Outside it’s cold, it’s raining and there are clouds. The days are shorter, the night falls faster. There is an epidemic of colds and other little everyday viruses lying around. Between the stress of work, the children to take care of, the house to manage … Fatigue is felt. Results? At the end of the day, you are exhausted. But is it necessary to necessarily sleep more in winter? This is the question we asked ourselves in this article. Here is the answer, without further ado.

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In winter, do we sleep more? 

In winter we feel more tired. As soon as the sun goes down, we want to do the same. At 10:30 p.m. we are already in bed, a little herbal tea in hand to warm up, we are already ready to fall asleep after a hard day’s work. According to François Duforez, sports and sleep doctor at the European Sleep Center at the Hôtel Dieu in Paris, everything would be a question of light, as he explains to the Marie Claire website: “If in continental Europe, the decreases of winter temperatures lead to a greater need for rest, it is the lower light that rules our nights “The major influence, therefore, has a strong impact on our fatigue and our desire to sleep or not. Thus, in the summer the days are longer and the sun goes down much later, our wish to go to bed is delayed, so we stay awake longer. Other reasons may come into play, we explain everything to you.

It’s biological
It is therefore logical that we want to sleep more in winter, explains Dr. Sylvie Royant-Parola, psychiatrist specialist in sleep, author of How to find sleep by oneself (Ed. Odile Jacob): “Biologically, we are formatted to have a longer sleep in winter and shorter in summer. The invention of artificial light turned everything upside down and we ended up cheating with our deep rhythms”.
Sleep to strengthen our body
According to the expert, the natural sleep time would be a total of 30 minutes longer in winter. In particular, the body needs to recover from bacterial and viral attacks which are very present in winter. Getting enough sleep promotes immunity and protects the body; this should be a priority during the cold season.