By Chrystle Fiedler

Many of us feel guilty about taking a nap. After all, shouldn’t we be doing something more productive? But there’s no need to feel that way. Taking a nap might be one of the best things we can do for ourselves. Harvard researchers report that napping cuts the risk of fatal heart attack by more than 37 percent among men and women.

“This study shows that napping is as important as getting regular exercise, eating right and not smoking,” says Sara C. Mednick, Ph.D., author of Take a Nap! Change Your Life (Workman). Naps are especially important to the 126 million Americans who, according to a National Sleep Foundation poll, suffer from insomnia.

Sleep Power
A daily nap provides other health benefits:

It increases alertness and improves memory, accuracy and motor skills, while reducing stress and anxiety.

It aids in the production of growth hormone, which reduces body fat.

If you’re well rested, you’re less apt to eat high-fat, sugar-rich foods.

Napping bathes the brain with the feel-good brain chemical serotonin and builds immune defenses.

Naps even revitalize libido, since sleep deprivation dampens sex drive and function.

Prime Time
Most people like to take a nap between 1 P.M. and 3 P.M., but you can take one at any time.

“A 15- to 20-minute power nap will make you feel refreshed and alert and improve motor performance because it’s mostly stage 2 sleep,” says Dr. Mednick. The effects of a 20- to 50-minute nap vary depending on when you take it. Nap for 45 minutes in the morning and you’ll have a lighter sleep, including rapid eye movement sleep, which is good for learning and creativity. Nap in the later afternoon and you’ll have more cleansing slow-wave sleep, which will clear your mind. Naps that last between 50 and 90 minutes contain all stages of sleep. As long as your nap lasts less than an hour and a half and you take it three to four hours prior to bedtime, it probably won’t interfere with your nighttime sleep.

The Right Mind-set
You need to carve out time in your schedule to nap. Rest assured that the more you do it, the easier it will become: You can learn how to fall asleep and wake up faster, notes Dr. Mednick.

So, ditch the guilt and enjoy a good nap. You’ll wake up feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the day still ahead.

Writer: Chrystle Fiedler
©REMEDY, Summer 2007

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Chrystle Fiedler is a writer for MediZine, LLC. Robert A. Barnett is Content Director of HealthyUpdates.com, a health education website produced by MediZine, LLC.