Has this been a long day? If you've been so tired at work, in school or doing the household chores, you deserve a break-you deserve to doze off, the earliest you want. It's the National Napping Day, after all! Technically, this celebration was yesterday but it's far from over. If you missed celebrating it exactly on the day itself, you can still do so-right now.
Sometimes, it can be challenging to find time rejuvenating and recovering in the middle of everyday responsibilities. However, napping fosters several advantages that can help one level up his overall productivity and health. This mean then that, if you can relate to this, here's no reason for you to feel, guilty that you consider yourself lazy just because you're indulging in, and enjoying your short 'me time.'
5 Reasons why Napping is Important
Do you know that lack of sleep can result in overeating because insufficient sleep is perceived to arouse hunger and defeat hormone signals that tells you you're already full? Surely you wouldn't want to overeat as this, according to study, can be a high risk for sleep disorders and obesity. Make napping a habit, to keep you away from such an illness. Here are 5 good reasons why you should take a nap, even just a few minutes of your busy day.
Napping lets you recover from an hour of sleep you just lost
You're not the only one affected by the "lurching forward of the clock" on Sunday for the Daylight Saving Time. In 1999, Boston University professor, Dr. William Anthony, and his wife Camille, first introduced the National Napping Day in an initiative to overcome the American cultural preconception against napping, and to promote awareness on how beneficial it is to catch up on quality sleep. Anthony said, they figured out, this would be quite an ideal day of celebrating the vitality of napping since everyone is an hour "more sleep-deprived than usual."
Napping serves as a charger for your brains batteries
According to study, if you don't stick to a regular sleep schedule, sticking to a regular sleep schedule, then, your health is suffering. Additionally, a study conducted at NASA on astronauts and drowsy military pilots discovered that a 40-minute nap could enhance by 34%, and alertness by 100%, according to non-profit sleep science and health organization, National Sleep Foundation.
Regular napping may result in lowering of risks for heart problems
Napping at least once or twice each week can help lower the risk of strokes or heart attack. This was according to a study which journal, Heart, published in 2019. After studying over 3,400 people aged 35 to 75 years old for slightly over five years, the researchers found that people indulging in occasional napping at least twice a week for five minutes to one hour were 48% less likely to suffer from heart attack, heart failure or stroke compared to those who didn't totally take a nap.
Napping can help you get in shape
A recent research study concentrating in women found that more sleep-deprived people, particularly women, were more possibly to consume fatty foods, added sugar and caffeine. As earlier mentioned, lack of sleep can result in overeating due to inadequate sleep that "stimulates hunger and defeats the hormone signals that communicate fullness." Notably, overeating is usually linked with weight gain. Therefore, if you regularly nap and don't eat more than what you need, it will help you get in shape, not to mention achieve good health.
Napping is Creativity booster
Science and health experts have it that the right side of a human brain may experience what they call mental spark during a nap. In addition, the researchers show this right side as the hemisphere that's most linked with creative works, such as thinking and visualization. He left side of the brain, on the other hand, is more analytic.