Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Daytime sleeping


The human body's internal clock regulates body temperature, sleep cycles, appetite and hormonal changes. Melatonin is the naturally occurring hormone that regulates sleep on a 24-hour cycle. Melatonin levels start rising with the passing of sunlight giving the human body two to three hours before the natural onset of sleepiness. While it's pretty healthy to take a short nap, sleeping for long hours during the day can disrupt that natural cycle, preventing complete nighttime sleep. Disturbance of this natural rhythm can cause a cascading effect of health problems like loss of blood sugar control, increasing stress, the risk of strokes, poor concentration, and other abnormalities in daytime behaviour.

Sleeping long hours during the day is unhealthy, but short naps are good for you. A 2011 study conducted by Ryan Brindle and Sarah Conklin from the Allegheny College in the US, found that participants who slept 45 minutes in daytime had lower average blood pressure and mental stress than those who did not sleep. These short naps do not disrupt the body's internal clock.

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