We have been told hitting the snooze button is a foul habit. But is it? Recently, I read an article in Scientific American that talks about how snoozing can actually be good for us!
A growing body of recent research says that snoozing shouldn’t be the “be all and end all” that we’ve got been told it’s. In some research, there’s actually no difference in health outcomes for chronic snoozers and non-snoozers!
Yes, snoozing can shorten our sleep cycles, but it surely’s not the identical sort of shortening that happens when REM (restorative) sleep is disturbed. Even half-hour of snoozing is okay!
In fact, plainly snoozing may also help shake off morning drowsiness by easing the transition from deep sleep to a lighter stage of sleep and waking up! The key thing to recollect is that we’ve got 4-5 sleep cycles: 2 in NREM (light sleep where it’s easy to wake someone up), 2 in REM, another in NREM.
Waking up mid-sleep could make us drowsy and disoriented. However, that is where snoozing could also be useful since the mini-naps may also help shift us from deep to light sleep, in order that after we do get up, we feel more energetic and alert.
The extra naps may even help us think higher through the day because snoozers feel less drained! Snoozing seems to stop us from reverting to deep stages of sleep, increasing our cortisol levels (in an excellent way) and helping the brain get up, which, in turn, may also help improve cognition. However, for many who are already getting insufficient or disturbed sleep, a 30-min snooze period could also be more detrimental than for somebody who’s sleeping 7–8 hours an evening.
It is essential to know that snoozing will impact people in another way. Indeed, research shows that some people’s biological clocks—a built-in 24-hour cycle that helps the body regulate processes including wakefulness and sleep—are likely to shift toward a “night owl” chronotype during adolescence, reaching peak “lateness” around age 20. At the top of the day, it’s best to do what works for you for where you’re in life, whether that isn’t any snoozing or snoozing for half-hour a day.
Snoozing doesn’t replace an excellent nights’ sleep, but it could actually help some people sleep higher. More research is required, but what we do know is that snoozing doesn’t make someone “lazy”. For some people, it could actually really help them sleep higher and improve their wellbeing!
For more on snoozing, take heed to my podcast (episode #572). If you enjoy listening to my podcast, please consider leaving a 5-star review and subscribing. And keep sharing episodes with family and friends and on social media. (Don’t forget to tag me so I can see your posts!).
In this podcast (episode #572) and blog, I talk concerning the advantages of snoozing! This is a replay of a Neurolive webinar I did on my app. For the complete webinar Ad-free, please see Neurocycle.app.
Originally published on Dr.Caroline Leaf.com. Used with permission.
Photo Credit: ©Pexels/Miriam Alonso
