The benefits of napping

Do you often take a nap or have time to nap in the middle of the density of activities throughout the day? Be thankful, because according to the National Sleep Foundation study the United States, the siesta is beneficial to humans. Nap for 20-30 minutes can help improve mood, alertness and performance. Some famous people who have a habit of napping: the Prophet Muhammad, Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Napoleon, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and George W. Bush.

There are several types of naps:

• Naps planned (also called nap-prepared) in the form of a nap before you really sleepy. You can use this technique when you know that you will be awake longer than your normal bedtime, or as a mechanism to prevent fatigue more quickly.
• Napping emergency happens when you suddenly feel very tired and can not continue the activity. This type of nap can be used to overcome drowsiness while driving or fatigue while using heavy machinery danberbahaya.
• Napping is a habit that occurs when someone makes a nap at the same time each day. Young children may sleep at the same time each afternoon or adult short nap after lunch every day.

Tips nap of the U.S. National Sleep Foundation:

• A short nap (20-30 minutes) is usually recommended for short-term alertness. This type of nap provides significant benefit for improved alertness and performance without making groggy or interfere with nighttime sleep.
• The situation around you can greatly affect your ability to fall asleep. Make sure that you have a resting place to lie down and that the temperature in the room comfortable. Try to limit the number of voices heard and the level of incoming light. While some studies show that spending time in bed can be beneficial, it would be better still asleep.
• If you nap too late, it can affect your nighttime sleep patterns and give trouble to sleep at your usual bedtime. If you nap too early, your body may not be ready for sleep.

The benefits of napping by the U.S. National Sleep Foundation:

• Naps can restore alertness, enhance performance and reduce errors and accidents. A study at NASA to the military pilots and astronauts who are sleepy found that napping for 40 minutes to improve performance by 34% and alertness by 100%.
• Naps can increase alertness directly at the time after a nap and may extend the alert several hours later in the day.
• Naps are scheduled also been determined for those who suffer from narcolepsy, a chronic sleep disorder that is marked daytime sleepiness is excessive and can even fall asleep at inappropriate times.
• Naps can provide a psychological benefit. Napping can be a simple luxury vacations and fun. Naps can be an easy way to relaxation and rejuvenation.

Most people realize that driving while drowsy is extremely dangerous. However, many drivers continue driving when they feel sleepy while risky, putting themselves and others in danger. While a full night sleep before driving is an ideal thing, a short nap before driving can reduce a person's risk of accident due to sleepiness. Experts also recommend a bed if you feel sleepy while driving, you should immediately pulled into a rest area, drinking beverages that contain caffeine and nap for 20 minutes.

Shift work can cause fatigue and impaired performance, especially for night shift workers. In the study in 2006, researchers at the Sleep Medicine and Research Center in cooperation with St. St. John's Mercy Medical Center and St.. Luke's Hospital in suburban St. Louis, MO, look at the effectiveness of naps and caffeine to cope with sleepiness during night shift. They found that both the nap and caffeine both increase alertness and performance among night shift workers and that a combination of nap and caffeine has the most beneficial effect.

James K. Walsh, PhD, a researcher in the study, explained, "Because the body's tendency to sleep at night, terjada and ability to remain productive at night shift can be a challenging thing, even if you have enough sleep during the day." " nap before work combined with consuming caffeine at work is an effective strategy to stay awake in the night shift. "

Negative effects

Although it has many benefits, a nap is not always the best option for everyone. For example, some people who can not sleep anywhere except in their own bed, take a nap at the office or at any place it is not possible for them. Other people who have problems to sleep in the daytime; it can be because certain individuals are more sensitive to daylight than the others - that is, people who feel more sleepy and easier to sleep during the day. Here are some of the negative effects of naps:

• Naps can cause a person to experience sleep inertia, especially if more than 10-20 minutes. Sleep inertia is defined as a feeling groggy and disorientation caused by the wake from a deep sleep. Although this condition lasted only a few minutes to half an hour, it can be harmful for people who have to move immediately after waking from a nap. A decrease of conditions and post-nap disorientation experienced more severe and lasts longer, the less people sleep or nap for longer periods.
• Naps can also have negative effects on other sleep time. Nap long or too late can adversely affect the period and quality of sleep at night. If you have trouble sleeping at night, sleeping during the day would only strengthen such difficulties.
• A research indicates that napping is associated with an increased risk of heart failure in people who are already at risk.

Stigma

Although research indicates that napping is a useful way to reduce fatigue, there is still a stigma-stigma associated with napping :

-  Napping indicate the nature lazy, lacking ambition, and low standards.

-  Napping is only for children, the sick and the elderly.

Although the statements above one, there are still many people who need to be educated about the benefits of napping.

Current research in the journal Sleep research tested benefits based on length of nap nap and no nap. The results showed that napping for 10 minutes to give the greatest benefit in reducing sleepiness and improve cognitive performance. Nap for 30 minutes or more will allow the cause sleep inertia, which is experiencing a period that sometimes occurs after a groggy sleep.

Currently you may be thinking of ways to incorporate a nap in the schedule of your daily routine. Remember that enough sleep regularly is the best way to stay awake and in the best condition. But when fatigue comes, a short nap can work wonders for your mental and physical stamina. 

Source : flixya

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