A hot bath will send you to sleep, but when’s the best time?

Many of us love to sink into a hot bath after a hard day at work, helping us relax and drift off all the more easily once in bed. Few of us, though, know exactly when is the optimal time to enjoy this activity – something researchers from Texas decided to find out…

There are many proposed remedies out there for helping us get a restful night’s sleep, from regular physical activity to keeping the bedroom cool, abstaining from alcohol in the evening and switching off the TV just before bed…but one major tip is to take a hot bath.

Some American scientists wanted to learn more about this remedy for insomnia, and they have revealed that the best time to take a hot bath is 1 to 2 hours before going to bed. By improving blood circulation from the body’s core to the extremities, hot baths help bring down the body temperature, thus making it easier to drift off.

According to these researchers, the optimal bath temperature is around 40 to 42°C, and they did also note that there is no need to lie there forever – 10 minutes is enough to get the benefits.