Why is napping good for you?

Kirsty Vant, a CBT-i therapist at The Soke, is a fan of naps and the boost they can give to our health and wellbeing.

“Our cardiovascular health, immune system and stress levels all benefit from a short nap,” she says. “Research has also shown that those who take a nap while studying can recall more than those who don’t nap at all.”

Dr Lindsay Browning, a psychologist, neuroscientist and sleep expert at And So To Bed, also points out that as well as making us feel less tired, a good nap can improve reaction times, boost our mood and help us better regulate our emotions.

“It’s a myth that people should get their recommended sleep in one solid block,” she adds.

There are, however, a couple of cons to napping that go hand in hand with those pros.

Vant says: “Potential downsides of napping include sleep inertia, a temporary state of cognitive and sensory-motor impairment experienced immediately after waking up that many people describe as ‘feeling groggy’. Having a lengthy nap in the late afternoon can also have a negative impact on your drive to sleep at night.”

Dr Browning agrees, saying: “Short naps generally don’t affect nighttime sleep quality for the majority of people. But if you are someone who struggles with insomnia or poor sleep quality at night, long naps may worsen these problems.”

So you might be better off taking a power nap for around 30-40 minutes in the early afternoon rather than a 70-minute nap at 5pm, for example.

There’s even some evidence to suggest that our relationship with napping could be in our genes.

Vant, who specialises in circadian dysregulation, insomnia and sleep-based anxiety, says: “One study published in 2023, based on data from the UK Biobank that contains genetic information from almost half a million people, was able to identify 123 regions in the human genome associated with napping. This suggests that our desire to nap is, in part, influenced by our genes.”

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