A wholesome lifestyle doesn’t just involve exercise and a healthy diet. It also means getting quality sleep. Good sleep is very important as it gives your body time to recover while also developing a healthy brain. It’s therefore important to have the right conditions that offer you uninterrupted and restful sleep.
You may lack sleep for many reasons such as pain and stress. For this, a good pillow is as important as a good mattress. Your neck and head need good support when you’re asleep, which you can get from a pillow. A buckwheat pillow, also known as a Sobakawa pillow, originates from Japan and is filled with buckwheat hulls. The hulls are compressed to give a firm, comfy feeling for your neck and head.
Advantages Of Using A Buckwheat Pillow
Getting a buckwheat pillow gives you several advantages that could help improve your sleep quality. Here are some ways buckwheat pillows can help:
- Avoid Pains And Aches
Using a very high pillow makes your neck muscles stretch, which can result to back pain due to lack of alignment of the lumbar, cervical, and thoracic spine. This effect causes your body to start adapting an unnatural curvature, resulting to fatigue and pain when waking up. Buckwheat pillows, however, are designed to be neither too high nor too fluffy as you can see in this video:
The buckwheat hulls used in the pillows aren’t bulky, so your spine and neck retain their curvature when using a Sobakawa pillow. Thus, the neck doesn’t experience stiffness because your muscles get good support throughout sleep. The comfort you get from buckwheat pillows helps reduce potential headaches when you wake up. The good alignment also avoids tension at the base of your neck.
- Repellant To Dust Mites
Asthma and allergies can thrive in places where the bed and pillow are conducive environments to dust mites. Dust mites are found in humid places, usually with a temperature of 77°F. To survive, they need shedding of the human skin and moisture. They mostly dwell in beddings, upholstered furniture, and carpeting.
Using a buckwheat pillow or other similar pillows that allow air circulation is believed to reduce dust mite allergies because they don’t create a favorable environment for dust mites to thrive. Pillows made of woven fabric and filled with organic filler allow good airflow. Because they don’t trap moisture, they remain cool and don’t encourage the presence of dust mites.
- Contains Natural Fillers
Polyurethane and polyester aren’t biodegradable; thus, they are harmful to the environment especially when disposed of after they have become too old to be used.
If you’re concerned with how your consumer choices affect the environment, a buckwheat pillow is a better option because buckwheat hulls are natural. Moreover, buckwheat grows without the need for chemicals. They are biodegradable, which means they are compostable. And because the pillows have natural fillers, it’s less likely to cause allergies.
- Could Minimize Snoring
Snoring can be caused by blocked airways, also called obstructive sleep apnea. Depending on how narrow your airwaves are, snoring can worsen. The advantage of buckwheat pillows is they’re stable and don’t sink. You can get yourself the malleable buckwheat pillow which helps to raise your head and open your airwaves.
- Regulates Temperature
One of the reasons why buckwheat pillows are growing in popularity is that they’re good for hot sleepers. They don’t absorb heat; thus, they can keep you in a comfortable temperature throughout the night. The buckwheat hulls aren’t a single mass, rather they are small objects that allow good air circulation within your pillow. As a result, your pillow doesn’t trap moisture and stays dry. Hardly will a buckwheat pillow cause you to sweat, and your temperature is maintained, which helps your body stay cool for a good sleep.
- Has A Mild Smell
Other pillows have no scent and some may smell like plastic or other chemicals from their fillers. On the contrary, buckwheat pillows have a natural smell, which could help you achieve a relaxed mood. This good smell may differ according to the type of pillow. However, all these pillows produce a fresh and soft scent that’s less likely to distract you, regardless of your sleep position.
Conclusion
For some people, an uncomfortable pillow can affect the quality of their sleep. The nature of a buckwheat pillow makes it versatile and moldable, which helps provide a good sleep posture. This in turn, may reduce the chances of waking up cranky and sore. Moreover, the natural materials and the mild fragrance of buckwheat pillows give you a pleasant sleep by reducing allergic reactions and snoring chances.