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 THE BEST 7 HEALTH BENEFITS OF NAPS

Drowsiness, yawning, stinging eyes... Who has never felt the need to doze off for a short while to recover? This is what is known as the famous afternoon slump, particularly during digestion. If we know that sleep allows us to recharge our batteries efficiently, what are the real benefits of a nap on our health? 

The nap: a physiological need of the body to regain energy and vitality

Contrary to popular belief in the West, napping is not synonymous with laziness. Napping for a few moments is beneficial to invigorate yourself, but a nap that lasts too long can also have the opposite effect. As a result, when you wake up, you feel even more tired, as if you were knocked out. This is called "sleep inertia". So, what is the ideal duration to feel all the benefits of a nap? 

The flash nap or micro nap 

This nap is characterized by its short duration, i.e. it should not exceed 10 minutes. It corresponds to the first phase of sleep, i.e. light sleep. As soon as the first signs of drowsiness appear, a micro-nap is recommended to relax in order to increase performance when you wake up. Taking a 10-minute nap a day gives you a real boost of energy. 

The short nap 

Contrary to the flash nap, this nap generally varies between 15 and 30 minutes. Often recommended to relax, the short nap is restorative without sinking into a deep sleep. It is ideal for stressed people who have accumulated a lot of fatigue and find it difficult to concentrate during the day. The 20-minute nap is also an excellent solution to erase a bad night in order to leave rebooted and counteract fatigue. 

The long nap 

A long nap is equivalent to sleeping between one hour and three hours maximum. Contrary to short naps, it is a deep sleep that resumes the complete cycle with : 

• a light slow-wave sleep called the falling asleep phase
• a deep slow-wave sleep where the body is at rest. There is muscular relaxation and intense physical recovery.
• a paradoxical sleep, allowing a mental and psychic recovery. This is the phase where we usually dream. 

Night workers, who do not sleep more than three to four hours per night, are for the most part adept at taking long naps in order to recover their ratio of hours of restorative sleep during the day. However, if the long nap allows fighting effectively against chronic fatigue, it remains nevertheless disadvised to insomniacs or to people suffering from sleep disorders. 

The benefits of napping: what are the effects on our health? 

For many years, several scientists have been studying the benefits of napping.  However, it must be brief, voluntary, and planned, in perfect opposition to excessive daytime sleepiness. Here are our top 7 concerning its virtues: 

 1. 20 minutes of sleep during the day improves your mood  

Taking a nap has beneficial effects on our body, it plays a role in our mood. We know that when we sleep little, we are on edge, we quickly lose patience, hello bad mood! Just look at the devastating effect of lack of sleep on young parents of newborns. The only solution is to rest during the day. After taking a nap, everyone will be back on their feet and smiling. 

2. Napping stimulates our ability to learn 

Several sleep experts have demonstrated the benefits of napping on memory. It allows our brains to pause to facilitate the processing of new information. Thus, when we sleep, our neuronal connections are remodeled. Sleep then allows us to consolidate the memorization of all this learning and then transform it into a lasting memory. 

3. Microsleep improves cognitive functions 

The nap is a cognitive restorative, meaning that it allows the body to recover physically, but also mentally. It would reduce road accidents thanks to better concentration and vigilance. Studies carried out by NASA on pilots have proven that they were more alert after taking a nap. When they woke up, their level of vigilance had increased by 54% and their level of intellectual acuity had improved by 34%.

 4. Napping reduces stress, blood pressure, and the risk of cardiovascular disease. 

A short period of rest would reduce stress. Moreover, according to a scientific study published in Science Daily, the benefits of napping would reduce high blood pressure. And as a result, a drop in blood pressure reduces the risk of cardiovascular disorders, such as heart attack. Studies have also shown less damage to the arteries and heart.

5. Napping helps to rebalance nerve function 

Sleeping for a short time allows your body to recover better. While you sleep, your muscles relax, your body is more relaxed and your nervous system is calmed. Thus, the nap allows you to effectively recharge your batteries from a physical point of view, but also mentally, by rebalancing the nervous system.

 6. The nap frees creativity and allows you to find more dynamism

Taking a nap in the middle of the day gives you a real boost of energy. It is not for nothing that in Japan, many multinationals such as Mitsubishi or Google Japan have made nap rooms available to their employees during their working hours. The objective is to improve their productivity and increase their performance at work after they wake up. 

 7. Napping strengthens the immune system

The immune system is responsible for protecting our bodies from viral and bacterial attacks. A lack of sleep has a negative impact on our health system. One of the many benefits of napping is that it contributes to the proper functioning of our body and its metabolism. During this period of rest, the brain secretes hormones that allow our immune system to fight against various infections.

In summary, the benefits of a nap are numerous for our well-being and our health. Nevertheless, it should not alter the quality of our sleep, which is essential for the proper functioning of our bodies. In case of sleep disorders, our gummy's Sleep without sugar has been specially designed to find restful sleep and reduce the time of falling asleep.  A formula combining melatonin, with the sedative and regulating properties, with the melissa, the poppy of California, and the pale rose to sleep with closed fists.