Introducing the siesta
Hang your “Do not disturb” sign and go lie down.
In nursery schools all across the country, little ones pull out their mats and curl up with the lights off for a short nap. The rest of us should follow their lead, much like our friends in the Mediterranean region and parts of Latin America already do. And, they’re reaping the benefits of this practice: Those regions enjoy a much lower incidence of heart disease than Americans do. And that midday siesta could be one of the reasons.
Heart disease is the number one killer in this country every year. So I’m thrilled to tell you about a recommendation that includes a natural way to increase heart health, and avoid expensive—and more often than not, unnecessary—surgeries.
In this particular case, a large study was done that found a heart-health benefit to midday napping: It reduced coronary-related deaths by about one-third, for both men and women. That’s good news for everyone. I know you’ve heard me talk recently about the importance of women being aware of their incidence of heart disease, and the fact that they are not exempt from being struck by it.
The study was done in Greece and involved 23,681 healthy people who started out with no history of heart disease, stroke or cancer, and were followed for an average of 6.3 years. Of those who took regular naps—considered to be at least three times per week for about 30 minutes—there was a 37 percent lower incidence of coronary mortality than those who took no nap. And for those who took only an occasional nap, there was only a 12 percent reduction in incidence.
Interestingly, the researchers found that working men received the most protective effect, but the effect wasn’t as strong in retired men. For women, there were too few deaths in order for the researchers to determine a conclusion on this point one way or the other. (Which is good: We don’t want to kill off people just for the sake of getting a statistic!)
But more naps aren’t really the answer. If it comes down to stress-release as being the main determinant in heart health—and taking into account that naps are not (currently) our cultural norm—then focusing on stress reduction should be the goal. Maybe you can’t squeeze in a midday nap. That’s okay—take option B: Just work on reducing your stress. Exercise, get your sleep, and try activities that tone the body and calm the mind such as yoga and Tai chi. This will kill two birds with one stone—you’ll bust stress and protect your heart.
For more reading on the subject I strongly recommend the highly readable book Take a Nap! Change your life, by Sara C. Mednick, Ph.D., a Harvard University researcher. Dr. Mednick is a no-nonsense scientist who has a lot of nice things to say about midday snoozing!
