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The Power of a Nap - The Apeiron Life Perspective



What it is:

Napping expert and cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Sara Mednick at the University of California, Irvine has described napping as a “multi-faceted, culturally embedded, life-span developmental phenomenon with historical roots that predate the industrial age and that likely formed at the beginning of human culture.” Modern Western culture isn’t particularly nap-positive, or sleep-positive in general, for that matter, though thankfully, that is changing.


In a culture that focuses on daytime productivity and progress, it makes sense that we would force sleep into one consolidated bout. The current recommendation is 7 to 9 hours per night for adults. But in other parts of the world where work isn’t computer-based and must occur around the clock, there is a greater connection with the rhythms of the environment, and napping is much more common. Individuals in these cultures sleep when the opportunity allows for it, and an afternoon nap is often included in that daily ritual when the daytime temperature is highest. 


Interindividual differences in sleep patterns become apparent when people are left to settle into their own rhythms. We saw this during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, and we also see this during sabbatical and retirement. Among us are natural early-morning types as well as night owls. Some of us are habitual nappers, while others find it makes them groggy. Some people find that their nighttime sleep wants to occur in two parts, accompanied by a period of nocturnal wakefulness in the middle that they can’t seem to sleep through. 


Current sleep hygiene recommendations in the public health space focus on optimizing one solid nightly sleep bout. The goal is for us to be maximally sleepy at bedtime, with the hope that we’ll sleep right the way through until morning. However, if there wasn’t any pressure to drop the kids off at school and be at a desk by 8 am, one might be able to live and sleep with greater flexibility. When it comes to napping, there is no one-size-fits-all.



The purported claims:

  • Very short naps (5-10 minutes) provide a brief lull in consciousness, which may give an immediate but short-lived boost in cognition. 

  • Mid-length naps (10-30 minutes) may boost cognitive performance for longer.

  • Longer naps (30+ minutes) may provide additional physiological benefits, such as restoration of broader cognitive function and cell repair, but they increase the chances of grogginess if a person is awoken during deep sleep.



What the science says:

There have been a striking number of alarming headlines in recent years, correctly stating that study x, y, or z found that naps were associated with worse health. However, the problem is that readers can easily interpret that to mean that the naps themselves were causing a shorter lifespan or increased risk of disease. That isn’t the case. It is indeed the cause that many people who have a greater disease burden or complicated health conditions are also people who nap. But these same people also tend to sleep much longer than average at night (more than 9 hours) and often feel tired during the daytime.


When we’re unwell, such as when we have a cold, we generally have the experience of feeling more tired than usual. The body has more inflammation than usual and the drive to sleep becomes higher, which makes sense given that the body does its best repair work while in the deepest states of rest. But we don’t only nap when we’re sick. For some people, a daily nap is part of their routine. It allows them to perform optimally and feel their best. For others, naps are things they only do under certain circumstances, such as when they’re jetlagged. 


Dr. Sara Mednick has a nifty acronym for categorizing naps: DREAM. Naps might be dysregulative (e.g. occurring due to tiredness resulting from shift work, illness, or pain), restorative (a way of “catching up” after a short night of sleep), emotional (occurring due to stress or depression), appetitive (something we do because we like them), or mindful (to refocus attention and restore energy levels).  


Naps can be intentional. Naps can also be highly beneficial. Napping is certainly not a fast track to the development of a disease.


Many studies now have brought healthy participants into the lab, given them a task to learn, and then observed how they performed after naps of different lengths, or compared to no nap at all. Because we understand the importance of sleep in memory consolidation, it is no surprise that even a short nap can produce some of the same cognitive benefits. 


However, some studies have also found that regular nappers had more sleep disturbances at night, particularly if the naps occurred late in the day. This makes sense because sleep is homeostatic, which means that the longer we have been awake, the more biological pressure there is to sleep. In contrast, if we’ve already slept off some of that “sleep pressure”, there is less of a drive to sleep, so we might find ourselves lying awake. 


This is where naps can get tricky. If we have a short night of sleep, for whatever reason, it can be tempting to play catch up by snoozing for several hours the following afternoon (if the opportunity allows for it). However, what we typically find happens in this scenario is that when our regular bedtime creeps up, we don’t feel tired because we took that long nap. So, instead, we go to bed later than usual but still have to be up for work bright and early the next day. We feel even more tired the next day, and thus perpetuates a vicious cycle. We must be careful if we want to nap strategically to make it through the day. We don’t want the nap to occur too late in the day, nor should it be too long. The golden rule is no later than 6-8 hours before our target bedtime and no longer than about 30 minutes. This preserves that nightly pressure to sleep and is associated with higher levels of melatonin secretion. 


