58-year-old Lao Li has always been a health expert, going to bed early and getting up early every day, and taking a nap after eating at noon.
Recently, Lao Li found that something was wrong with his body, especially when he woke up from a nap every day, he felt a headache and was dizzy.
Sometimes I can't even wake up, so I can only continue to lie down on the bed. This frightened him, suspected that there was something wrong with his body, and quickly went to the hospital for examination.
Upon inquiry, the doctor learned that Lao Li took a long nap every day, often sleeping for more than an hour, and he went to sleep immediately after eating, which was probably the main reason for Lao Li's discomfort.
This situation made Lao Li feel very surprised, didn't they all say that napping is good for the body?
Is napping a bad thing or a healthy lifestyle?
Napping hurts the body in the end,
Or a healthy lifestyle?
Previously, a research institute did a survey on the lunch break habits of Chinese people, and the results showed that 67.38% of people often take lunch breaks, 30.49% of people take occasional lunch breaks, and only 2.13% never take lunch breaks.
In fact, many people don't know that napping is actually a "just need" of the body!
In 1986, an experiment on the rhythm of human sleep and wakefulness showed that a person who is fully awake can only last about 4 hours, and he will feel sleepy every 4 hours. During the day, the most sleepy times are 1~4 a.m. and 1~4 p.m.
During these two periods, the biological clock regulates the body clock, and people feel very sleepy and need to go to sleep to regain energy and strength.
A proper nap can help relieve fatigue and restore energy, so that you can be more productive in your afternoon work and study.
Although napping is a human need, the wrong napping habit can cause harm.
Studies have found that in middle-aged and older adults, subjects who nap for ≥ 90 minutes a day have a significantly higher risk of developing hypertension than those who do not.
The study, which ran for four years, found that those who took a nap ≥ 90 minutes had an 18% higher risk of developing high blood pressure at the end of the follow-up.
In 2020, the annual meeting of the European Cardiovascular Society presented data from a study conducted by researchers from the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University in mainland China, who analyzed data from more than 20 studies involving 310,000 subjects.
The results showed that > 60 minutes of napping was associated with a 30% higher risk of all-cause mortality and a 34% higher risk of cardiovascular disease than those who did not nap.
These studies show that too long nap time may bring greater health risks, and it is necessary to pay attention to this and control the nap time every day.
People who take a proper nap,
These 3 benefits will gradually become apparent
Academician Zhong Nanshan said that napping is an important gas station for the body, and taking a half-hour lunch break every day can have a decisive impact on the afternoon work, and the energy can be significantly better after taking a nap.
Proper napping can bring these benefits to the body:
1. Boost immunity: Studies have shown that people can help repair their immune system while they are asleep. At 1 p.m. is the peak time for sleep, when napping helps to enhance the activity of immune cells and improve immunity.
2. Delay aging and protect cardiovascular health: In the state of sleep, many proteins can be synthesized in the body, which is helpful for delaying aging. In addition, studies have found that proper napping can significantly reduce the risk of sudden death from heart disease and protect cardiovascular health.
3. Promote brain cell repair: Sleep helps the recovery of brain cells, even a short nap can allow the brain to rest, enhance memory and restore its function.
How long is a good nap?
The premise of the benefits of napping is that the time is right, so how long is the most suitable nap time?
Wu Hao, a member of the General Medicine Professional Committee of the Beijing Neurological Association, pointed out that it is generally recommended to take a nap between 12~13 o'clock at noon. It is recommended to keep the nap time at 15~30 minutes, and the longest should not exceed 60 minutes.
In addition to the amount of napping that needs to be controlled, the amount of sleep at night also needs to be controlled, which has been illustrated in several studies:
Researchers at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom followed 74 participants for 11 years and found that those who slept > 9 hours a day had a 25 percent increased risk of death compared to others, while researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, found that those who slept < five hours a day had a 15 percent increased risk of death. This may be due to the fact that short sleep can disrupt the biorhythms of the mitochondria, resulting in a decrease in their quality and quantity, which in turn affects normal lifespan.
It is recommended that adults maintain 7~9 hours of sleep per day, and the elderly can appropriately shorten it to 7~8 hours. Of course, whether the sleep duration is appropriate depends mainly on your own state, and you can feel good after waking up.
Finally, in addition to the length of time, the elderly should also pay attention to these three points during napping: do not lie down directly after lunch, take a suitable sleeping position such as head high and foot low, right side lying position during nap, and it is recommended to carry out light activities and replenish water in time after waking up.
Sleep is very important for health, but it is not the case that the longer the sleep, the better, because too much sleep can threaten health.