You work hard, play hard, and you need a good night’s sleep. Sleep deprived people (those who don’t get between 7 and 9 hours per day) can get fat (your hormones become unbalanced; Ghrelin, which makes us feel hungry, is increased. Leptin, the hormone that makes us feel full, is decreased. Your desire to exercise is also decreased. Making matters worse, your body craves foods that are high in sugar and fat when you are tired.). Sleep also improves your cognitive abilities. Sleep has been shown to improve problem solving skills, and enhance memory performance in both children and adults. Getting enough sleep has been shown to improve many aspects of athletic performance. It also can reduce the risk of death from a heart-related incident by lowering your blood pressure, and keeping your arteries clear and your heart strong. It also can affect the body's ability to regulate sugars through metabolism. Many studies show a strong association between chronic sleep deprivation and risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Sleep can also affect your risk of having an accident, either while driving, or at work. The CDC reports that being awake for 18 hours is comparable to having a blood alcohol content of .05. After 24 hours, you are equivalent to a .10. Well over the legal limit!
It seems that we should just sleep anywhere we want to. Who would introduce something that would interfere with our precious, healthy and necessary sleep? Oh yeah… our modern world rewards the greedy people who come up with anything they can sell us to “help” us do everything we are supposed to be doing anyway. How can we know what is good and what is bad in the world of sleep?
There are several things that can affect your ability to fall asleep, stay asleep, and sleep soundly enough to recharge your body while you are doing it. The first is chemicals. What is your mattress made of? Unless you are sleeping on a pile of straw, you likely have no idea what is inside (at least with a pile of straw, you know that you are sleeping on vermin who could bite you in the middle of the night, and ruin your sleep). Environmental Science & Technology recently published a study of different synthetic mattresses. They let them all air out for 6 months,and then tested them for VOCs. Even after 6 months, they still found appreciable levels of off gassing from the synthetic materials in the mattresses. Body heat can even increase the amount of off gassing that can happen every night. The levels remained below California’s “No Significant Risk” levels for adults, but they do pose a significant risk to children and infants (who spend a lot of time in their cribs). The chemicals that off gas come from Polyurethane in foam, fire retardants (thankfully outlawed in 2015), and plastics. They include benzene, acetaldehyde and formaldehyde, which are all carcinogens. Even with the low levels of VOC coming from the mattresses, you have to remember that your breathey bits are right on top of the mattress all night! Experts agree that you should be ventilating your sleeping space (some even recommend a fan or opening a window) to get as much fresh air as possible as you sleep (really not that much fun on a freezing cold night). These chemicals can affect your health as well as your ability to sleep.
EMFs are another issue as you are trying to sleep. Many people sleep with electric blankets to keep them warm or use them under massage tables. Why can’t I just have the warmth of the blanket keeping me snuggled up all night? It turns out that the EMFs coming off the blanket are not good for you. People can be very sensitive to the EMFs as well as the heat itself. EMFs can alter the cellular makeup of your body and greatly affect your sleep. Adjustable beds are the worst. Sure, you can tilt your head up a little, or move your butt down (comphy), but the majority of these beds have an electric motor that is literally under your heart that can damage your cells and your ability to sleep. Other beds that claim to be healthy, and are promoted by athletes and influencers can control the temperature of the mattress as you sleep. It does this electrically, which is the same as sleeping under an electric blanket. Or, they can use water to cool you electrically from a tower next to your bed. A popular brand called Eight Sleep will not work unless you connect it to your WiFi. All night it is transmitting data from sensors in the mattress back to their Bat Cave computer to adjust the temperature of the water, and then they give you a full readout of your night’s sleep the next morning. What you end up with is a super comfy mattress loaded with EMFs and likely RFs, as well as VOCs from everything plastic-based inside the mattress. The price of these gadget-laced beds is also nothing to sneeze at! Finally, metal in and around your bed is an antennae for EMFs and RFs. Springs, coils, metal frames, metal beds… They could all pick up the local NBC affiliate if you plugged them into your television. Why wouldn’t they attract EMFs and RFs to you while you slept on them?
What we should be focusing on is “how did humans evolve?” We tried to improve our diets in the last century by eliminating fats, and increasing carbohydrates. Only we got fat and unhealthy. Exercise goes through many technological changes. It turns out that those super cushy running shoes you spent $400 on are not good for your body. What is good is running barefoot (Ouch!) or with minimal padding and maximum flexibility. That way your foot can impact the balls of your feet, taking all of the jarring stress off of your knees, hips and back. The same goes for where we sleep. I am the first to admit that I enjoy a comfy bed. I enjoy that because I am Human. In Human history, it has only been a minute since “science” has given us anything besides animal hair, tree leaves or straws and grasses to sleep on. Why is it so hard for so many people to fall asleep now? Is nobody tired anymore? Maybe it is the litany of VOCs, EMFs and RFs we subject our bodies to?
What should we be sleeping on? Organic cotton, wool and natural latex are the healthiest choices in our book. When shopping for a new mattress and bed frame, opt for mattresses without springs and frames without metal. This includes your box-spring as well as your actual bed or frame (and yes, you should be turning your phone off and plugging it into the socket in the kitchen when you go to sleep. It isn’t going to do you any good while you are asleep, and it could affect you in the long run to sleep next to it). It also wouldn’t hurt to turn your WiFi off at night (Unless you have an Eight Sleep mattress, then you are out of luck). And don’t have a power strip plugged in next to your bed. All of this stuff will affect the sleep you get. From personal experience, being someone who has made the switch from a metal spring, to a memory foam, and finally to a natural latex mattress, I know that I sleep much better, and more soundly than I did before. It is anecdotal, and unscientific, but I can make a good scientific argument for why I think this is the way to go.
Any furniture store can sell you a natural solid wooden bed frame (Has to be solid wood, because most all of the particle board is made with adhesives that off gas formaldehyde), but DWS can point you to some really nice custom manufacturers (or you can do what we do, and keep monitoring second hand websites until you find the right bed for you). You should try it. You will be amazed how well you sleep, and how much money you will be saving!
Shop our favorite mattresses
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Avocado Mattress
Avocado organic mattresses are handcrafted in California with only the finest naturally nontoxic and 100% certified organic materials, sourced from the best domestic and international sources, including our own farms in India and Guatemala. Our mission is to be the most respected source for organic mattresses, pillows and bedding at affordable prices — while maintaining environmentally conscious, ethical, and sustainable business practices — to help safeguard the health of people and the planet. We are a Certified B Corporation, Climate Neutral and Fair Trade® certified, and the Pinnacle Award Winner from 1% for the Planet®. We are even on our way to becoming the world's first zero-waste certified mattress factory. Get without springs to avoid metals that interfere with EMFs.
Naturpedic
Since 2003, Naturepedic has been on a mission to transform the lives of our customers through safer, healthier sleep. By eliminating materials like flame retardants and polyurethane foam from our line of certified organic natural mattresses, Naturepedic supports an organic holistic lifestyle while protecting the environment. Get without springs to avoid metals that interfere with EMFs.