10 Indoor Houseplants That Can Give You a Good Night's Sleep

Do houseplants really clean the air? If so, what are the best sleep-boosting indoor plants?

Posted on

4 March 2021

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If you have a busy and stressful lifestyle, you would know how challenging it can be to get a good night's rest.

An ideal way to get better sleep is by bringing plants into your home. A good number of interior decor experts and stylists would claim that adding real plants into your sleeping space can help improve your home's air quality and aid in sleeping well.

Wait, pause. But here's what science says: the power of these indoor plants has been terribly overestimated. Popular internet searches will hit you with phrases such as 'top houseplants that can purify your air or 'researchers from NASA'.

"The scientific literature shows that indoor houseplants — as would be typically implemented in a person’s home — do very little to clean the air," a Portland State University professor told The Atlantic.

Another report, funded by NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America, begged to differ. Common houseplants can be "a promising, economical solution to indoor air pollution," according to NASA scientist Bill Wolverton.

So why are there all these contradictions? Let us explain...

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Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are types of chemical gases that can negatively impact our health. These are typically found in the household such as:

Paints
Disinfectants
Air fresheners
Glues and permanent markers
Tobacco smoke
Ceaners, etc.

Houseplants seem to be able to clean out VOCs, but not by significant amounts. In fact, you’d have to actually keep between 10 to 1,000 plants per meter squared in a room for them to even work by a smudge.

This might sound like a letdown to all the #PlantParents out there... but the good news is that these vegetations aren't just taking up space and dirhams to do nothing either.

Other studies suggest that keeping houseplants can improve our workplace productivity and even lower stress and anxiety.

Not too bad, right? The improved productivity and mental wellbeing would definitely help us sleep better. Here is our top 10 list of sleep-improving houseplants to keep in your bedroom...