Oh, what a luxury a long mid-afternoon nap is. Especially on a rainy day. Cuddling up on the sofa, wrapped in your favorite blanket with an old movie gently transporting you to la la land. Seems like a dream. Literally.
Unfortunately, that little snooze not only gives you a bad case of bedhead, it could be impacting your health in a negative way. And the longer the nap, the worse it can be.
A new study suggests that nappers might be at a higher risk for developing diabetes. The 27,000 people in the study were categorized into 4 groups based on how they napped – from zero minutes to more than an hour.
Those who napped less than 30 minutes had lower blood-sugar levels than those who didn’t nap at all. Unfortunately, those who napped more than one hour had more instances of higher blood sugar levels and diabetes.
Countless studies have previously confirmed the link between diabetes and either too much or too little nighttime sleep. This new study suggests that getting 40 winks during the day adversely affects blood sugar as well.
Taking long daytime naps was found to disturb the body’s internal clock, which helps regulate how insulin is released into the blood stream. Interestingly, short naps didn’t affect insulin levels.
So, if you want to lower your risk of developing diabetes, make sure to get a good night’s sleep instead of daytime dozing. Seems those wonderful little catnaps are only good for one thing – cats.
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