Naps lasting longer than 30 minutes mean we risk waking up during deep sleep – particularly if we have an alarm set. Waking up mid-deep sleep feels quite unpleasant. We typically feel groggy and find it challenging to get back to whatever we were doing before or eagerly jump into a new task. 


There are certain points in life where we might require more sleep. We certainly see this developmentally in earlier life. However, periods of high cognitive load or physical training also warrant more sleep and likely support better performance. A major work project, an intense period of learning a new skill or language, and training for a marathon, for example, can all benefit from listening to the desire to nap, if it arises. 


Naps have been shown to boost cognitive performance, endurance, and reduce the risk of injury among athletes. In a head-to-head comparison of healthy, young, male athletes who either napped for 40 minutes, 90 minutes, or not at all, the greater the nap, the greater the distance run and anaerobic capacity. It has also been shown that older adults, who are at a greater risk of muscle loss (sarcopenia) than younger and mid-life adults, can mitigate this risk by taking a daytime nap. However, too much napping in this population can be associated with depression symptoms – especially if their nighttime sleep is being severely fragmented due to a suppressed sleep drive at bedtime.



Our take:

If you look at the scientific literature, you’ll see multiple studies linking long or daily naps with an elevated risk for cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and a shorter lifespan. However, these studies do not suggest that naps lead to adverse health outcomes. Rather, they’re demonstrating an association between poor health and excessive sleepiness. 


Some people are habitual nappers. They plan for a quick power nap during the afternoon during the natural circadian energy dip that occurs between approximately 2-4pm. Rather than fighting against their biology, they tune in to the call to rest. If your lifestyle allows for it, you might enjoy the cognitive boost that comes with a short nap during this timeframe. This is also an excellent time to practice non-sleep deep rest, meditation, or any other quiet, restorative activity. 


Consider that there might be certain periods in your life or even times of the year that you feel a greater drive and desire to nap, or that it simply makes more sense. For those living in climates with extreme summer heat, a mid-afternoon nap might help get you through the day and allow you to enjoy early starts or later evenings outside when the temperature is more manageable. Individuals who are pregnant or caregiving may have no choice but to nap when dependents are sleeping. And intense training periods often require a bit of extra rest to prevent injury. When we don’t sleep well, our pain threshold goes down. For those experiencing acute or chronic pain, a nap might be beneficial in restoring some of that resilience to painful stimuli.



Will this benefit you?

You don’t necessarily have to fall asleep to reap some of the benefits that come from napping. You can lean into the call to step away from work and allow your mind to rest. But if you do take a nap, remember the golden rule: not for longer than 30 minutes and not too late in the day. This will prevent you from getting lost in the grogginess of deep sleep when it’s unwanted and ensure you fall asleep at bedtime when the time comes.



Some things to keep in mind:

If you’re so tired that you struggle to make it through the day without napping, you might have an underlying health condition. If nothing obvious comes to mind, such as intense physical training, a cognitively demanding project, or jetlag, speak with your doctor, who might recommend additional blood work.


There is still mixed messaging in the public health space about napping. Napping to combat chronic sleep debt or cope with shift work is important for preventing accidents and attempting to mitigate disease. But naps may also be a necessary part of one’s daily routine without any cause for concern. Remember, like with all health-related headlines: correlation is not the same as causation. Trust your body and do what feels best for you.



References and additional materials:

Nap expert Sara C. Mednick’s stance on napping - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38421680/

Take a Nap! Change Your Life by Sara C. Mednick, PhD - https://www.amazon.com/Take-Nap-Change-Your-Life/dp/0761142908

Naps and cognitive performance meta-analysis – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34639511/

Napping: a public health issue - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27751677/

Napping and nighttime sleep in young adults - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35253300/

Naps and mortality risk in China - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37711082/

Napping and depression in older adults - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38114908/

Naps and insomnia during pregnancy - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36448328/

Napping and sleep-wake regulation - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37943833/

Napping and athletic performance – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34559915/

Napping and anaerobic capacity in male athletes - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35611984/

Napping among nightshift workers - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23411360/

Napping and breast cancer for shiftworkers - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25794454/

Napping and muscle loss in older aduls - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38763743/

Napping and memory in college students - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37059903/

Napping, REM Sleep, and working memory - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25970511/

Progressive muscle relaxation and naps - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35355351/

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