Burn Calories in your Sleep with these 5 Amazing Tips.

Who says you can’t burn calories while you’re inactive? Sleep Foundation states that the body still burns calories even when you are sleeping. However, since the body is in a deep resting state the number of calories you burn is just 85% of your basal metabolic rate.

“What’s basal metabolic rate?” You might ask. This value refers to the number of calories that you burn for energy to support the basic processes such as breathing, circulation, temperature regulation, and cellular growth and repair.

Essentially, you still burn calories when you are asleep, but at a lower rate. So is there a way to increase the number of calories that we burn in our sleep? Fortunately, the answer is a huge yes. We can increase the number of calories that we burn when we are asleep by increasing our basal metabolic rate.

But how do we increase our basal metabolic rate? One way would be to increase your muscle mass. It is said that a pound of muscle burns 6 calories a day even when at rest. So you burn more calories when you are asleep when you gain muscles.

Besides that, here are 5 tips for increasing the number of calories that you would burn when you are asleep.

Consume foods high in casein.

Yep, that’s right, drinking milk before bedtime is supposed to be a thing for adults as well. Milk is 70% to 80% casein, so are yogurt, and cheese. Casein increases fat burning overnight. The explanation as to how has to do with the fact that they are gradually digested. It is said that it takes around six to eight hours for the body to completely digest and absorb casein. So when casein is consumed before bedtime, it would keep the metabolism up as the body works to break it down.

Aside from that, they tend to improve sleep in most individuals.

Foods taken before bedtime aren’t supposed to be eaten several minutes before bed. Always remember that you should stop food or beverage intake 2 to 3 hours before bed. So “before bed”, actually means 2 to 3 hours before going to sleep.

Take a warm shower before bed.

Warm baths are great for soothing sore muscles. This is especially true if you are engaging in workouts to increase muscle mass, for the ultimate purpose of increasing your basal metabolic rate. The muscles can become tense and sore after some heavy workout. The warm water can help loosen the muscles and provide relief from pain.

On top of that, some studies have shown that warm baths can stimulate cells which leads to inflammation reduction and metabolism increase.

Warm baths have also been shown to increase oxytocin levels in the brain which leaves you with a good feeling afterwards.

Improve sleep quality and duration.

Although the mechanisms behind how sleep deprivation leads to weight gain aren’t fully understood, it is well observed in several studies. A high-quality review concluded that sleep deprivation increases the likelihood of obesity by up to 89% in children and 55% in adults.

This could explain the reason why people who slept in complete darkness were 21% less likely to be obese, as their sleep quality and duration tend to be better than those who sleep with some lights on.

So aside from avoiding night lights, you must do your best to improve your sleep quality and duration to burn more calories as you sleep.

Eat light during the night.

Another rule to follow besides the “no food or beverage 2 to 3 hours before bedtime” rule, is the “eat light during the night” rule.

You must have something in your stomach 2 to 3 hours before you hit the hay. However, you shouldn’t put too much food in it.

Eating a large meal before bed can lead to obesity, and ruin sleep quality and duration. This means doing the opposite, eating a small meal before bedtime, is the best thing to do for effective calorie burning.

Keep the temperature low.

The appropriate temperature for good sleep is around 15.6 to 19.4 degrees Celsius or 60 to 67 Fahrenheit. That’s several degrees lower than room temperature, 20 to 22 degrees Celsius or 68 to 72 Fahrenheit. According to Sleep Foundation, this is the optimal temperature for it allows the body to remain in restorative slow-wave sleep longer. This translates to better sleep, and with good sleep, you get improved calorie burning.

Aside from that, colder temperatures may help burn brown fat, a special kind of fat that helps keep the body warm.

What other tips did we miss?