The Virtues of Napping

Napping is Natural

We all have a built-in, physiological desire for a nap in the afternoon. When researchers had volunteers spend time in an underground room with no clocks or clues as to day or night and told them to sleep whenever they wanted, the subjects slept in two cycles: a longer session at night and a shorter period—a nap—during the day.

Fortunately, the myth that napping is wasted time may be changing, thanks to well-documented studies showing that short snoozes can improve mood, performance, and health. For example, nap-loving Latin Americans and Europeans usually score better on tests that measure stress than North Americans.

What’s more, studies at the University of California at San Diego show that the sooner you can recover from modest sleep losses, the faster you restore your immune response to normal and the better you are at problem solving.

Corporation Wakes Up

Several studies, including one conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health, have found that short power naps increase concentration and counteract stress, another immune-system depressor. That may explain why people who nap are not only more productive at work, they are absent less often.

Companies such as Nike, Ben & Jerry's have installed nap areas and encourage employees to use them. And ever since scientist Mark Rosekind, Ph.D., completed studies showing that pilots who take 40-minute sleep breaks on long flights fare better on vigilance, alertness, and decision-making tests, several European airlines now require their pilots to take time out for a mid-flight snooze. The National EMS Pilots Association NEMSPA is also recommending that emergency medical service pilots be allowed to sleep on duty.

Napping for Shift Workers

Naps also can improve health and most other aspects of life for the 2 million Canadians whose work schedules require them to be awake for night shifts or rotating shifts. Due to a preset morning waking mechanism in the body’s internal clock, many shift workers find it hard to sleep past noon even after an overnight shift.

By supplementing their morning sleep with a 15- to 20-minute nap before leaving for work, they can minimize their level of sleep deprivation.

A combination of naps and caffeine may provide the most benefits, according to a 2006 study at the Sleep Medicine and Research Center affiliated with St. John's Mercy Medical Center and St. Luke's Hospital in suburban St. Louis, MO. Researchers looked at the effectiveness of taking naps and consuming caffeine to cope with sleepiness during the night shift. They found that both naps and caffeine improved alertness and performance among night shift workers.

James K. Walsh, PhD, one of the researchers who conducted the study, explains, "Because of the body's propensity for sleep at night, being alert and productive on the night shift can be challenging, even if you've had enough daytime sleep. Napping before work combined with consuming caffeine while on the job is an effective strategy for remaining alert on the night shift."

So don't feel guilty, put your feet up and grab 20 winks before heading back to your inbox!

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