A small Swedish study found evidence of increased melatonin in healthy adults who used a heavy blanket to sleep.
For many people who struggle with anxiety and lack of sleep, weighted blankets can actually improve well-being, which is well worth a small investment.
These blankets generate a feeling of softness, warmth and security, in addition to potentially causing the release ofoxytocin (the hormone that lowers blood pressure, slows heart rate, and makes you feel relaxed)
Countless people swear by the calming benefits of weighted blankets, citing better sleep, reduced stress and anxiety, and an overall feeling of being more relaxed.
Most of these overall wellness claims are anecdotal, but with no side effects or medical prescriptions, who wouldn’t want to try this natural sleep solution?
If you feel it helps you sleep and relax, great!
Worst case: it’s not for you, so you return it to the seller or give it to someone.
But scientifically speaking, there aren’t many studies to back up the claimed benefits of sleeping under a heavy or weighted blanket.
This is why researchers from Uppsala University, Sweden, conducted a small study to find out if using a weighted blanket – compared to using a light blanket – can actually help boost sleep-promoting chemicals, such as melatonin and oxytocin, and decrease the mechanisms related to stress, such as cortisol production and sympathetic nervous system activity, which can interfere with sleep.
Twenty-six healthy young adults (15 men and 11 women) participated in the study.
During one session, they were covered in a weighted blanket (weighing about 12% of their body weight) for one hour before bedtime, then slept for eight hours. The researchers took saliva samples during the hour before sleep to measure changes in melatonin and other hormone concentrations. In the next session, participants were covered with a light blanket (2.4% of their body weight) for the night.
Ultimately, the results revealed “no other significant differences” in participants’ levels of oxytocin, cortisol, sympathetic nervous system activity, subjective feelings of sleepiness, or total sleep time.
However, they ont noticed that when participants lay under a weighted blanket for an hour before bedtime, they had about a 32% increase in salivary melatonin concentration compared to using the lighter blanket.
A little reminder: melatonin is a hormone produced naturally by the pineal gland in the brain, and it is involved in several bodily functions, including regulation of the immune system, blood pressure, stress levels, and the sleep-wake cycle (or circadian rhythm).
Melatonin itself doesn’t put you to sleep like a magic sedative; instead, its release, triggered by reduced light at the end of the day, signals the rest of the body’s sleep systems to kick into high gear and prepare you to fall asleep for the night.
Melatonin plays an important role in establishing and maintaining an optimal circadian rhythm, your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle.
Although the body produces its own melatonin each night to trigger the process of falling asleep, there are several ways to get melatonin from external sources such as certain foods (like tart cherries and cow’s milk).
“Our study is the first to suggest that the use of a weighted blanket may lead to a greater release of melatonin at bedtime,” the research abstract states, adding that further studies are needed to “investigate whether the Stimulating effect on melatonin secretion is observed on a nightly basis with frequent use of a weighted blanket for weeks or months. »
Although this study is quite small and only a first step exploring the health benefits of weighted blankets, it does suggest that this comfortable and fashionable sleep accessory may indeed positively promote sleep physiologically, supporting all rave reviews and good impressions of the weighted blankets.