A Nap May Help Lower Your Blood Pressure Response to Stress

There are pros and cons to taking a nap after lunch.  In favor, you are rested and ready for a busy afternoon. On the other hand, sleeping in the daytime means you may sleep less well at night.  Now there’s a new argument in favor of a nap.  A study posted online in the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine has looked at the effect of napping on blood pressure.

Pennsylvania researchers allocated 85 healthy students to one of two groups: one group was granted a 60-minute period during the day when they could sleep, and the other group didn’t sleep during the day.  (The sleep group was monitored with polysomnography during their rest period.)  After the test period, all participants were given a standard mental stress reactivity task – a complex mental subtracting exercise.  Their blood pressure and pulse rates were measured during this task, and afterwards.

Blood pressure and pulse rates rose in both groups of participants between baseline and the stress phase.  However, average blood pressure readings were significantly lower in the recovery phase after the stress task in those participants who slept for at least 45 minutes during the daytime sleep period.

The researchers interpret their findings as showing that daytime sleep may have cardiovascular benefit by accelerating physiological recovery following mental stress situations.  However, this study is just a beginning in trying to see if a nap is really beneficial.  I remind myself that Winston Churchill took a nap after lunch as often as possible – and his abilities remained unimpaired for many years.  That’s one reason I like to follow his example, when I can.