Sleep is one of the most important ingredients in a healthy life. Studies have shown that you must have between seven to nine hours of sleep every night. If you have less you are dramatically lowering your ability to perform well the next day both physically and mentally. It has also been proven to lead to more health problems over a longer period of time. Studies have shown that if you are getting six hours of sleep your time to physical exhaustion drops by up to 30%. This basically confirms that sleep is the most important thing in life. A new study has found a surprising way of ensuring you get a good night’s rest. Read on to find out.
If you are in a long-term relationship you may have noticed how much better you sleep when your partner is there compared to when they are away.
While you may think this is because you are worried about them while they are gone it is actually a more evolutionary trait that you feel more calm and secure when your partner is around. You sleep better when your partner is near because you feel safe.
Researchers who studied this then wondered if the physical presence of the partner was required or if something else would suffice. They conducted a study where they asked participants to wear the same shirt for 24 hours without using deodorant, smoking, or eating strange smelling foods. The result was a shirt that smelled like that person. They then gave participants the shirt of their partner or a clean shirt or the shirt of a strange. They asked each participant to sleep with the shirt as a pillowcase for the night. They measured their sleeping patterns throughout the night and asked them how they felt the morning after.
The results showed that sleeping with your partner’s smell nearby makes you sleep better even if your partner is not present. The scientific data actually revealed that participants slept 2% better with the shirt of their partner compared to a white or stranger’s shirt. While this may not sound like a lot it is actually on par with a lot of herbal sleep remedies that can be purchased today.
This is great news for those who are in a relationship and want to know a trick to sleep better while their partner is away but what about those single people who are struggling to sleep? If you apply the same idea then there may be someone who you can think of that makes you feel secure. If you use a blanket or shirt of a parent that makes you feel protected it could have the same impact. This is not proven to date but the researchers are planning on conducting a similar study on babies and the scent of their parents.
Clearly, there is a lot of science to the perfect sleep. If you are not sleeping well or are not sleeping long enough, it will not take long before your health, your appearance, and your physical state start to show it. Avoid drinking energy drinks or taking supplements that will hide the evidence but not cure the problem.
Get enough sleep from now and make 7 hours your minimum going forward. If you do this you will see huge improvements in every facet of your life and will start to understand why some people “never get sick” and “always seem happy”. They may have been lucky in life or they may have simply got seven hours of sleep last night. Be the best version of yourself by getting enough sleep from now on.
