At last, an excuse for the afternoon nap

The next time your boss takes you to task for napping on the job, tell him or her you are just trying to improve your job performance.
A new study by at the Harvard School of Public Health found that napping not only revs a person up for the rest of the day, improving brain function, but it also helps protect the heart. 

But don’t take the news as an excuse to sleep away the entire afternoon; naps are only beneficial when they do not last longer than 30 minutes. The study of nearly 24,000 people found that those who regularly took afternoon naps were nearly 40 percent less likely to die from heart disease than non-nappers. 

Researchers suggest that naps might protect the heart by lowering levels of stress hormones and enhancing heart health. Dimitrios Trichopoulos at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, US, and colleagues recruited about 24,000 volunteers between the ages of 20 and 86, in Greece, who had no history of heart disease, stroke or cancer. The researchers collected information about the participants’ napping habits and followed them for six years, on average. 

After controlling for risk factors such as diet and physical activity, Trichopoulos’s team found that people who took at least three naps per week lasting 30 minutes or longer had a 37 percent reduced risk of death from heart disease than their non-napping counterparts.  Also, pervious studies have shown that the brain is more active in people who nap than in those who do not sleep during the day. 

“O ye who believe! let those whom your right hands possess (servants), and the (children) among you who have not come of age ask your permission (before they come into your presence), on three occasions: before morning prayer; when ye doff your clothes for the noonday heat; and after the late-night prayer: these are your three times of undress; outside those times it is not wrong for you or for them to move about attending to each other: Thus does Allah make clear the Signs to you: for Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom” Sura al-Noor, verse 58. “This study which encourages people to take naps is not new in the Islamic religion.

The scholars understood the word noonday in this verse to the time of relaxation and taking a nap in the afternoon,” said Shaker Hiba, the principal of al-Ishraq School and the preacher of al-Tawheed Mosque. “Also, Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him says, ‘Take naps, because devils do not take naps.’” Also, in the old days, people would snooze for an hour or so after the midday meal, and in some Latin American and European countries naps are still in vogue.

In Yemen, the people who are keen to take naps in the afternoon are mostly non-qat-chewers.  The benefits of napping are not necessarily tied to a specific sleep stage. Simply resting in the mid-afternoon can revitalize your energy level and balance your mood. Sleep itself may not be the crucial factor in the positive effects of afternoon naps on improving mood; what may be important is an afternoon period of relaxation common to both resting and napping. The protective effect of these naps was more prominent among working persons than retirees. The researchers suggest that the naps might boost heart health by keeping levels of the stress hormone in check. 

The researchers add that this potential stress-busting effect might be most prominent in people burdened by heavy workloads. Previous studies have linked high levels of stress hormones to increased inflammation in the body and damaged blood vessels.  “Usually naps are taken after lunch but they would be more beneficial if they were taken before lunch. Sleep after immediately eating causes indigestion and leads to fatness, which is the main cause of heart disease,” said Dr. Marwan al-Dubai, a cardiologist at Al-Jumhouri Hospital.

“Taking naps relax the nervous system, digestive system, muscular system and other systems of the body. When these systems relax they lead to heart relaxation. When all these systems are working at full capacity, they can overstrain the heart. Over time, this strain can cause heart muscles to become inflated.” Research on napping indicates that an afternoon nap—even one that’s only 10 minutes long—can enhance alertness, mood, and mental performance and it has the same benefit as the eight-hour night sleep.  

Sleep researchers have shown that regardless of how long one sleeps at night, the human body is programmed to become sleepy in the early afternoon, even without a big lunch. “When anyone has his lunch after a tiring morning of work, the stomach can not digest the food well because it needs extra energy, so the body begins to be sluggish and the stress hormone increases,” says Najat Sayem, the head of Psychology Department at Sana’a University. 

“The person feels anxiety and discomfort unless he takes a nap or just relaxes for a while. So, the stress hormone decreases; furthermore, he ‘recharges his battery’ to continue the rest of his duties.” Many people think sleeping during the day makes you lazy and less willing to do work. The reality is quite the contrary; napping can be useful for reducing sleepiness and increasing performance.  Naps can help when you have had a poor night’s sleep. For instance, when the previous night’s sleep was shorter than usual, or when you know you will have to be alert and awake later than your usual bedtime. 

“I used to take a nap every day mainly because it is sunnah, and Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him took naps. Furthermore, if I take an afternoon nap I feel that I get two days in one,” said Majid al-Jaradi, a teacher at Sana’a Community Collage. “Morning work makes you feel exhausted, but when you take an afternoon nap, you feel energized and can do more.” 

A brief afternoon nap usually leaves people feeling more energized. However, the nap should not be longer than 30 minutes; any more than that and the body falls into a deep sleep, from which it is difficult to awake.  Moreover, brief naps taken daily are far healthier than sleeping in or taking very long naps on the weekend. It is best to take your nap about the same time each day. Naps also should be taken in the midday because late-afternoon naps can cause a change in your biological clock, making it difficult to fall asleep at night and get up at the proper time the next morning. Some companies in the West have set up nap rooms with reclining chairs, blankets and alarm clocks.

They do that because to double the productive energy of their employees. People who have trouble falling asleep at night should avoid taking daytime naps. “For a while I had the habit of taking an hour-long nap after I got back from school. It jazzed me up for the rest of the evening,” said Abdullah Yahya, a student. “Napping is the key to feeling refreshed and not sleepy. Even laying with eyes closed is very refreshing and useful.” “If I do not chew qat I love to take a nap after lunch to have the energy to continue my work and other activities into the night,” Muhammad al-Kawkabani, a chanter, said.

“Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and his companions were taking naps because they were up most of the night worshiping. So, they napped to compensate for the previous night, and to be able to be awake the next night for worshiping.” “If you have the opportunity for an afternoon nap, particularly after a poor night of sleep, take one you will feel more alert and energetic afterwards. It also improves mood, energy, and subjective alertness,” al-Kawkabani said.

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