Schedule Your Siestas – Now

We always think of Mediterranean and Central American countries as those where siestas are the rule. It also happens that these countries have a lower death rate from heart disease. Doctors thought the lower mortality might be due to the so-called Mediterranean diet – plenty of vegetables, fruit, fish, and red wine, and not too much meat. But Greek researchers have wondered if there was something else – the post-midday nap, or siesta. They did a study on over 23,000 Greek men and women, and reported their findings in the Archives of Internal Medicine. They found that people who took a siesta occasionally had a 12% lower risk of coronary death. Moreover, those who napped 3 times a week for at least 30 minutes had a 37% lower risk. The benefit was greatest in working men; the results in women were not statistically significant.

The authors of the study suggest that the benefits of a siesta may be due to relief of stress, although they have no data to support this mechanism. An independent viewpoint is that it’s the lifestyle rather than the siesta that protects.

A study done in Costa Rica some years ago found an opposite effect – but the study was smaller, and compared siesta history in people who had already had a heart attack with that in healthy people. As clinical study experts say, the Greek study is probably ‘more robust’. Anyhow, I’m going to take it as reason enough for continuing with my practice of taking a daily siesta.