Waarom is bamboestof het beste verkoelende beddengoed?

A practical solution to improve your sleep during hot summer nights exists.

Despite how tempting the thought of it might be, we are not referring to sending all the mosquitoes on the planet to another galaxy. What we're talking about here is something that’s easy to implement right now: A solution to keep your beds cool and avoid heat-related insomnia.

And that, for the mosquito's sake, and ours, is excellent news.

When it comes to how to cool down in bed, many of us have already been given advice like freezing a washcloth and putting it on the back of your neck, or applying ice packs to your pulse points, or even eating less before bed (easier said than done when you're invited to three barbecue parties in one week… 😒).

But if you think about it, it's actually kind of strange that when we're offered solutions for cooling down in bed, most of them seem to circle around the problem.

What about our bed?

That's right, why shouldn't our bed be the problem? Well, to be more accurate, it's not the whole bed that is to blame, but rather our sheets and their composition. We easily forget that cotton is not the only material that exists to make bedding.

In fact, there are much more breathable fabrics than cotton, and bamboo is one of them.

Thanks to its absorption qualities and natural fibre structure, bamboo sheets have outstanding temperature control properties that cotton sheets do not offer.

How is bamboo bedding the coolest fabric?

Cotton is certainly a very absorbent material, but it isn’t the best cooling bedding. Here's how it works in practice:

Cotton is able to absorb 27 times its weight in water. Still, its fibres do not allow this water to evaporate easily, so it remains trapped in the material. Not only does this mean that once cotton has reached its maximum absorption capacity, it loses its ability to regulate temperature, but it also means that your body heat will no longer be able to escape because of all this trapped moisture.

1st thing you need to know about bamboo linen is that it is naturally 3°C cooler than cotton because of its thread count and structure.

Intrinsically linked to our last point, is its evaporation capacity. Unlike cotton, when bamboo absorbs moisture, it can pass through the material and evaporate. This is what makes bamboo an excellent material for cool bedding.

But hey, it's not all about knowing what the best cooling bedding is. We also need to talk about the benefits of sleeping in it!

Reasons to sleep in cool bedding

You'll fall asleep faster

This information may seem surprising at first, but it actually has a very simple explanation. Every night, in order to fall asleep, our body produces melatonin (also known as the sleep hormone by its closest friends 😎). Several factors can encourage the production of this hormone, but the two main ones are darkness and temperature. This is why, as bedtime approaches, our body lowers its temperature to produce more melatonin.

A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything.

We can all agree that human nature is well-made, but nothing is keeping us from giving our bodies a little boost from time to time. By sleeping in cool bedding, we make our body's hard work easier, allowing it to produce melatonin more quickly and thus fall asleep in no time.

It can help prevent insomnia

A 2019 article on sleep disorders explains that people with insomnia tend to have a naturally higher body temperature than others. This could explain why some people find it more difficult to fall asleep.

Sleeping in cooling bedding would therefore be a good solution to help you regulate your body temperature so that you can finally stop counting sheep and start sleeping like a log.

It will improve the quality of your sleep

Our sleep can be divided into two stages, non-REM sleep and REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement). We go through several sleep cycles during the night that take us from the first stage to the second, then back to the first, and so on until we wake up.

What interests us here is the non-REM stage because it is divided into three phases. And it is during stage 3 that we enter deep sleep.

But what does this have to do with cooling bedding, you might ask? Well it’s simple, when you sleep, your body temperature decreases with each stage:

• Non-REM 1: During this light sleep phase, your body temperature drops slightly. Your heart and breathing rates slow down and your muscles begin to relax.

• Non-REM 2: This is the intermediate phase between light and deep sleep. Your heart and breathing rates slow down even more. This is the moment when your body temperature drops to its lowest point.

• Non-REM 3: This is the phase where you slowly enter deep sleep. During this period, your temperature remains low and even starts to drop a little more. Your brain activity, heart and breathing rates also reach their lowest levels. Your muscles relax completely.

• REM: This last stage is very different from the non-REM ones as it is characterised by increased brain activity and eye movements. However, your body temperature remains low. It is during this stage that many of your dreams take place.

Of all these stages, non-REM 3 is the most important part of our night. It is the sleep that restores our energy and cells, promotes tissue, and bones growth and repair, and strengthens the immune system. In short, it's when the magic happens.

Body temperature variations during sleep

It is therefore very important that your body temperature remains low during the night. Because if your body temperature rises, you might wake up before you have reached the non-REM 3 phase. This means that you lose a large part of the benefits of sleep.

What are the benefits of a good night's sleep?

When we have busy days and lots to think about, we tend to forget the benefits of a good night's sleep. Yet, (and we cannot emphasise this enough) rest is where everything starts.

To name just a few benefits, sleeping well can boost your immune system, improve your mood, reduce stress, and increase productivity. So having sheets that promote a good night's sleep is not something to dismiss. That's what cooling bedding is for.

Take the plunge and start sleeping in Bambaw cooling bedding

As you can see, your body temperature can significantly impact your sleep and is therefore something that should be taken seriously. So, if you suffer from night-time heat, stop beating around the bush and get to the root of the problem!

Say goodbye to wet ice packs and start sleeping on sheets that fit you.