We all know (or at least you really ought to know) that sleep is a critical component of good health. Even if you eat cleanly, work out regularly, and avoid the usual vices, without attaining the right amount of hours of high-quality sleep that your body requires, all will be for naught (not quite, but almost). But for many of us, sleep often proves to be an elusive mistress. Struggle as we might, it can sometimes seem impossible to maintain a regular sleeping pattern conducive to helping the body repair itself.
In some instances, this could be due to stress, poor patterns, or any number of other problems that exist to keep us from a fruitful slumber. However, in most cases, the culprit tends to be a poor choice of bedding and materials. The materials you choose to sleep on matter more than you might think, with some proving to be better than others. Here, we’re exploring how this can be, to convince you to at least try and invest in the right kind of bedding to see if it makes a difference (it almost definitely will if you choose wisely).
The Science Behind Comfort
There is a deep science behind the topic of sleep, and part of that involves the various mattresses used to ensure comfort (which in turn often leads to a better quality of slumber). You can see this with this bamboo & French linen bedding set that blends the proven characteristics of French linen with a more exotic material of bamboo fibers. This blend has proven to be effective in keeping the body cool throughout the night and, therefore, offering maximum comfort to the sleeper. To put it simply, a few factors will dictate the quality of sleep you achieve during the night, and can be broken down into four distinct categories:
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Pressure relief: When you sleep, it’s vital to keep your body parts from receiving too much pressure. While this might not cause sleep disruption like waking up in the middle of the night, it ensures that you will feel well-rested upon awakening.
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Temperature regulation: If you’ve ever been too hot in your bed, you will understand how important temperature is to helping to fall and stay asleep. The same is true for cooler temperatures, but the fact is that in most cases, if things are too cold, you can always use another blanket, whereas when they’re too hot, it’s really difficult to fall into a deep and regenerative sleep.
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Support and body alignment: This has more to do with your mattress and pillows than the materials they’re made of, per se, but in general, higher-quality, more specialized materials are more likely to provide better support.
Pillow And Bedding Materials: Small Items, Big Impact
Now that you have a very elementary understanding of how materials and items can affect your sleep, let’s take a look at the actual things that can have an effect.
Pillows
Home is where you lay your head, as the saying goes. But if you lie your head on a pillow made using materials like nylon or other synthetic materials, you’re really going to be in for a bad night. In some ways, this is the most important part of your sleep setup as it sets the scene for the sort of comfort you’ll experience throughout the night. When it comes to the materials and fabrics used, you have plenty of options:
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Pillow filling
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Strengths
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Weknesses
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Best for
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Down
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- Extremely soft
- Lightweight
- Incredible insulation
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This option is best for those who are soft-sleepers and want to add a touch of luxury to their bedrooms.
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Memory foam
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- Excellent contouring
- Strong neck support
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- Cheaper options retain heat
- Heavy
- It can be too firm for some
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If you’re a back & side sleeper needing support, this might be your best option.
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Latex
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- Supportive
- Durable
- Hypoallergenic
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For those who run hot and/ or need denser support, you should try out latex.
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Sheets And Covers
As we started at the beginning, materials like linen and the newest kid on the block, bamboo, offer up incredible thermal properties that can keep your body temperature at the correct levels for better sleep. Once you’ve used these options, you’ll kick yourself you never thinking of changing earlier.
Blankets
Similar to the sheeting, the materials that your blankets are made from will have an outsized influence over whether you wake up feeling amazing or need to guzzle several cups of coffee just to feel human again.
Without proper sleep, our bodies can seriously begin to deteriorate over time. This manifests not just as morning grogginess, but can also have pretty severe health consequences. When you opt for some of the options we’ve mentioned or others according to your own research, you will discover that you sleep better and become more productive during the day.
