Are Naps Good for You? Experts Explain

Many people don’t have time for sleep other than their allocated bedtime window, but there are a few potential benefits of naps — no matter how short. Below, sleep experts outline the pros and cons of taking a nap, in addition to identifying exactly how long a nap should be to ensure quality sleep later on.

“Generally speaking, yes, naps are good and healthy,” said Chris Winter, M.D., author of “The Sleep Solution,” and medical director of Martha Jefferson Hospital’s Sleep Medicine Center. “For the most part, naps are a good addition to someone’s life,” he said.

However, naps may not be a good solution for everyone. In fact, they can hinder someone’s overall health if they are being used in place of actual rest, whether that’s at night or during the day (depending on your work schedule), he added.

People who are opposed to naps may regard them as the antithesis of productivity. But according to Winter, napping can improve workplace productivity, focus, and mood.

“Typically, a person who takes a 30-minute nap in the middle of the day is going to have a more productive afternoon than someone who tries to crank through morning to night,” he said.

In fact, a study published in a 2021 issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that afternoon naps are linked to improved cognitive performance and alertness. Meanwhile, a pilot study published in a 2015 issue of the journal Personality and Individual Difference found that napping reduced impulsivity and increased tolerance.

There is nothing inherently bad or unhealthy about napping, according to Winter. But some research suggests that frequently taking naps is associated with an increased risk for certain health conditions.

For example, a 2022 study in the journal Hypertension found that napping on a regular basis was linked with a 12 percent higher risk of developing high blood pressure — and a 24 percent higher risk of having a stroke. Another recent study, published in a 2022 issue of the European Journal of Neurology, reported a similar relationship between daytime napping and incident stroke.

However, Winter explained that naps themselves aren’t the issue. “Regularly needing a nap may indicate that you are consistently sleeping poorly at night,” he said, which could indicate a chronic sleep condition like insomnia or chronic stress. Said differently: Naps can be detrimental to your overall health if you’re taking them to make up for consistently poor sleep.

“You can’t routinely substitute nighttime sleep with a nap,” said Shelby Harris, a licensed clinical psychologist and clinical associate professor of neurology and psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

If you shortchange your nighttime sleep on a regular basis, you risk not getting the proper amount of light and deep REM sleep on a regular basis, she added. Long-term, this can increase your risk for a host of health problems such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and even mortality.

If you sleep well at night, then a power nap of 20 minutes in the early afternoon can be beneficial for productivity, energy, and mood, Harris said. However, there’s a difference between benefiting from a nap and needing a nap.

“If you can’t get through most days without multiple naps or find naps unrefreshing, you should talk with a sleep doctor,” she said. These could be signs of sleep apnea or another chronic sleep or health condition.

The length of the nap, the time of day you take said nap, and sleep hygiene can all influence the quality of your nap.

Words by Gabrielle Kassel