Camping in the Woods Is Better Than Ambien
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iStock/Thinkstock(DENVER) — You can try pills, ear plugs and other methods to get a solid night of shuteye but the best sleep aid of all might be Mother Nature.
Kenneth Wright and his fellow researchers from the University of Colorado say what’s messing you up is exposure to all kinds of different artificial light sources from the TV to the smartphone.
It’s no wonder then that people’s circadian rhythms or biological clock is all out of whack.
To readjust it, Wright says spend some time in the woods.
He did just that with eight young adults who were told to leave their phones and other devices, including flashlights, at home before heading into the Rocky Mountains for two weeks of camping. The only light needed was a campfire.
By the end of the week, the campers’ circadian rhythms aligned up with natural exposure to light and dark. As a result, they slept better at night and felt much more rested upon waking up. Wright says this seems to demonstrate how constant exposure to artificial light compels people to stay up late while disrupting their biological clocks.
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