Uncle Liu didn't have much to do after retiring, and he developed the habit of taking a nap, often sleeping for several hours after lunch.
However, when Uncle Liu was sleeping soundly at noon that day, he was woken up by his wife, telling him not to continue sleeping, and told him that napping for too long was not good for his health and would increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
This frightened Uncle Liu, he has been sleeping like this for many years, is there something wrong with his body?
1. Who is healthier for people who often nap and never nap?
Taking a nap is a habit that many Chinese people have developed since childhood, taking a nap at noon can not only relieve fatigue, but also make the afternoon work more abundant, but some people have never had the habit of napping, so what is the difference between people who often take a nap and those who never nap?
Academician Zhong Nanshan once said in an interview with CCTV News that he will take a nap for half an hour every day, and napping is a good habit, especially for the afternoon work.
Modern scientific studies have also found that napping can bring a variety of health benefits.
1. The brain is younger
In a joint study published in the journal Sleep Health, conducted by Harvard Medical School, the University of London and the University of the Republic of Uruguay, researchers analyzed data from more than 378,000 participants with an average age of 57 years in the UK Biobank. It was found that there was a causal relationship between frequent napping and larger total brain volume, and that napping slowed the rate at which the brain shrinks with age, helping to keep the brain young.
2. Reduce the risk of dementia
Researchers from Wuhu Fourth People's Hospital in Anhui Province, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Shanghai Mental Health Center published a study in General Psychiatry, analyzing 2,214 healthy elderly people aged 60 years in mainland China, and found that the cognitive ability scores of the elderly in the napping habit group were significantly higher than those in the non-napping habit group, and there were also obvious differences in language, memory and orientation ability.
However, the researchers said that this was only an observational study, and there was no clear cause and effect relationship, and important information such as the specific nap duration and nap time was not clear.
3. Reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease
A study published in the journal Heart pointed out that subjects who took 1~2 lunch breaks per week had a 48% lower chance of stroke/heart failure than those who never took a nap.
4. Helps improve mood
According to a study in Psychiatry & Clinical Neuroscience, the amount of happy and relaxed components increased significantly during the time spent awake after napping. A proper nap is of great help in regulating mood and improving the mental state in the afternoon.
2. Napping may determine lifespan? Napping longer than this should be vigilant
Many elderly people take a nap for a few hours, and when they wake up, they feel more uncomfortable than when they don't sleep, but in fact, napping for too long can also bring a variety of health risks.
In March 2022, researchers from the University of California in the United States published a study in the journal Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia: Journal of the Alzheimer's Disease Association, pointing out that there is a two-way relationship between napping and brain aging.
Excessive napping during the day increases the risk of dementia later in life, and as people age, Alzheimer's disease can also lead to longer daytime naps, creating a vicious cycle of the two. Specifically, people who took more than one hour of napping per day were associated with a 40% increased risk of dementia compared to those who took a nap of < hour per day.
Coincidentally, in April 2023, researchers from the National University of Ireland published a paper in the journal Neurology that compared with subjects who did not nap, napping for more than 1 hour was associated with a 1.88-fold increased risk of stroke.
From the above research, it is not difficult to see that napping right is healthy, sleeping wrong is hurting, especially napping for too long, may increase the risk of dementia and stroke, in this case, how long is the best nap time?
A study published in the European Society of Cardiology by researchers from the University of Huelva in Spain gave the optimal nap length.
The study surveyed more than 20,000 Spanish university graduates. According to different nap times, the subjects were divided into three groups, namely no nap group, nap < 30 minutes, and nap > 30 minutes group, and were followed up for 14 years.
The analysis found that people who took long naps had a 90% increased risk of atrial fibrillation compared to those who took short naps, and those who did not nap did not have an increased risk of atrial fibrillation. According to research, the best nap time is 15~30 minutes.
3. These 3 wrong napping habits, careful sleep hurts the body
Proper napping can bring many health benefits, but you should also pay attention to avoid misunderstandings when napping, these wrong napping habits are likely to be counterproductive.
1. Sleep when you're full
Li Qing, director of the Sleep Center of the Yangtze River Shipping General Hospital, pointed out that there is more food in the stomach after meals, and the gastrointestinal tract will speed up peristalsis to promote digestion, and a large amount of blood will also be concentrated in the gastrointestinal tract. If a horse takes a nap, it will slow down the body's metabolism, which can easily cause digestive disorders.
2. Nap
The posture of napping on the stomach is very unhealthy, and the forward tilt of the neck is opposite to the physiological curvature of the cervical spine, and the neck joint may be deformed and the muscles will be too tired, which is easy to cause cervical spondylosis. And sleeping on your stomach may also lead to insufficient blood supply to the brain, and there will be obvious dizziness, dizziness, tinnitus and other discomforts after waking up.
3. Take a nap too late
Many people take a late nap on weekends and wake up dark, which will disrupt the normal biological clock and delay sleep time at night, which can easily make the next day's mental state worse.
In addition, people with low blood pressure, obesity, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and sleep disorders are generally not recommended to take a nap, otherwise it is easy to aggravate their own discomfort, which will have a greater impact on work and study in the afternoon, which is counterproductive. Obese people take a nap blindly, and it can even induce stroke.
Nap is a supply station-like existence for the body, but it is also necessary to pay attention to the premise that you sleep right, and you must avoid the above misconceptions about napping, and at the same time pay attention to the nap time should not be too long.
Resources:
[1] "Napping is the right way to maintain health, not sleeping right hurts the body!Study finds: people who often nap have a larger brain capacity!". Health Times 2023-09-14
[2] "Study Identifies Optimal Nap Duration, Napping for More Than 30 Minutes Increases the Risk of Atrial Fibrillation by 90%". MediNovi 2023-04-14
[3] "Frequent napping or increasing the risk of high blood pressure?Experts say: napping has many benefits, but not the longer the better", Jimu News 2022-08-31
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