Hacker News Reader

Comment by notadoc | Hacker News Reader

I don't understand napping, never have. Are you really that tired that you must sleep in the middle of the day? Maybe you just need better rest at night, or maybe you need to exercise more or eat better food? Unless you're a toddler then napping feels like compensating for something else.

To each their own, if it works for you that's great.

View on HN

> I don't understand napping, never have. Are you really that tired that you must sleep in the middle of the day?

I exercise 5 times a day, and I eat a very clean diet. Not keto or paleo, but definitely low in carbs, high in fat and vegetables etc. I still sleep for 20 minutes at lunch. Human adults are tuned to feel sleepy after being up for 8 hours or so.

Did you read the article?

> In a study published in Nature Neuroscience, researchers tested subjects on their perceptual performance four times throughout the day. Performance deteriorated with each test, but subjects who took a 30-minute nap between tests stopped the deterioration in performance, and those who took a 60-minute nap even reversed it.

I do wonder the same thing. While I do need points in the day to just stop working and relax my brain, even daydream, I never feel the need for an actual nap. I have to wonder if diet and fitness have anything to do with it.

In my opinion, napping becomes more essential with hard training. Even with sleeping well every night, I still find myself napping almost daily.

Your first paragraph stands in contrast with the last. For some people napping optimizes their energy through the day.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com