Do you ever find yourself becoming suddenly sleepy in warm environments, such as cars or offices where the heating is turned up? If so, there are several reasons why heat can make you feel drowsy. Take a look through this post to learn more about why you may be feeling more tired in certain environments.
Why Does Being Warm Make You Sleepy?
The Body Is Working To Stay Cool
There’s a common misconception that the heat is solely responsible for making you feel tired, whereas, in reality, there’s a little more to it. One of the things that happen to your body in warmer environments is dehydration.
In warm conditions, the body begins to lose fluids quicker which causes dehydration which inevitably leads to drowsiness. So, if you’re in environments that are noticeably hotter and they’re making you feel tired, be sure to stay properly hydrated.
This is especially helpful if you’re in an office environment and need to be mentally switched on for meetings. Another reason for keeping yourself hydrated is to keep your energy levels up.
In warm temperatures, the body is having to work harder to keep you cool. One of the ways that the body attempts to keep you cool is by sweating. By sweating, energy is being used up which can make you feel more fatigued compared to being in cooler rooms.
That’s also why hot weather can cause tiredness. People often feel like they have no energy on hot days and it’s because they’re dehydrated and their bodies are having to work harder to stay cool.
Decreased Blood Pressure
In many cases, your blood pressure will decrease when you’re in warmer environments. This can lead to some drowsiness and isn’t usually considered to be dangerous. However, if it leads to symptoms such as nausea and headaches, you should seek medical advice. This post wasn’t written by doctors so finding professional help if you think your blood pressure is too low is highly recommended.
When your blood pressure drops a little due to heat, it means that there’s less blood able to make its way to your brain. The less blood there is in your brain means that you don’t have as much oxygen which can make you feel more tired as the body is trying to carry out regular functions without the necessary amount of blood or oxygen.
Lowered Body Temperature
When you fall asleep at night, the body naturally lowers your core temperature. Therefore, you associate your body with trying to bring down its temperature while sleeping.
This means that when you’re in warm environments and the body is attempting to lower your temperature, your brain links the same cooling down process that happens when you’re sleeping. As a result, you can end up feeling fatigued and want to go to sleep in warm conditions while your body tries to lower your temperature.
Feeling Warm Is Comfortable
Another simple reason as to why heat makes you sleepy is because it’s comfortable. The feeling of heat relaxes the muscles which can relieve stress and help you to unwind.
In addition to this, the brain makes strong links between the warmness of being in bed with sleep. Therefore, any other time you’re warm, your brain can start to relax and make you feel tired as though you’re in bed sleeping.
If you’ve been struggling to fall asleep, you could use these associations with heat and sleep to your advantage to create the best environment for your body to fall asleep in. For example, having a warm bath and getting into bed right after can make you feel tired as the body is working to reduce your temperature after being in warm conditions.
Throughout our post, we’ve discussed the reasons why heat can make you tired. However, using heat all the time in an attempt to try and sleep may not always be the best approach. This is because many people find it easier to fall asleep in rooms that are cooler as they can snuggle up in the warm covers which feels cozy and relaxing.
Conclusion
That concludes our post on the various reasons why heat makes you feel tired. In work environments where the heating is high, you can combat drowsiness and dehydration by drinking plenty of water.
On the other hand, you can also learn to use heat to your advantage to help you sleep better at night. Hopefully, our post has made it clearer why the warmth makes you sleepy and how to avoid it or utilize it to improve your quality of sleep.
