ELI5 Why do we feel cold and need a blanket when sleeping even if the ambient temperature has remained constant and we were not cold while up and about?
ELI5 Why do we feel cold and need a blanket when sleeping even if the ambient temperature has remained constant and we were not cold while up and about?
Comments
body stops heating as much cause it’s resting?
When we sleep, we reduce the amount of energy we spend, and less energy means less generated temperature.
We need blankets to keep warm.
When we’re up, we spend more energy moving around, and muscles generate more heat.
When you’re up and about you’re moving around and generating more heat, helping you feel comfy.
As you lay down and sleep your are no longer doing that and your internal body temperature starts to drop, to maintain that comfy level you need some extra insulation
Because your heart rate slows down and doesn’t warm your body as effectively
We dramatically lower our metabolism when we are asleep, which causes our core temperature to lower and means we produce less heat. So if we want to keep what little heat we have we cover up in order to secure it.
In the earlier days of us at social primates we would do the same thing by huddling together in groups.
Just to add to what everyone else is saying which in short is when we stop moving and rest, we use less energy and thus our body temperature drops. It’s also why the more physical you are, the hotter you feel.
Also that is why when we get sick and start to develop a fever, we shiver, same goes for outside. We shiver, forcing our bodies to use as many muscles as possible to quickly raise our body temperature.
I like the other answers here. However my personal impression is that because we have basically DNA levels of being in the mother’s womb, I feel that when we are at rest like a mother would be when sitting we revert to a natural state where we are again an infant. A blanket is an enfoldment much as the womb is an enfoldment for a baby. So I feel it’s maybe a comfort thing?