How to plan the perfect afternoon nap – and wake up feeling better than ever
New research reveals that sticking to the siesta sweet spot can be good for your health. explains
We all know the feeling: you’re sitting at your desk, on a train or (worst of all) at some kind of matinee performance when your eyelids begin to droop uncontrollably. You pinch your arm to stay awake but soon your head is lolling, and an incoming nap feels all but inevitable. In fact, one of the great joys of a holiday is that it’s the rare occasion when a siesta is not only acceptable but actively encouraged.
Unlike our Mediterranean cousins, here in Britain we are largely suspicious of the adult nap (hammock by the pool and post-Sunday-lunch snooze excluded). But science has always been divided as to whether a siesta is a healthy way of rebooting your system at the lowest point of the day, or a circadian rhythm disrupting menace.
Now, a new study in Spain (where else?) has linked naps that last longer than 30 minutes to an increase in obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes; conversely, participants who slept for less than half an hour were found to have improved blood pressure and memory. The research, which was done by Harvard Business School, implied that this was because people who slept too long in the day had over-eaten at lunch and were less likely to be getting their eight hours at night.
Still, for many, naps remain one of life’s great pleasures – and happily it seems as if fears over them are exaggerated, but only if you get the timing spot on. Here is the anatomy of the perfect mid-afternoon snooze.
Why do we feel the need to nod off?
While there are a number of medical reasons for taking a nap, many people do it for the sheer enjoyment of nodding off for 10 minutes in the middle of the day. And why not? “We all have very different systems and some people’s bodies love a light snooze, even if they are perfectly healthy and not at all sleep deprived,” says Sophie Bostock, founder of the Sleep Scientist. “If it works with your schedule, don’t stop.”
Our energy naturally dips between 1pm and 3pm due to the way our circadian rhythms function, and that’s the time we are most likely to nod off. You are also far more likely to nap if you’re ill or have slept badly, or have simply eaten too much at lunch.
Aside from too much rosé at lunch, holiday napping is usually our bodies recovering from months of sleep deprivation. “It’s often only when we slow down and stop relying on stress hormones that the latent sleep debt takes over,” says Bostock. “Although most people will start feeling more energised after a few days away.”
What are the benefits of a siesta?
Done right, a good nap is an important bodily function. “It helps boost memory consolidation, the process of converting shortterm memories into long-term memories,” says Michael Breus, founder of the Sleep Doctor, “and it may have a noticeable effect on lifting your mood for the rest of the day.” Over years of research, he has also discovered that a siesta can promote late afternoon learning, and that teenagers who were allowed a quick sleep after lunch performed better academically for the rest of the day.
What are the downsides?
“Having prolonged naps in the day disrupts circadian rhythms, a problem because we get our most
restorative sleep at night,” says Bostock. Conversely, this makes siestas a better fit for people who sleep well at night than those who don’t. “Too much napping, especially later in the day, reduces sleep drive, which is the need for sleep that grows stronger the longer you stay awake. This can be an issue for people who regularly have trouble falling asleep,” says Breus.
But most of the negative health outcomes around a snooze come from the fact that the people who are unwell or who aren’t rested are usually the ones who have a greater drive to sleep in the afternoon. “Results can imply that napping is unhealthy, but it is more likely that the subjects who sleep a lot in the day are deeply fatigued for medical reasons.”
How long should a power nap be?
Between 10 and 30 minutes for a healthy adult. Any longer than that and you are moving from stage one and two of sleep – both of which promote energy and focus – into stage three, which is very restorative at night but which is difficult to wake up from in the day.
“But if you have young children or are doing shift work,” says Bostock, “then it is a good strategy to catch up on as much sleep as you can.”
How can I prevent feeling groggy after a snooze?
Most of us have woken up from a deep afternoon sleep feeling more bleary-eyed than we did before. “The intense grogginess comes from sleep inertia, which is a sleep cycle that begins after 25 minutes and which takes up to an hour to recover from if you are woken up during it,” says Bostock. Set an alarm – and if you have an urge to sleep that deeply in the day, try going to bed earlier in the evenings.