The Benefits of Sleeping in the Nude

Directly above view of bare female legs in bed
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Flannel pajamas are warm and cozy on cold winter nights, and silky, skimpy lingerie is undeniably sexy when it’s time for romance, but they can’t match the freedom of sliding into bed with nothing between you and the mattress other than soft sheets. It's enough to make you wiggle in sensuous delight. Not only that but sleeping in the nude has some surprising health benefits beyond pleasing your skin. If you’ve always been a “get dressed for bed” sort of person, here are seven reasons for ditching the jammies that might change your mind, and reduce your laundry duties, as well.

1. You’ll Sleep Better

While you probably know that the normal human body temperature is 98.6 F, you might not realize that it's also entirely normal for your temperature to rise a degree or two during the day, and then drop a degree or two as you sink into slumber, before rising once again a short time before you awaken. That nightly drop in temperature is one of your brain’s cues that it’s time for sleep. Wearing pajamas holds in body heat, making it harder for your core temperature to drop, and thus interfering with the quality of your shuteye. Sleep nude instead and ward off sweaty middle-of-the-night awakenings and rest-reducing tossing and turning.

2. It Might Help You Lose Weight

Your body produces a hormone called cortisol, sometimes termed the “stress hormone.” While cortisol has an important role to play in dealing with stressful or dangerous situations, it also increases your food cravings and general hunger levels. Cortisol levels normally drop during your sleep cycle, but if you sleep poorly, the hormone level remains high, causing you to wake up ready and willing to reach for the nearest donut. Because sleeping nude leads to more restorative slumber, it also helps your cortisol level fall, thus reducing your desire to overeat or reach for sugary snacks in the morning. It's a win/win situation.

3. You’ll Look Younger

Cortisol isn’t the only hormone that counts on deep sleep for its natural cycle. Melatonin and growth hormone, which both play important roles in keeping your body young and healthy, depend on your drop in body temperature during slumber to stimulate their production. The best room temperature for restorative shuteye is between 65 and 68 F, but many people keep their bedrooms warmer than that. Adding an additional layer of fabric pushes your body temperature even higher, impairing your quality of sleep, and interfering with the release of these two important hormones. So for the best beauty sleep, shed the pajamas.

4. Your Sex Life Will Improve

Sleeping naked can improve your sex life, and not just for the obvious reason that you’re, well, naked. When a couple sleeps together in the nude, the skin-on-skin contact increases the release of the cuddle hormone oxytocin. This feel-good hormone binds you emotionally closer to your partner and also revs up your sex drive. Extra bonus: since you’re already nude, there are no cumbersome pajamas to remove before romance!

5. It’s Healthy

Sleeping naked lets your skin breathe easy, and allows your more “delicate” areas to air out and remain cool. This cuts down on your susceptibility to annoying yeast infections or heat rashes. For men, hitting the hay sans bottoms keeps the testes cool, which is better for sperm production, a big issue if you are trying to get pregnant.

6. It Saves You Money

When you’re wearing nothing but a smile on your way to slumberland every night, you don’t need to spend money on nightgowns, and you’ll have less laundry—thus, lower utility bills and not as much use of laundry detergent. Plus, you'll be cooler, so less inclined to run the air conditioning or fan during the summer. 

7. It Just Plain Feels Good

The bottom line is, sleeping naked feels decadently good. Your skin is very sensitive, and the brush of soft fabric against your body is a sensuous treat. With no cloth twisting around your legs, no itchy lace, no elastic to pinch, you are free and easy between the sheets. So go ahead, and take the plunge tonight—shed those pajamas and head to the land of nod in your birthday suit. You’ll sleep better, feel better, and look better…what’s not to love?