穿袜子睡觉背后的科学原理

The Science Behind Sleeping With Socks On

王淑怡 供稿

Millions of people around the world go to bed wearing socks. But are you curious about the science behind this practice and whether it is good for our sleep？

许多人睡觉时都喜欢穿着袜子。但是，你是否好奇人们这么做的科学原理是什么，以及穿着袜子睡觉是否能够改善睡眠质量？

To understand why, you first need to grasp the relationship between core body temperature and sleep. During daylight hours, the human body hums along at an average temperature of 37 degrees Celsius. But at night, your core body temperature dips as much as 1.2 degrees Celsius over the course of six or seven hours of sleep. This gradual decrease in core body temperature, it turns out, is a key part of the complicated neurobiological dance of falling asleep and staying asleep. And the faster you can lower the core body temperature, the faster you will fall asleep.

要理解其中原因，你首先需要了解核心体温和睡眠之间的关系。白天，人的平均体温为37℃。但到了晚上，人们在六到七个小时的睡眠中，核心体温会下降1.2℃。事实证明，核心体温的逐渐下降是入睡和保持睡眠这一复杂的神经生物学行为的关键。核心体温的下降速度越快，你就越快入睡。

One of the ways that your body regulates its temperature is through blood vessels in your skin. If the brain decides the body is too hot, it will widen blood vessels, redistributing warmer blood from the body's core through the rest of the body to cool it down. If the body is too cold, the brain signals the opposite reaction, restricting the flow of blood to the surface.

身体调节体温的方法之一是通过皮肤中的血管。如果大脑认为身体太热，会扩张血管，将温暖的血液从身体核心器官重新输送到其他部位，使其降温。如果身体太冷，大脑则会发出相反的信号，限制血液流向体表。

The palms of your hands and soles of your feet are the body's most efficient heat exchangers, since they are hairless and less insulated than other skin surfaces. Researchers have shown that warming the feet before going to sleep using a warm foot bath or by wearing socks promotes vasodilation, which in turn lowers the body's core temperature faster than going to sleep with cold, bare feet. This can be especially critical during chilly weather when the feet can get so cold that tossing and turning throughout the night becomes inevitable.

手掌和脚底是身体最有效的散热器，因为与其他部位的皮肤相比，手掌和脚底光滑无毛、绝缘性差。研究人员表明，睡前泡脚或穿袜子暖脚可以促进血管扩张，这样会比赤着冷脚睡觉更快地降低身体的核心温度。在寒冷的天气里，这一点尤为重要。如果手脚长时间捂不热，人们就会辗转反侧难以入眠。

In addition to that, wearing socks can enhance our blood circulation. From heart failure to strokes and other life-threatening medical conditions, the lack of proper blood circulation can be detrimental to your health in diverse ways. The good news is that sleeping in socks can ramp up the supply of blood, oxygen, and nutrients to every part of the body, thus which keep the heart, liver, kidneys, and other important organs working at optimum levels.

除此之外，穿着袜子睡觉有助于促进血液循环。血液循环不好会以多种方式损害人的健康，造成心力衰竭、中风等疾病，危及生命。但穿着袜子睡觉可以增加身体各个部位的血液、氧气和营养供应，从而使得心脏、肝脏、肾脏和其他重要器官保持最佳状态。

【VOCABULARY】

1. hum v. 活跃，繁忙

2. dip n. (暂时的) 下降

3. neurobiological adj. 神经生物学的

4. sole n. 脚掌

5. insulated adj. 有隔热（或隔音、绝缘）保护的

6. vasodilation n. 血管舒张

7. tossing and turning 辗转反侧；翻来覆去难以入睡

8. detrimental adj. 有害的，不利的

9. ramp up 增加; 使增加

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