How often do you yawn when you’re getting tired? Do you yawn when other people yawn, too? If you do, you’re not alone. People have hypothesized for years why we yawn, including how it connects to our sleep. Many people believe that yawning improves oxygen intake and that it is tied to our sleep. While many researchers continue to debate the actual function of yawning, there are several studies to explore that provide us with more of an understanding as to why we yawn and why we do so when we’re tired.
In this article, we’ll explore whether yawning can improve oxygen intake and whether it actually enhances sleep quality. We’ll also look at the latest research in the industry so you know why you yawn and why it might just be beneficial after all. Let’s first discuss how yawning impacts the body, including our heart rate, lung volume, and even our muscle tension.
How Yawning Impacts the Body
Yawning is common in most vertebrate animals or those who have a spine. However, there are some interesting findings about how it impacts us as humans and how our body responds after even a single yawn. One research team studied yawning and discovered that our bodies experience an increase in our heart rate, lung volume, and even eye muscle tension following the completion of a yawn (Source: PubMed). So, it’s clear that yawning does a lot for our bodies. In fact, it can even cool our bodies off!
The study also proved that the brain cooling hypothesis is true. In other words, we yawn because we experience an increase in our body’s temperature, namely within the brain. Some studies also show that we yawn because we may be getting a migraine or headache. However, many people are curious about if yawning increases our body’s ability to intake oxygen. According to this study, it doesn’t. After the participants yawned, they experienced an increased respiration period, which didn’t increase any oxygen intake. In fact, it decreased the amount of oxygen that the body was taking in.
So, there you have it: yawning impacts the body by giving us an elevated heart rate in the short term and even increasing our lung volume for a brief moment. However, it does not increase our oxygen levels at all. Even if we intake more oxygen while we yawn, the research shows that we don’t experience a greater intake of oxygen because of our yawning. Even despite this finding, there are some fascinating studies on how yawning is connected to sleep.
The Connection Between Yawning and Sleep
Even though our yawning does not indicate any increases in our oxygen intake, there is a connection between yawning and sleep that must be explored. It’s true that many of us yawn when we are tired, but there’s a reason for this. An article published in Sleep Breath found that yawning is actually triggered by a low-vigilance state of our brain when we are making the transition between being awake and sleeping, whether it’s for the night or for a short duration.
Yet, it’s not just getting sleepy that triggers our yawning. We can also yawn when we wake up, showing that this is a regular part of the transition between resting and being active. Some studies have even suggested that our yawning is not just about us getting sleepier or waking up, but it can indicate a greater, even more rapid, transition to deep sleep (Source: Sleep and Breathing).
Even though yawning is one of the most understudied areas regarding sleep and human behavior, there are clear connections between sleep and yawning. It’s fascinating to think that yawning can be an indicator of our body’s transitions, and it’s even more intriguing to think about the studies that have yet to be conducted. Yet, many people also wonder if it can enhance sleep quality. Fortunately, studies have provided us with an answer!
Does Yawning Enhance Sleep Quality?
Many people might think that yawning can enhance sleep quality because it nonverbally indicates sleep and wake transitions. Unfortunately, the studies show otherwise. A study conducted in Europe on two different groups of snorers showed that yawning frequency and its increased prevalence might be a sign of sleep deprivation rather than one’s ability to get quality rest (Source: European Archies of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology).
Yawning was also correlated with shorter sleep phases in these participants, showing that there is little reason to believe that yawning actually helps us sleep better. Some of the explanations as to why yawning does not improve our sleep quality might lie in what it does to our bodies, as we explored earlier. If our bodies do not take in more oxygen and merely try to cool down the brain, more yawning can actually be an indication of something concerning, like loss of sleep or feeling a little under the weather.
Even though yawning does not help our sleep quality, it can be a great indicator of when we are sleepy and when we are trying to wake up. So, if you find yourself yawning and it’s nearing your bedtime, don’t be afraid to get to bed earlier. Listening to your body and practicing good sleep hygiene will ultimately enhance your sleep quality, even if your frequent yawning won’t.
Final Thoughts on Yawning and Its Connection to Sleep
Yawning has been thought to be connected to sleep and increased oxygen intake, but this is simply not the case. The latest research in the field has shown that yawning affects our bodies, but not in the way that we might have imagined. Furthermore, yawning has little effect on our oxygen intake, but it does tell us when we are tired or transitioning to waking up.
We hope that this article was informative for you and that you learned a great deal about sleep health and how yawning ties into sleep. For more information about sleep health, be sure to check out our blog for regularly posted content to learn more and improve your sleep quality.
