Is Air Conditioner (AC) good for you?

Most of us tend to get restless during summer months owing to the heat and end up compromising on sleep. One even wonders if the Air Conditioner (AC) is as good for sleep as despite it, research shows people end up waking up many more times in the course of the night or experience lighter sleep during these brutal months.

While setting the temperature according to what experts say is best for sleep- 18-22 degree Celsius, may help sleep better, the AC is not necessarily the healthiest for you. It may seem difficult to be without it either as temperatures go soaring, but constantly being in the AC can weaken your muscles and drain the moisture out of your skin, leaving you actually feeling fatigued and not your strongest.

Our grandparents after all did manage without it but in innovative natural ways that helped them cool. Back in the days they would always have an ice box in the room, even have their rooms covered with khus or a type of grass, on which cool water would be poured. The joy of sleeping on the terrace was also the done thing with fresh air at night putting them off to sleep. In the days of the Raj, there were railway cabins or suites with big ice boxes kept and replaced at stations, to keep the passengers cool during the harsh weather.

Here we confine ourselves to closed spaces most of the season, not letting any fresh air reach us with all doors shut and no cross-ventilation, we are not getting proper oxygen and infact at times are breathing in stuffy air if the AC has even the slightest of dust particles. It could work adversely by affecting our lungs as we may experience breathing problem and even headaches over a period of time. For older people, their joint pains may increase and lead to rheumatoid arthritis.

The sudden change in temperature when we leave an air conditioned environment for the blazing heat outside, can also put our body at risk. It can lead to cold and cough as the body is not used to such fluctuating temperatures.

So the realistic way to deal with it is to ensure limited use of AC. Try not keeping it on whole night but switching it on just few hours before to cool the room and switch it off as you enter it to sleep. Try and adjust to the season as far as possible as nature has its way and our bodies are more flexible than we think. Eat seasonal fruits and vegetables as they are hydrating, wear cool clothes and don’t defy the season that may actually be good for you. Small wonder that the cons of using AC system outweigh the pros; the article above is aimed towards that direction. Never let sleeplessness adversely impact your mental health with our latex mattress.