A wise person once said, “sleep is love, sleep is life!”.
And, we couldn’t agree more!
Whether you are tired or having a bad day, sleep is something that can elevate your mood and give you a fresh start.
Here, we aren’t just talking about a peaceful night sleep, but magical power naps as well that can change the course of your day if done properly.
Are you having doubts?!
Well, we’re sure you won’t have any after reading these 7 surprising fun facts about naps.
Let’s get started!
A nap is a brief period of sleep that is typically taken during the day, either at work, on your favorite couch at home, or anywhere else that is comfortable for you to nap.
According to the Pew Research Center, 34 percent of Americans nap on a typical day, with men taking more naps than women.
The Demography of Napping shows that napping is quite common among elderly people, with a total of 41% of men ages 50 and 28% of women on the same age bracket say they are taking naps.
Napping is also common in newborn babies, who can take up to 5 naps per day, for a total of 7-9 nap hours.
It decreases as they reach early childhood, having a total of 2-3 nap hours per day.
Because kids are all different, the number of hours spent napping or sleeping may differ.
For years, sleep experts are digging more information about naps, including how it refreshens our mood and the benefits of taking a nap especially for people experiencing sleep disorders such as excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and narcolepsy.
Furthermore, napping boosts productivity and energy levels.
It can help some people relax or recharge their minds.
The impact of a nap varies from person to person, but understanding the role of napping can be beneficial to you in the long run.
The following are the different types of naps and their functions in your daily napping routine:
It’s a well-known fact that stress levels are related to sleep.
Just as they increase with a bad night rest, they can go down with a refreshing power nap.
The Sorbonne University in Paris conducted a study on this, and its head researcher found that a 30-minute nap can reverse the hormonal damage done by a single poor night sleep.
Various tests run on the participants found that it brings back norepinephrine, a stress hormone, to its normal levels, which goes up after an irregular sleep.
We’re sure many of you would have counted sheep on those nights whose days were spent napping.
Napping too much can leave you feeling sleepy after you get up.
This is because naps disrupt our sleeping cycle if they’re over 30 minutes long.
Bad naps, defined as naps shorter than 20 minutes and longer than 40 minutes, cause sleep inertia, leave you confused, tired, and groggy, and deprive you of a restful night’s sleep.
Excessive napping can also result to a possible health condition and poor cognitive functioning.
If you believe that naps are interfering with your nighttime sleep, it is best to refrain from taking a nap.
You can also try to get some bright light exposure in exchange for a nap to help you get through the day or drink coffee before your lunch break to feel more alert.
Otherwise, if you really want to get the most out of your nap, limit your naps to 10 to 20 minutes.
Scientists swear by this technique!
How many of you adore it when your cat or dog randomly falls asleep on the couch?!
We bet, everyone!
Your cat or dog isn’t the only one that loves to nap, the animal kingdom is full of sleep-lovers.
Let’s talk about the top ones:
It’s a no brainer!
Quality sleep is essential for good physical and mental health.
The keyword here is quality because long hours of disturbed sleep won’t give you peace, refreshment, and alertness, as a 20-minute power nap can do if done properly.
Sufficient sleep strengthens your immune system.
If you missed out on a good night sleep due to any reason, then have a 20 to 40 minutes nap to overcome the increase of cytokines, cortisol, and norepinephrine.
Did we go overboard with the biology jargon?
Well, cytokines cause inflammation, whereas, cortisol and norepinephrine are stress hormones.
Many students joke about falling asleep whenever they try to study (we don’t blame them, course books are the best lullaby ever!).
The good news is, this strategy isn’t as bad as it sounds because sleep opens up your mind and regulates it for better learning and understanding.
This is because one of its main functions is to consolidate your memory, so when you take a power nap, it assists you in memorizing knowledge faster and in retaining it for longer periods of time.
In addition to enhancing learning, naps improve alertness, which in turn, makes solving tricky coursework’ assignments easier.
Did you know that…
