After a busy morning, my brain was groggy, and I was looking forward to sleeping for a while at noon. Some people sleep for more than 1 hour as soon as they sleep, and some people wake up after squinting for a few minutes, which of these two ways of napping is better?
Recently, a study published in the United States "Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia: Alzheimer's Association Journal" showed that napping too long is not a good thing, and napping more than 1 hour will increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease by 40%.
How long is it appropriate to sleep at noon? Why do you sleep for a long time and get groggy? Life Times (search for "LT0385" in WeChat to follow) combines with the research to interview experts and tell you how your body prefers to take a nap.
Experts interviewed
Guo Xiheng, director of the Sleep Respiratory Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital
Take a nap too long and the idiot "pull each other's hind legs"
Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco and Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard Medical School tracked and analyzed the nap times and frequencies of 1401 participants. Participants were asked to wear sleep detection devices.
The research team analyzed and found a potential two-way link between napping and Alzheimer's disease: too many naps, too long, increased the risk of future Alzheimer's disease; And Alzheimer's disease can also cause patients to take excessive naps during the day. Specifically:
Those who nap more than 1 hour a day had a 40 percent higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease compared to those who nap less than 1 hour a day, regardless of the quality of their sleep at night;
As age and Alzheimer's disease progresses, so does the time and frequency of naps, especially for older adults who are already showing symptoms of dementia.
Ultimately, the researchers described the relationship between too long naps and cognition as a "vicious circle."
Relationship between daytime naps and Alzheimer's disease
How to avoid this "vicious circle"?
Leng Yue, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, said it is best to limit the nap time to 15 to 20 minutes before 15 o'clock to obtain the maximum health benefits of napping and prevent damage to nighttime sleep.
In addition, caregivers of older adults and Alzheimer's patients should be vigilant and advised to inform their doctors in a timely manner if they notice an increase in nap time or frequency.
The researchers say the sharp increase in nap times and frequencies appears to be a particularly important signal for Alzheimer's disease. This signal helps us better understand the role of sleep in the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
Take a nap for 20 minutes to benefit the most
Since sleeping too much is not conducive to cognitive health, how long is it appropriate to sleep at noon? Why do you get groggy after sleeping for a long time?
In general, a full sleep cycle is about 90 minutes. Each cycle is divided into five stages: falling asleep, light sleep, deep sleep, deep sleep and rapid eye movement.
Nick Littlehalls, former president of the British Sleep Association, said: "When people wake up from a light sleep, they are usually refreshed; when they wake up during a deep sleep, they are prone to feel tired.
Combined with the sleep cycle, for most people, taking a 10- to 20-minute nap is the most recommended.
However, different nap durations will bring different repair effects to the body, and you can choose the appropriate length of time according to your personal needs:
10 to 15 minutes, easy to wake up quickly
The Study published in the American "Sleep" magazine found that the "wakeness" of short sleep of about 10 minutes is the best, and this effect is still obvious 2 to 2.5 hours after napping.
This fast-charging nap helps to quickly increase alertness and helps restore energy to the body.
20 to 30 minutes to help protect the heart
NASA scientists found that a 24-minute nap improved work performance by 34 percent and the overall sensitivity of the mind by 54 percent.
This length also helps slow down the heart rate and has the effect of protecting the heart.
40 minutes, suitable for people who need to catch up on sleep
If you haven't slept well the night before and you need to concentrate during the day, a 40-minute nap can better recharge your brain.
Greater than 40 minutes, easy to get tired after waking up
If you want to sleep for 40 to 45 minutes, it is best to set an alarm. Because the nap is more than 45 minutes, it will enter a deep sleep, and it is easy to cause the body to be tired and confused after waking up due to "sleep inertia".
3 Keys to Scientific Naps
A high-quality nap can help you improve your vitality, and some simple preparation can bring good repair to the body.
Posture
In the eyes of doctors, there is a health ranking of nap postures, the most recommended sleeping position is to sleep lying down, and the least recommended is to sleep on your stomach.
Lie in bed and sleep
The ideal position is to lie flat on a bed and fall asleep on a pillow of moderate height, so that all parts of the spine can be effectively relaxed and the spine can be in a relatively stable position.
Unfold the cot to sleep
Office workers can buy a lightweight folding bed to put in the office, which can also help maintain spinal stability.
Sleep on your back
There is no way to take a lunch break from a folding bed, so you can choose to rest on the back of an office chair. Note that the head should be rested on the neck pillow of the chair; if the office chair is not equipped with a neck pillow, you can wear a U-shaped pillow.
Snooze on your stomach
Lying on your stomach is the least recommended nap position, which is easy to cause cerebral ischemia, and the muscles at the back of the neck cannot be relaxed, affecting the physiological curvature of the cervical spine. Sleeping on your stomach can also easily lead to flatulence, affecting breathing, blood circulation and nerve conduction, making your arms and hands tingle and tingle.
People
Not everyone is required to take a nap, and it should vary from person to person depending on physical condition and routine.
People who do not sleep well at night, or are often plagued by insomnia, should not take a nap, otherwise it will aggravate insomnia at night.
Sleep for seven or eight hours at night, and people who still feel sleepy during the day, it is best not to go to sleep by themselves, because sleeping too much is also a kind of sleep disorder, and napping will even aggravate the symptoms.
There are some that are not suitable for napping, and of course, there are also those that need to take a nap.
Occasionally people who do not get enough sleep due to overtime work at night or other reasons usually need to make up for it by taking a nap during the day.
People who are too nervous about working and studying during the day, such as students, drivers, etc., if they can take a nap at noon, can achieve the effect of relieving tension and promoting memory.
Time period
After 3 pm, it is not recommended to take a nap again, so as not to affect the sleep at night and disturb the biological clock.
On the whole, people who have nap habits and are healthy do not need to struggle with how long to sleep, as long as they can make their energy more energetic after waking up, it is a good nap. ▲
Editor of this issue: Zheng Ronghua
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