According to Dr Nerina Ramlakhan, a sleep expert at Silentnight, the optimal bedroom temperature for sleeping is between 16C and 21C, and your brain needs to be slightly cooler than the rest of your body.
“A good night’s sleep is important in order to process information throughout the day as well as to repair and re-balance the body physically and mentally,” Ramlakhan tells The Independent.
拉姆拉克罕在接受《独立报》采访时说:“良好的夜间睡眠对于白天处理信息、修复和调整身心非常重要。”
“Ideally, in order for us to sleep well, there needs to be a fractional temperature difference between our body and our brain – a warm body and a cool head!”
1 Put your bedding in the freezer for a couple of minutes (put it in a plastic bag first though). If you don’t have much room in your fridge or freezer, even just your pillowcase or PJs will help.
2 Fill a hot water bottle with iced water and place on the ‘cooling points’ of your body: knees, ankles, wrists, neck, groin and elbows. You can also fill a hot water bottle with cool water, freeze it and take it to bed with you.
3 Moisturise before bed with an aloe vera based aftersun cream, ideally kept in the fridge.
睡前使用芦荟晒后乳液保湿,用之前最好先放在冰箱里冻一下。
aloe vera [,æləu'verə]: 芦荟;芦荟汁
4 Fill an empty perfume bottle with chilled water and keep it by your bedside, spray on your face, back of your neck, and back of your knees to cool down.
在空的香水瓶里装满冰水,放在床边,喷在脸上、后颈和膝盖后面降温。
5 Use cotton pyjamas and thin, pure cotton sheets for your bed - high quality cotton is the ideal bedding material to sleep between to stay cool as it’s most breathable.
穿棉睡衣,床上铺薄的纯棉床单。高质量的棉是能够保持凉爽感的理想床上用品,因为它是最透气的材质。
6 Make sure you’re not eating too much protein as this can actually heat your body up by boosting your metabolic rate, according to sleep expert Dave Gibson.
7 Eat spicy food, but at least three hours before bed - it can make you sweat which cools the body down.
吃辣的食物,但至少在睡前三小时吃,吃辣能让你出汗,给身体降温。
8 Exercise in the morning rather than evening to stop your body getting too hot.
锻炼时间选在早上,而不是晚上,以防止身体太热。
9 Keep your evening shower tepid to lower your body temperature. Don’t have a freezing cold one though, as your body will react to the sudden change in temperature by preserving heat.
晚上要洗微温的淋浴,以降低体温。不过,洗澡水不要太冷,因为你的身体会通过保温来应对温度的突然变化。
tepid ['tepɪd]:adj.微温的,温热的
10 Contrary to popular belief, Gibson says we should keep windows closed during the day to keep the house cooler. Keep the curtains closed too.
与普遍的看法相反,吉布森说,我们应该在白天把窗户关起来,使房子保持凉爽。窗帘也要拉上。
11 Turn off all electrical devices in the bedroom as these emit heat. Switch off sockets too.
关掉卧室里所有散发热量的电器。插座也要关掉。
12 Keep your feet cool, either by keeping them outside the covers or resting on an ice pack.
让你的脚保持凉爽,要么伸到被子外面,要么放在冰袋上。
13 Put a roasting pan full of ice in front of a fan to cool the air.
把一个装满冰块的烤盘放在风扇前,给空气降温。
14 Drink water regularly during the day, but not too much at night. About ½ pint before bed will be enough to keep you hydrated and prevent you from having to get up and go to the loo.
白天要经常喝水,但晚上不要喝太多。睡前喝0.5品脱(约合284毫升)补水就足够了,还可以避免起夜。
15 Sleep in a separate bed from your partner - two bodies = twice the body heat.
和你的伴侣分床睡——两个身体=两倍的体温。
16 Sleep downstairs if you can as heat rises.
有条件的话睡在楼下,因为热空气会上升。
17 Sleep in cool, wet socks or even a damp T-shirt.
穿着凉爽潮湿的袜子、甚至是潮湿的T恤睡觉。
18 Rinse your wrists and feet with cold water before getting into bed.
睡觉前用冷水冲洗手腕和双脚。
19 If you wake up in the night, rub a menthol stick on your forehead to help cool down, Dr Ramlakhan recommends.
拉姆拉克罕博士建议,如果晚上醒来,可以用薄荷棒摩擦额头来帮助降温。
menthol ['menθɒl; -θ(ə)l]:n.薄荷醇;薄荷脑
20 Place a wet flannel in the fridge for an hour or so before you go to bed, and rest this on your forehead as you drift off.