Does Sleeping Cold Burn More Belly Fat?

We've written about sleep and weight loss by understanding the link between diet and sleep. Part two of the story explains how to burn extra fat without an extra trip to the gym.

It’s staggering what we are willing to do to maintain or lose weight and stay in shape. Over 55 million people belong to health and fitness centers across the United States. These clubs generate a whopping $25 billion a year.

This is just the beginning.

An article in Consumer Reports says while memberships in clubs are growing, two-thirds of us prefer to work out at home, spending billions more on treadmills and exercise equipment. [1] In addition, it is estimated that billions more are spent on dietary supplements and meal replacement plans to lose weight.

Why are we spending so much time, money, and effort on weight loss when the answer may simply lie in better sleep?

Research indicates sleeping cold may be the way to lose belly fat.

Benefits of Cryotherapy

Cryotherapy, the use of cold temperatures to improve body, mind and spirit, is not new. It has long been used as a way to decrease inflammation from illness or injury, increase cell rejuvenation, reduce muscle soreness and even to improve skin tone and reduce the effects of aging.

Helps to Improve Your Mood

Exposing the body to extreme temperature for several minutes can help release endorphins, positively affecting individuals experiencing mood disorders, including depression and anxiety.

Study: Whole-body Cryotherapy as Adjunct Treatment of Depressive and Anxiety Disorders.

Potentially Reduce Migraine Symptoms

Targeted cryotherapy treatment focused on the neck can help prevent migraine headaches by numbing and cooling the nerves in that area. A study found that applying "cold therapy" to the neck helped reduce migraine but didn't entirely eliminate their pain.

Study: In 2018, the research found that more than 15% of adults had experienced a severe headache or migraine episode within the last three months. [2]

Other Benefits Cryotherapy:

• Reduce Arthritis Pain
• Immune System Improvement
• May Support Performance and Exercise Recovery

While many examples of cryotherapy demonstrate the benefits of extremely cold temperatures on the body, research indicates there are benefits to “sleeping cold”, with temperatures that are moderately cooler.

Does Sleeping Cold Burns More Calories?

A study published in the journal “Diabetes” suggests that sleeping in cooler temperatures may help us attack belly fat while we sleep.

Belly fat is considered “white fat”, the type of fat we want to reduce. “Brown fat” is considered good fat and is found in much smaller amounts. Brown fat helps improve our metabolism and assists the body in losing weight.

Participants in the study maintained their normal daily habits over four months, but each evening returned to sleep in temperature-controlled chambers.

Researchers kept sleeping rooms at a neutral 75 degrees for the first month, and in the following month reduced temperatures to 66 degrees. For the third month temperatures were returned to the neutral 75 degrees before being increased to a warm 81 degrees for the final month. Following each month during the study, the amount of brown fat was measured.

The results were that the colder temperatures noticeably changed the participant's bodies. After the month of sleeping at the colder 66-degree temperatures, volumes of good or brown fat had almost doubled. Does being cold burn fat? The study found that they had indeed lost belly fat from sleeping cold.

It is important to note that sleeping cold is not sleeping at shivering temperatures, and shivering is not the way you lose weight while sleeping cold. Even at neutral temperatures, you'll burn a number of calories based on your body weight.

How Many Calories Do You Burn Sleeping?

Does sleeping burn calories? The answer is yes! According to Livestrong, the following are some examples:

• A 200-pound person burns 86 calories per hour, or 688 for eight hours.
• If you weigh 160 pounds, you burn approximately 69 calories per hour while sleeping. That would add up to 552 calories while you sleep for eight hours
• If you are a 120-pound person, you'll burn 51 calories per hour while sleeping.

Part of what the survey discovered is that sleeping cold increases REM sleep. This can burn as much as 140 extra calories per night while sleeping. That can be significant because over the course of a year it can lead to losing as much as 14 pounds. So being cold and sleeping cold to a degree has been proven to burn calories.

Note: Calories burned while sleeping depend on their personal BMR. (Basal Metabolic Rate)

Sleep Cold the Easy Way

Sleeping cold has been demonstrated to provide weight loss benefits, improve memory, reduce stress, and add physical strength and overall health and immunity.

Temperature-Regulated Sheets

Another way to keep your body cooler at night is to have cooling sheets. These temperature-regulating sheets move moisture quickly away from the body, creating a cooler, more comfortable sleeping environment.

Conclusion

Our customers offer insight into how their sleep has improved with the use of our cooling mattress pads; the Chilipad Dock Pro and Chilipad Cube. View all our cooling sleep products to help you get deeper and better sleep.

Sleeping in a cooler room may have benefits, including a good night’s sleep and improving your overall health.