If last week’s heatwave has left you feeling fatigued you’re not alone.
There are plenty of reasons why heat can make you feel more tired than usual—but it doesn’t necessarily mean you are not sleeping enough.
A poor diet packed with high-sugar, processed foods, stress and a lack of exercise are three factors often blamed for feeling tired.
But surprising objects in your home can also mess with your mood and sap your energy.
There’s even a health condition attributed to it: Sick Building Syndrome—the symptoms caused by being in a particular building.
Signs of the illness, which often include tiredness, dry eyes, headaches and sore throats, worsen when people are in the building and improve when away.
While this mainly affects those in open plan offices, your home could also be contributing.
Now, experts have suggested exactly why your old furniture, choice of lighting and even your scented candles could be impacting your energy levels.
Ditch the big overhead light
The wrong lighting can have a powerful effect on how you feel, scientists say.
Overhead lights—especially cold, fluorescent ones—can be harsh on your eyes and draining over time.
Most LED bulbs emit blue light but while environmentally friendly, this kind of lighting can create sharp contrasts and shadows, which can strain your vision.
In the evening, it can signal to your body that it’s still time to be alert, throwing off your natural wind-down process, contributing to physical and mental exhaustion.
According to Harvard Medical School, blue wavelengths—which are beneficial during daylight hours because they boost attention, reaction times, and mood—also seem to be the most disruptive at night.
One study by Harvard researchers compared the effects of 6.5 hours of exposure to blue light compared to green light — which has a longer wavelength.
Writing in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, they found blue light suppressed the hormone melatonin for roughly twice as long as the green light.
Melatonin is produced naturally in the body and plays a crucial role in regulating the sleep-wake cycle.
Study co-author and associate professor of medicine Steven Lockley, also said: ‘When we exposed 12 healthy young men and women to the same amount of either green or blue light, their 24-hour rhythms shifted twice as much with blue than with green.’
Instead, experts suggest installing dimmer switches allowing you to control the brightness of lights, or investing in lamps.
Sleep technology firm Simba said: ‘Without the right support you may have trouble drifting off, and your mattress could cause pain in your back and neck’
Beware of old mattresses
An old or unsupportive mattress can quietly wreak havoc on your body.
You may think you’re getting a full night’s sleep, but if you’re tossing and turning or waking up stiff, the body isn’t able to recharge instead leaving you fatigued.
Sleep technology firm Simba said: ‘Without the right support you may have trouble drifting off, and your mattress could cause pain in your back and neck.
‘This won’t just cause you problems at night, either, as you’ll most likely wake up feeling sore, stiff and still very tired.’
The Sleep Council say people should consider changing their mattress every seven to eight years to prevent such issues.
Health professionals have long advised Brits get at least seven hours of sleep every night and to go to bed and wake up at the same times every day.
Much like a toddler’s naps, sleep will be better when it’s consistent.
Experts say that waking up during the night does not necessarily mean you have insomnia, which figures suggest affects up to 14million Brits.
Still, sleep deprivation takes its own toll, from irritability and reduced focus in the short term, to an increased risk of obesity, heart disease and diabetes.
According to the American Sleep Association, nearly 70 million Americans also have a sleep disorder.
Exposure to fragranced products, even at low levels, has been associated with various adverse health effects
Sleep deprivation can lead to obesity, memory loss, diabetes, heart disease, heightened and unstable emotions, impaired ability to learn and a reduced immune response, leaving you vulnerable to disease
Switch up your scented candles
Scented candles have long been lauded for their relaxing qualities. Yet for that same reason they could be making you tired.
Exposure to fragranced products, even at low levels, has been associated with various adverse health effects including respiratory issues and hormone disruption.
In one 2019 study involving thousands of participants from across the US, Australia, Sweden and the UK, almost a third of were reported to have a sensitivity to fragrance.
In those who are sensitive, fragrances are a risk factor for asthma and headaches, irritating the respiratory system, leading to fatigue.
