Beep, beep, beep! It is 6:30 AM, and your alarm for school has just blared in your poor eardrums. You began to contemplate if you should smash that snooze button and resume your deep slumber, or if you should just power through the day and enjoy a much-awaited nap later on. Though you do not want to wake up right now, it is actually better for you and your health to wake up and save that nap for later.  Napping is a healthy and harmless way to restore one’s mind and body from the deficits of sleep deprivation. Of course, naps are bound to make us feel more refreshed once we wake up, but what is the greatest scientific benefit to our health when we take naps?

Napping is a great boost to the immune system. Sleep deprivation takes a massive toll on one’s neuroendocrine and immune functions by increasing inflammatory molecules known as cytokines, as well as stress hormones like cortisol and norepinephrine (Mental Floss). In 2015, scientists and researchers from the team who assembled the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism performed a study in which 11 healthy men were restricted from a solid night’s sleep. Instead, these men were only given 2 hours to sleep that night. The men then took blood and urine tests which displayed higher cytokines and levels of norepinephrine in both groups after sleep deprivation. The next day, the men were divided into two groups; group one was permitted two 30 minute naps while the control group was not given any nap time at all. Blood and urine tests were given once again. Within this trial, the tests of those who napped displayed that their cytokines and norepinephrine levels had returned to normal, as though they had never lost a night of sleep (Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism). All in all, naps can both restore and boost the immune system.

The team who released the Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism is not the only group of researchers to prove the bountiful benefits of napping. Many scientists have also found that napping, in fact, is necessary for all humans to achieve their utmost health.  To accommodate this, most European countries have allotted time for a daily “siesta”, which is Spanish for the word, “break”. In this time, all people return to their homes to simply rest or take a nap. The siesta for shops and businesses is from approximately 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. whereas bars and restaurants close from about 4 p.m. until about (8 or 9 p.m). By contrast, the United States of America does not follow suit and instead encourages a lifestyle of working around the clock. Perhaps if Americans did take a midday siesta, then they, as a whole, would be healthier and more productive as their bodies would be well rested. All in all, there are no negatives to napping.