Summer is officially here and with it, the sweltering summer heat! Did you know it can actually be harder to sleep cool during the summer months?
The heat and extra daylight can mess with your body’s circadian rhythm. Meaning you can have trouble falling asleep if you’re too hot and wake up too early which all that extra sunlight streaming into your room. In fact, heat affects your sleep way more than you may realize. Having a mattress that allows you to sleep cool will help you get a good night's sleep. First, we want to help you understand how heat can affect your sleep quality.
What Are Night Sweats?
Are you embarrassed to say you suffer from night sweats? Don't panic! The National Library of Medicine claims that 41% of people experience night sweats. Common factors linked with night sweats in women were hormonal changes and anxiety, while in men the factors were linked to diet, alcohol consumption, and stress.
Why Men Sweat
There are physical, medical, and psychological conditions that can cause an imbalance in our ability to regulate body temperature for optimal and restorative sleep. The most common physical change is low testosterone levels usually seen in men 45 years or older. Stress and anxiety can affect sweat gland responsiveness and most men see these changes in diastolic blood pressure. Medication has also been known to trigger night sweats as a side effect, including drugs to treat diabetes, opioids, aspirin or acetaminophen, steroids, and antidepressants.
Why Women Sweat
Most studies attribute Perimenopause and Menopause as the biggest reason women sweat at night and the good news for most is night sweat goes away after a few years of undergoing menopause. According to Neomi Shah, MD, associate professor of pulmonary and sleep medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, taking antidepressants can result in an increased occurrence of night sweats. Substance abuse and panic disorder also play a significant role however the good news is most cases are treatable.
Night sweats are often due to a sleeping environment that is too warm; what do you wear at night, what is the temperature set at, how many pillows do you have, and are your sheets organic and breathable? Plus eating spicy food or consuming hot drinks and even exercising prior to bedtime raises the body temperature. Your room needs to cool down to around 65 degrees for healthy sleep. According to research by Cleveland Clinic, the ideal room temperature for adults is around 60-67 degrees and 65-70 degrees for babies and toddlers so everyone can sleep cool.
What Happens to Your Body When You Don't Sleep Cool
Your body regulates its own temperature as it has its own heat distribution system so you sleep cool. So the simple act of lying down will trigger your body to redistribute heat and in doing so will begin to lower your internal temperature. This internal temperature drop then triggers the feeling of being sleepy. You’ve probably read a lot about keeping your room cool between 65 and 72 degrees at night, and that’s because scientists believe that a cooler room can help trigger this internal temperature drop and speed up your sleep cycle. But the true key is to reduce your cerebral metabolic activity, but true thermal regulation doesn't mean cooling the body from the outside in but rather assuring the natural transfer of heat out of the body to cool the brain. The body does this so you sleep cool at night.
Given this logic, to sleep cool you need to be sleeping in a super cold room which should mean that you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer, but what if you’re sleeping on a surface that traps heat? Yep, while it is one of the best surfaces for your body, traditional memory foam is the biggest culprit for trapping your body heat leading to sweaty nights no matter how low the thermostat is set. Don't be seduced by fancy covers that promise you will sleep cool, these are temporary and in most cases chemical-laden options.
Essentia Active Cooling Technology that Keeps Mattress Surface Cool
Essentia's beyond latex organic foam mattresses can help you combat the night sweats and sleep cool all night for truly restorative sleep. The core of Essentia's patented technology is natural, active thermal regulation. Essentia's organic foam is the only one to successfully address both comfort and health with this innovative foam formula. 
Essentia mattresses have been tested to actually sleep cool, on average of up to seven degrees cooler than your body temperature at night. The chart shows a simulation of an eight-hour sleep cycle, using controlled temperatures and air circulation. Essentia's patented natural memory foam was pitted against the leading polyurethane memory foam, and the results prove that Essentia patented natural memory foam retained a cooler temperature in comparison to the body, allowing heat to move away and sustain a lower core body temperature. Essentia patented natural memory foam was able to maintain a surface temperature that was 7.2℉ below normal body temperature.
In comparison, the polyurethane memory foam trapped heat at the surface as shown by the bright white area that represents the highest concentration of heat. This in turn heated the body up past a normal core body temperature and would be the equivalent of wrapping the body with insulation and allowing the body to bake.
That’s right, instead of having a cooling mattress topper, you can have a sleep cool on a mattress that helps to regulate your body temperature and combat night sweats. How does this happen? Essentia’s patented natural memory high-density foam actually wicks heat away from the body and allows it to dissipate through the mattress. The airflow through the mattress helps this happen so you won’t be sweating as you sleep, and your body is able to self-regulate its internal temperature without battling a hot box.
Moreover, Dr. Jace Provo MD, MS, CASQM has tested the Essentia mattress in his evaluation of sleep pattern relationship with circadian rhythm and found that:
“The Essentia mattress core provides an effective solution to minimize the impact of temperature affected sleep deprivation. Evidence suggests that a reduction in surface temperature could prevent fluctuations in skin temperature and maximize the total time spent on sleep."In fact, Essentia natural memory foam mattresses are the only mattress on the market where you will find all 8 key elements needed for truly restorative sleep. These elements include:
- CERTIFIED ORGANIC: Essentia's natural and organic components reduce VOC exposure so your body can spend less time fighting outside elements and more time healing.
- ALLERGY FRIENDLY: Essentia mattresses are impervious to dust mites as reported by Dr. Robert G. Hamilton of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
- ACTIVE COOLING: Essentia mattresses pull heat away from your body and out of the mattress, allowing you to sleep on average 9 degrees cooler than your body temperature which helps your body switch into recovery mode.
- OPTIMIZED OXYGEN: Essentia mattresses react quickly to your natural movements, reducing sleep interruptions and getting you into REM sleep that allows the body to fully enter recovery mode.
- ACCELERATED RECOVERY: Essentia mattresses increase your blood circulation at night to eliminate numbness and soreness. This translated to faster recovery so you can get back to enjoying life.
- POSTURE SUPPORT: Essentia mattresses eliminate negative space to relieve stress on the lumbar region.
- EMF PROTECTION: Essentia’s EMF barrier foam is proven to return your blood cells to their natural free-flowing state, which allows the bloodstream to optimize the oxygen flowing through the body thus improving your body’s nighttime recovery cycle and improving your sleep quality.
- MOLD PROTECTION: Essentia’s high acidity Beyond Latex organic foam formula ensures that even if you are in an environment susceptible to mold, we are creating a safe sleep space by diminishing the colonization and growth of mold on the mattress.
This means that sleeping on an Essentia can help your comfort every night and not just during the summer. Especially if you suffer from insomnia or tossing and turning due to heat at night without any pharmaceutical aids!
So beat the heat and sleep cool this summer on an Essentia Beyond Latex organic mattress!
