Wearing socks while sleeping helps the Japanese keep their feet warm, improves sleep quality, promotes blood circulation, prevents various illnesses, and ultimately contributes to a longer lifespan.
As one of the countries with the highest life expectancy in the world, Japan is renowned for its strict rules regarding daily habits, even during sleep, which enhance health and longevity. In Japan, people wear socks year-round, including while sleeping. For them, wearing socks is as essential as wearing clothes—it’s part of their daily needs.
Moreover, the local belief is that wearing socks is synonymous with hygiene and courtesy. Removing shoes and revealing bare feet when visiting someone’s home in Japan is considered impolite and can create a negative impression.
Additionally, the Japanese always wear socks while sleeping. They believe that wearing socks can help them sleep better, which is beneficial for health and longevity. This belief is well-founded.
Benefits of Wearing Socks While Sleeping
Traditional Chinese medicine views the feet as the “second heart” of the body; warm feet contribute to a healthy body. If the feet are protected, the organs in the body are also safeguarded. Scientific studies indicate that the normal body temperature for humans is about 37 degrees Celsius, which drops by 1-2 degrees Celsius while sleeping at night. Therefore, many people find it easy to feel cold in their hands and feet, making it harder to fall asleep and resulting in a less restful sleep. This is why many choose to wear socks while sleeping to keep their feet warm and improve sleep quality.
Many choose to wear socks while sleeping to keep their feet warm and improve sleep quality.
Experts state that wearing socks while sleeping can help regulate temperature differences in the feet, thereby adjusting the body’s overall temperature. The soles of the feet contain many blood vessels and acupuncture points, making them one of the most effective areas for heat exchange in the body. Wearing socks warms the feet, dilates blood vessels, increases blood flow to the skin, reduces body temperature, and promotes deeper, more restful sleep.
Mar De Carlo, author and founder of the International Institute of Health and Parenting, and a member of the Professional Sleep Consultants Association, explains that wearing socks can help individuals fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. De Carlo notes that wearing socks while sleeping has been shown to enhance blood circulation and blood flow to the feet, which can help lower body temperature and signal the brain that it’s time to sleep.
Other studies have corroborated this view. For instance, one study demonstrated that young adults wearing socks fell asleep 7.5 minutes faster, slept 32 minutes longer, and woke up 7.5 times less frequently than those who did not wear socks.
The concept of wearing socks in bed seems to relate to the circadian rhythm—the biological clock that regulates our functions based on a 24-hour cycle. The Sleep Foundation states: “Lower body temperatures usually occur before sleepiness, and evidence suggests that wearing socks or other methods to warm the feet can reduce body temperature and help you fall asleep faster.”
In addition to promoting better sleep, wearing socks to bed offers five other health benefits:
1. Promotes Blood Circulation
The feet are often the coldest part of the body, and poor blood circulation in the feet can lead to varicose veins and foot pain. Thus, keeping the feet warm is crucial. Wearing socks is the simplest and safest way to keep your feet warm overnight. Keeping the feet warm helps dilate blood vessels, increasing blood flow to the skin and releasing heat.
2. Reduces Raynaud’s Disease
Raynaud’s is a condition characterized by spasms in the blood vessels that decrease blood flow to the extremities, often triggered by cold temperatures, leading to sudden numbness or pain, resembling cramping. Wearing socks can keep the feet warm, regulate internal body temperature, and improve blood circulation, helping to prevent this syndrome.
Wearing socks can keep the feet warm, regulate internal body temperature.
3. Prevents Cracked Feet
Wearing socks while sleeping can slow down moisture loss in the feet and help keep them hydrated, improving conditions such as dry skin or cracked heels.
4. Eliminates Foot Odor
Foot sweating can cause embarrassment and discomfort while sleeping. Wearing socks helps absorb sweat, effectively eliminating foot odor and contributing to a better night’s sleep.
5. Effectively Prevents Athlete’s Foot
Socks can absorb sweat and eliminate odors effectively. As a result, they help minimize the growth of bacteria that cause athlete’s foot.
