The Sleep Foundation claims that one of the main reasons we spend more time curled up under our covers during the winter is the drop in temperature and the reduction in natural light.
The longest nights and lowest temperatures of the year occur during the winter, which has an impact on our regular activities and makes us want to spend more time at home.
We get more hours of sleep in the winter because we go to bed earlier than we do during the shorter nights of the summer. In the winter, we usually sleep a little bit later in the morning and spend as much time as possible curled up under our warm and comfortable covers.
During the winter, we spend more time curled up under our covers due to a number of factors, including the temperature and the reduction of natural light:
One of the reasons we sleep more in the winter is the temperature. Our body temperature decreases by two or three degrees at night to facilitate sleep. It's simpler to sleep in during the winter than it is during the summer since our body temperature drops as the outside temperature does.
The ideal bedroom temperature for sleeping is roughly 65 degrees Fahrenheit, or 18.3 degrees Celsius, according to a Sleep Foundation article. This means that, as long as the bedroom is kept cool, sleeping in the winter is easier and produces better sleep than it does during the sweltering summer.
Wintertime light also helps us sleep more because it creates more melatonin, the hormone that induces sleep, when there is less natural light. The quantity of light we are exposed to throughout the winter influences how much more sleep we require because lower light levels indicate it is time to go to bed and tell our brain to begin preparing the body for sleep, whilst higher light levels are linked to alertness.
Winter evenings are low in light, so the brain reacts by telling the body to make more melatonin, which makes the body tired and ready for sleep.
Winter brings longer evenings and fewer, lower-intensity daylight hours throughout the day. This restricted exposure to light helps explain why we may feel like we're more fatigued and require more sleep. The brain receives a different signal during the day in the summer to be awake and vigilant.
It's also crucial to remember that seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, a mild to moderate form of depression that manifests in the winter, can be brought on by decreasing light levels. During the winter, when there is less light, sleeping for the recommended seven to nine hours per night and no more can help prevent SAD.