of this week’s other informative and insightful articles:
Is Everyone a Narcissist These Days?
Narcissists are ruining all our lives, if you believe all the talk and look at the spike in web searches for narcissism. But science finds otherwise: About 1% of the population are true narcissists. What’s really going on? As this psychiatrist explains, “our own self-centeredness, and our practice of concocting stories about what motivates other people… confuses us and causes us to mislabel their actions.” Oh, and Narcissus, that gorgeous Greek dude? There’s something you need to know about him.
— By John Kruse
Fake Meat: Good or Bad for You and the Planet?
Where’s the beef? Not in alt-meat. But, here’s what you might not know: The complex industrial food processes required to recreate meat texture and flavor of fake meat are antithetical to nutrition and health. If you understand what’s in it and how it’s made, you might question whether it should be considered food at all.
— By Amy Sterling Casil
Hospitals are Not Good Places to Heal
Anyone whose ever spent a night in a hospital knows that sleep is not one of the prescriptions. In fact, research finds that between the noise, the constant interruptions to draw blood or otherwise check on a patient, and the lousy food, hospitals are in many ways the worst place for patient recovery. This physician explains why it is like this and why it doesn’t have to be this way.
— By Dr. Julian Barkan
Your Complementary Anxiety Checkup
Next time you go for a checkup, don’t be surprised if you get some unusual questions that leave you with questions of your own. Somebody weighs you, checks your blood pressure, and asks if you are worried. Wait, what? New recommendations suggest healthcare professionals incorporate a new routine anxiety disorder screening.
— By Chris Arestides, RN MPH
RANDOM BIT OF WISDOM
“Each side of the spectrum seems convinced that the other side routinely spawns conspiracy theories in a febrile delirium while its own conspiracy theories are reasonable and factual.”
— Joseph E. Uncinski and Joseph M. Parent in American Conspiracy Theories
If you like what you see, please follow Wise & Well on Medium. Meanwhile, I hope we’ve helped you make tomorrow a little better than today. — Rob