You may have heard of white noise, or if you use TikTok, you may have seen users sharing their sleep hacks with brown, green, or even blue noise. These sounds can benefit sleep by blocking out bothersome noises and relax the mind with its constant, static-like tones. White noise isn’t the only sonic hue—pink, blue, grey, and brown all affect listeners in different ways, and there is increasing evidence to support the sleep-inducing qualities of these sounds.
Sleep experts at Best Mattress Brand have helped to clarify the color confusion and advise anyone who may struggle to sleep on the best noise to help them drift off.
White Noise
White noise is an audible sound frequency that can help you relax and encourage a good night’s sleep. In a recent study, adults fell asleep 38 percent faster while listening to white noise. Other recent studies have continued to find white noise positively affects sleep. That’s why it’s often recommended for sleeping difficulties and sleep disorders like insomnia.
Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC8T7sqxUdU
Pink Noise
The problem with white noise is that all the frequencies come through at the same intensity. Pink noise attempts to solve this issue for people who find white noise too unpleasant by creating a louder low frequency with softer high ends, this makes it slightly smoother than white noise. Studies have shown that pink noise not only aids people in getting to sleep but also has positive influences in supporting deep sleep and memory.
Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SHf6wmX5MU
Brown Noise
Brown noise has been at the forefront of online discussions recently, with sleep hacks such as those trending on TikTok garnering 84.3 million views for videos featuring the hashtag. Brown noise is a deeper and stronger tone. The lower frequencies can block out external noise while soothing the mind and making it easier for people to sleep. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence to suggest that brown noise can help block out the internal monologue that many people experience, especially at night when we have no other distractions to keep our minds from wandering.
Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqzGzwTY-6w&t=1s
Green Noise
Green noise is a variation of white noise in the middle of the spectrum. As the name insinuates, it utilizes similar sounds to that you may hear in nature. Green noise can help restore calm and promote relaxation. It does this by providing a “sound mask” to other ideas, feelings, sensations, and sensory experiences. Because green noise is more pleasing, it may be a more appealing choice than the typical white noise. Much like brown noise, green has been taking social media by storm as a new TikTok sleep trend as many people share their positive experiences utilizing it for a better night’s sleep.
Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngTTSLW3Uq8
Blue Noise
The energy of blue noise is primarily concentrated at the high-frequency end, so there are very few deep tones to balance it out. It almost sounds like water spraying out of a hose nozzle. Blue noise performs a wonderful job of severely disguising outside noises if you’re not sensitive to high-pitched sounds. There has been little scientific research into the effectiveness of blue noise, in comparison to its color wheel counterparts. However, that’s not to say it’s not worth trying if some of the other sounds aren’t as useful.
Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oab1IUbRnXY
According to experts at Best Mattress Brand, one in five people struggle to get to sleep, and a lack of sleep can have many negative impacts on mental and physical health. Colored noises might be the trick to help you finally get a good night’s sleep. White noise is the most researched and popular. However, it may not be suited to many people, and thus research highlights the other colors you can try that may be more sleep inducing than white noise.
Along with the noise, it is recommended that you engage in a healthy bedtime routine, such as avoiding screens 30 minutes before bed, eating good foods, and optimizing your sleep space to maximize the effectiveness of these sleep aids. Sleep is key to living a healthy life, and these noises could help you get the sleep that your body and mind need.