In another, psychologists at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, tracked the sleep cycles of more than 30 participants who sniffed a lavender oil before bed.
Monitoring their cycles with brain scans, they found on the night they whiffed the herb, they slept more soundly.
Experts at Good Housekeeping, instead suggest sticking to mint or citrus-scented candles during the daytime and lavender as a pre-bedtime ritual.
Your light exposure during the day could also be throwing off your body’s natural rhythms triggering drowsiness
Ditch the curtains
Your light exposure during the day could also be throwing off your body’s natural rhythms triggering drowsiness.
Without it, experts say, people may feel drowsy even after a full night’s rest.
For those who live in houses with limited daylight, experts have long recommended light therapy lamps as one way to help realign their circadian rhythm.
Circadian rhythm, the body’s in-built clock, sets the rhythm of our lives.
NHS guidance also suggests such lights can have a positive effect — even a few minutes a day of brighter light exposure can make people feel less groggy.
Dr Victoria Revell, scientific advisor to Lumie, one well known light therapy lamp brand and expert in circadian physiology at the University of Surrey, said: ‘We’re mainly concerned with improving people’s circadian rhythms so that you get a better duration, a better quality of sleep, but also a better transition out of that.
‘We’re trying to minimise what we call sleep inertia, so that groggy feeling when your alarm goes off and you’re jolted awake.’
Professor Russell Foster, a neuroscientist at the University of Oxford and one of the world’s most renowned experts on circadian rhythms, also told MailOnline: ‘Light is critically important for setting the body clock. Morning light helps you get up earlier.’
Equally, one US study found that office workers with more exposure to natural light as opposed to overhead lighting had longer sleep duration, better sleep quality and better quality of life, compared to those who did not.
Employees with windows in the workplace received 173 percent more white light exposure during work hours and slept an average of 46 minutes more per night than those in windowless offices, scientists at Northwestern University in Illinois, said.
Research suggests noise from home appliances could be making us ill by causing two in five people to suffer from higher stress levels
Cut back on home appliance overuse
From the food mixer to the tumble dryer, homes are filled with a cacophony of sounds.
But research suggests this noise could be making us ill by causing two in five people to suffer from higher stress levels.
Some of the worst offending products are our most essential such as washing machines and vacuum cleaners.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 40 per cent of Europe’s population is exposed to noise levels in excess of 55dB – about the same level of a noisy office.
The average washing machine has a recorded sound level of 70dB, refrigerators average at around 50dB refrigerator while in some instances food processors can reach up to 90dB.
Stephen Stansfeld, a professor of psychiatry at London’s Queen Mary University, said: ‘When we’re exposed to a lot of noise, our heart rate goes up, blood pressure rises and research shows it can lead to an increase in fatigue, stress, heart attacks or even stroke.’
Smog found inside our homes can cause extreme tiredness too, as well as headaches and shortness of breath
Air it out
Most people think of exhaust fumes and smoke billowing from factory chimneys when talking about air pollution.
But, smog found inside our homes can cause extreme tiredness too, as well as headaches and shortness of breath.
Dr Prashant Kumar, of the University of Surrey, said: ‘There are actually various sources of pollution that have a negative effect on air quality, many of which are found inside our homes and offices.
‘From cooking residue to paints, varnishes and fungal spores the air we breathe indoors is often more polluted than that outside.’
According to Dr Marie Coggins, an expert in exposure science at the University of Galway: ‘Home fragrance products can also produce several volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can be harmful to health.’
Evidence shows this particulate matter can trigger short term health effects like fatigue and ‘coughing and sneezing, and irritation of the eyes, nose, throat and lungs’, she added.
Cutting these sources of pollution or increasing indoor ventilation can also slash the risk of longer term conditions like asthma, chronic bronchitis and even lung cancer.
Research in the journal Indoor Air also found that people with high indoor ventilation had 51 per cent lower odds of depression and 37 per cent lower odds of anxiety compared to those with low indoor ventilation.
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