There are millions of people who struggle to sleep well throughout the night. If you happen to be one of them, you know that when this condition is chronic, or even just occurs for a few nights in a row, you will do anything to solve it! We all know that sleeping well is a key ingredient in optimal health and well-being. So, it’s fair to say that getting a good night’s rest is essential for living well.

Tools designed to help people sleep better come in many different forms. Today we are going to talk about the pros and cons of two of the most popular products on the market. We’ll also discuss some other sleep solutions that we recommend to our customers.

First, let’s discuss the battle between weighted blankets and melatonin. While these products are very different from each other, each have their champions. So, what are people saying about these sleep products? Do they really work? Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

Weighted Blankets

Let’s first talk about weighted blankets. These are heavy, cozy blankets that are used for therapeutic purposes, such as relieving insomnia, anxiety, and stress. The added weight is designed to produce a calming and soothing effect when placed on the body. Found in a variety of retail stores, weighted blankets usually weigh between five and 30 pounds. The extra heaviness is created because the blankets are filled with plastic pellets or glass beads.

How do weighted blankets actually work? These cozy hugs in the form of a blanket work by creating firm, consistent pressure on the body that mimics the effects of a technique called deep pressure stimulation. Much like a hug or a massage, the deep touch pressure activates your body’s parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS). This is the system that promotes a “rest and digest” response (ie. drifting off to sleep). When PSNS is activated, a person’s heart rate slows, as does breathing and the body enters a state of relaxation. Shortly after, a person enters the blissful state of sleep.

Weighted blankets also stimulate the production of hormones like serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin. All of which enhance moods, while decreasing cortisol (the stress hormone). Weighted blankets are also thought to stimulate melatonin, the hormone that primes our bodies for sleep.

Melatonin

This brings us nicely to our discussion about melatonin. Melatonin is a naturally-occurring hormone made in the body by the pineal gland, found deep in the brain. It helps regulate sleep cycles and lets the body know when it’s time to wind down and go to sleep and when it’s time to wake up.

Melatonin is also widely available as an over the counter pill. In fact, millions of people take it as a sleep aid during bouts of insomnia. Since melatonin can be taken without a prescription and is usually considered a “supplement”, it can be easy to misuse. And relying on it for sleep may not be sustainable. Instead, it might be better to find a product that doesn’t affect the body’s hormones.

Zero Gravity Adjustable Bed

We do have a suggestion that we have seen help people suffering from insomnia, and that is an adjustable bedframe that allows a person to fall asleep in a “zero gravity” position. The zero-gravity position is a neutral body posture that evenly distributes gravity across the body so that it feels as though you are in a state of weightlessness. You have seen this position before during rocket launches – NASA puts astronauts in this position before take-off to equalize their weight and ease the stress on their bodies.

This position has been shown to have health benefits that can improve conditions for those who are struggling to fall asleep and stay asleep. People report having an easier time breathing, reduced pain through their limbs and joints, reduced swelling, and sleeping in this position can even improve heart health.

Thankfully you don’t have to be an astronaut to access this sleep position. Instead, you can soundly sleep in this position with the help of an adjustable bed frame! We hear the best reviews from our customers, who are having the best sleeps of their lives, after purchasing an adjustable bed from and falling asleep in the zero-gravity position!

If you are looking for a way to improve your sleep health, this may be the sustainable solution you’ve been looking for!