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Science has uncovered a fix for the mid-afternoon slump, and it isn’t coffee. A short afternoon nap, something that many cultures have done for thousands of years, may be the key to unlocking focus, energy, creativity, and mental and physical performance.
Beyond the immediate benefits of a midday snooze, the BBC reports that, over the course of a lifetime, frequent nappers tend to be healthier and more cognitively fit. Looking to get started with snoozing? Here are the benefits of an afternoon nap and guidelines for optimal napping.
Napping is natural
Many cultures have always incorporated late-afternoon shut-eye into their days, from the Spanish siesta to the Japanese hirune which translates to afternoon nap.
And, it’s not just humans. Naps are common in the animal kingdom as well. Several animals even replace their nightly sleep with frequent naps. Some penguin species, for example, take up to 10,000 micro-naps, each an average of four seconds long, per day.
When it comes to humans, of course, nodding off for a few minutes in the afternoon can’t replace a good night’s sleep, Colin Espie, a professor of sleep medicine at the University of Oxford tells BBC. However, frequent naps, alongside sufficient nightly sleep are associated with a number of benefits from brain health to heart health to mood and performance.
Good for your brain
A study from the University College London and the University of the Republic in Uruguay looked at the sleep habits of 35,000 participants, ages 40-69. Researchers found that those who reported taking regular naps, several times a week, had brains up to 0.9 cubic inches larger than those who didn’t. The brain shrinks as it ages over the course of a lifetime and 0.9 cubic inches is equivalent to 3-6 years of brain aging.
Victoria Garfield, a lead author on the study told BBC, “The big finding was that daytime napping is, quite robustly, causally linked to having a larger brain volume. “People who have a smaller brain volume are more likely to have higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, or a diagnosis of sleep apnea… many have cardiovascular disease,” Garfield added.
Another study, published in Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, that focused on infants, found that napping isn’t just beneficial for the brains of middle-aged adults. The study found that babies were able to learn new skills and master tasks more efficiently if they slept after practicing the tasks.
Napping is good for your overall health
Beyond brain health, MedicalNewsToday shares, habitual snoozing is associated with a host of other benefits. Napping can boost memory, improve logic, jumpstart creativity, help with cognitive performance, and even enhance physical health.
A study, published in BMJ journals, followed participants over the course of eight years and found that those who napped on a regular basis were less likely to suffer from heart disease or strokes.
Kevin Morgan, a sleep expert at the University of Loughborough, tells BBC that naps can also boost reaction time and athletic performance. ”Napping is huge in sports science at the moment,” Morgan explains. ”Coaches want to bottle napping and give it to their athletes. They want to treat it as a sort of dietary supplement.”
Too much of a good thing?
That being said, if someone finds themselves nodding off for more than 30 minutes on a daily basis or more than once per day, the fatigue could be due to a health-related condition and they should speak to a doctor.
The American Heart Association cautions that daily naps of over an hour are associated with an increased risk of heart disease, which is probably because health conditions that affect the heart also affect energy and wakefulness.
Additionally, Espie tells BBC that if you find yourself nodding off during the day on a regular basis, it could be a sign they aren’t getting enough sleep at night. "Napping is usually a sign that you're not getting sufficient sleep," Espie says, noting that a short nap doesn’t allow the sleeper enough time in the deep sleep stage.
“We need the deep sleep to repair cells, tissues, and muscles, and to boost optimal mental and physical and cognitive health,” Epsie adds. “A short nap doesn’t give you that deep sleep stage. Sleep is nature's medicine. We're highly evolved and we need a lot of brain power. That's why we need a lot of sleep at night.”
That’s one reason why sleep experts put the optimal time for napping at 2-4 pm. Falling asleep in the morning can be difficult due to the circadian rhythm, and taking later afternoon naps can interfere with falling asleep at night.
Long naps vs short naps
Experts are divided on how long to catnap for, according to Scientific American. Some, like Dr. Sara Mednick, a psychologist at the University of California, Riverside, claims that a 90-minute nap is equivalent to an eight-hour night’s sleep.
But, the majority of experts recommend sleeping for under 20 minutes. Sleeping for longer can lead to the sleeper waking up in the middle of the deep sleep part of the cycle. This causes what is called sleep inertia, which is that groggy feeling. Sleep inertia can last for hours and make it more difficult to focus and work.
In an interview with Scientific American Lydia Denworth, a science of health columnist shares that, “There is real power to napping. And though it does depend how long you do it and when you do it and a bunch of things, my napping turns out to fit right in the sweet spot. And so now I feel quite pleased that I have the ability to nap and that it refreshes me in the way that I always felt that it did.” So, it seems like, according to science, the short, afternoon siesta is here to stay.
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