You’re not alone! 1 out of 3 Americans, don’t get the sleep they need.
Common sense tells us to avoid naps because they can make it even harder to sleep at night. However, an Australian Study published in the journal Sleep found that taking a specific type of nap can actually improve your alertness, memory and decision-making performance for hours afterward.
The key is to sleep for a short period, between 6 and 10 minutes. These cat-naps resulted in immediate improvement in energy, and cognitive performance.
Don’t Naps Make it Harder to Sleep at Night?
In the study, longer naps of 20 or 30 minutes did result in some period of grogginess and reduced mental performance.
So if you think once you close your eyes you might doze off, simply set an gentle alarm on your phone for 10 minutes.
Naps are a great way to help your body manage when your schedule just doesn’t allow you to get a full eight hours of sleep. If you’re short on sleep because you’re tossing and turning then you might want to find out if you have some blood sugar irregularities, neurotransmitter imbalance, or adrenal issues.
What if a Short Nap is Not Enough?
If you find that a short nap is not enough to revive your energy it may be because you have a chronic sleep debt. Or you may be having trouble regulating your blood sugar. If you find that you’re craving sweets or salty food mid-afternoon it may be because your body has “hit the wall” of it’s energy reserve.
The adrenal glands play an important role in regulating blood sugar through releasing cortisol. Getting on a program of adrenal supports can have a dramatic effect in eliminating this type of afternoon slump.
Click here to find out how Functional Nutrition can help you. Take our Nutritional Profile Quiz and you’ll get your results immediately.
Dr. Marina Rose, has a Chiropractic and Functional Nutrition practice in Los Altos, CA. She uses an investigative approach to help people find the root cause of their sleep issues.
It makes sense. I used to take a nap between classes in high school and it really helped to wake up. I should take 10 min nap once in while!
Sometimes those little changes can make a big difference! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Wow, I didn’t think that a 6-10 minutes nap would help anything. Why does a 20 minute nap just make you more tired?