So you are the type that stays up late entertaining yourself with Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok or cannot just sleep because of anxious thoughts.
Now you’re wondering if a quick lunchtime nap will give you the energy boost you need to power through the rest of the day.
Rebecca Spencer, a sleep science researcher at the University of Massachusetts has opined that it is important to understand that while a midday nap will probably replenish your energy enough to get you through your day, said it won’t necessarily negate the health risks that may come with insufficient sleep at night.
Here’s why.
A survey data carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figured out that more than one-third of adults in the United States don’t get the recommended seven hours or more of sleep every night.
This lack of sleep, experts say, is associated with a range of increased health risks, including obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, and mental distress.
When we sleep throughout the night, we pass through several “sleep cycles” of about 90 minutes. Each is composed of four stages: The first two are considered light sleep, where your muscles relax, your body temperature drops, and your heart rate and breathing slow as you doze off.
The third stage, known as deep sleep, is when your eyes and muscles fully relax and your body does the important work of repairing and building bone, muscle, and other tissues, as well as strengthening the immune system and consolidating and processing memories. Rapid eye movement (or REM) is the last stage of the sleep cycle. It is not as deep as the third stage, but it’s when you’re most likely to dream and is thought to be associated with learning, storing memories, and regulating mood.
Even though a few hours of sleep at night and a nap during the day might add up to six or more hours total, she said, the health benefits don’t add up in the same way. Short naps of less than 90 minutes typically only include the lighter phases of sleep, Spencer said, not the deep, restorative sleep that you usually get throughout the night.
Naps help keep an individual alert and sharp. If you find yourself in need of a nap take it, but keep it short, no more than 30 minutes, so it doesn’t interfere with your next night of sleep.
But if you’re chronically tired or having trouble getting through the day without a nap, you should consider the help of a behavioral sleep specialist.
You are welcome.