Why do people in China take a nap, while most people in Europe and America don't?
(1) Dietary differences: People in China generally eat more at noon, and the staple food at noon is usually high-starch carbohydrates such as rice noodles, so the blood sugar will rise obviously after lunch, which makes people feel sleepy. In the west, their main meal is usually in the evening, and their lunch is relatively small, and most of them are meat and fish protein, so they don't feel sleepy after lunch, so they don't need to take a nap.
(2) Cultural differences: People in China pay more attention to health preservation, and think that taking a nap can adjust the balance of body and yin and yang, and improve the efficiency of our work and study in the afternoon. However, people in western countries think that taking a nap is a waste of time. This is the so-called cultural difference.
(3) Differences in work and rest habits: In China, most schools and companies have a nap system, so gradually everyone has formed such a habit and biological clock. In western countries, people have a short lunch break, usually just enough for lunch, and there is no time for a nap at all. In addition, many people in China have bad work habits and like to stay up late, so they are prone to lack of sleep and feel sleepy after lunch, so they need to take a nap. People in western countries get enough sleep at night, and most of them like to drink coffee to refresh themselves, so they generally don't need a nap.
Is taking a nap a good habit?
Taking a nap is a good habit, which has at least the following advantages:
(1) helps to restore the physical and mental state in the afternoon: many people like to take a nap because people will become energetic after a nap. Studies have proved that taking a nap for 20 minutes after lunch has a positive effect on relieving afternoon drowsiness and helps individuals to stay alert.
(2) Improve work efficiency: Some studies have also found that people's logical reasoning ability is obviously improved within 1 hour after a nap, and their fatigue state and mental state are also improved within 1 to 2 hours after a nap. Some office workers are used to taking a nap for a while, and their work efficiency will be improved a lot in the afternoon. This is the reason.
(3) Possible prevention of cardiovascular diseases: An American study found that people who take a 30-minute nap three times a week have a 37% lower chance of dying of cardiovascular diseases than those who don't take a nap, especially male office workers.
Who shouldn't take a nap?
People who sleep for a long time often go from shallow sleep stage to deep sleep stage, and after waking up, they will have discomfort symptoms such as dizziness. Studies have shown that if middle-aged and elderly people take excessive naps, they will increase the risk of diabetes. The reasons are as follows: taking too many naps will reduce everyone's exercise time and make people easy to get fat; Sleeping too much during the day will disrupt the normal rhythm of sleep day and night.
(1) People who suffer from insomnia or can't sleep well at night: Some people suffer from insomnia all night, stay in bed for a long time or can't sleep well, so taking a nap is not recommended. If you take a nap, it may aggravate insomnia at night.
(2) People with low blood pressure: Whether people with low blood pressure should take a nap depends on the indoor temperature. If the indoor temperature is too hot and too high, it is not recommended for people with low blood pressure to take a nap. Because high temperature will aggravate low blood pressure.
(3) Obese people: Obese people need to increase their exercise. If they always take a nap and sleep for too long, the energy consumed by their bodies will be reduced, which may aggravate the obesity situation. Moreover, many people are used to going to bed immediately after meals. At this time, there is a lot of food in the stomach, which easily affects digestion, so the probability of obesity will greatly increase.
(4) People with blood circulation disorders: If you find that your blood circulation system is blocked, such as some patients with cerebral vascular occlusion and stenosis, it is best not to take a nap to avoid blood circulation being blocked.
What should I pay attention to during a nap?
(1) Don't take a nap immediately after lunch: after a meal, gastrointestinal peristalsis is accelerated, and a large amount of blood in the body is concentrated in the digestive system, which reduces the oxygen supply to the brain and is prone to drowsiness. It takes at least 1 hour to empty your stomach. If you sleep at this time, your stomach will be oppressed, increase the burden of peristalsis, easily cause flatulence in your stomach, reduce your stomach's ability to digest food, easily lead to indigestion and induce gastritis.
(2) Try not to take a nap: take a nap, because your sleeping posture generally has the following hazards: oppressing your eyes and affecting your vision; Aggravate cerebral ischemia; Injury to the spine; Facial nerve compression.
(3) Don't take a nap too late: Some people get sleepy at four or five in the afternoon. If they choose to take a nap for a while, it is easy to disturb their biological clocks, go to bed late at noon, get up late, and naturally go to bed late at night. As a result, I was not in good spirits during the day the next day.