Napping and Late Afternoon Exercise: A Great Combo For Heart Health
How well you sleep can be a reflection on your current heart health or a prediction of future heart problems, according to a report in the January 2007 issue of the Harvard Heart Letter.
Those who have heart problems already may have trouble sleeping for a variety of reasons and should talk to their doctors about ways to get better sleep.
Poor sleep has been linked with high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke and diabetes, among other things. It seems that poor sleep increases inflammation at the same time it creates stress, which leads to an increase in C-reactive protein in the body, a common thread among many age-related diseases.
Healthy sleep habits should always be tried before you resort to sleep medications. They include going to bed at the same time every day, getting out of bed and doing something else when you can’t fall asleep and avoiding caffeine, nicotine and alcohol, especially in the evening. It helps to create a tranquil ritual before bedtime, rather than watching disturbing news programs or adrenalin pumping T.V. fare.
You may find that getting your exercise in the late afternoon helps you to sleep better than exercising first thing in the morning. But refrain from exercising close to bedtime as that may keep you awake.
Though I found no specific research linking the two activities, common sense tells you exercising later in the day might mesh very well with the idea of taking an afternoon nap. If an afternoon nap leaves you feeling a big groggy, you can refresh yourself by splashing some cool water on your face, lacing up your sneakers and taking a brisk walk.
A study of 23,681 Greek adults who took afternoon siestas, which appeared in the February 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, saw a 64 percent reduced risk of dying from heart disease over a six-year study period, than those who did not nap. This was especially true among working men.
In her new book, Take a Nap! Change Your Life!, Sara Mednick, Ph.D., research scientist at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, reveals all the science behind effective napping to battle fatigue and offers evidence that napping is not laziness but lifesaving! While you may not need a nap workbook to learn how to take one, Mednick talks about how this little understood habit can boost your heart health, aid in weight-loss, improve your mood and reduce your stress and improve perception, stamina, motor skills and accuracy. She hopes employers will consider the benefits of napping for stressed out sleep deprived employees.
