We're Number #1. If you Google "sleep diet" you will find that the top referral in the entire known universe for those two words is a post I wrote on this blog in October of 2005. Based on what presumably are some very complex algorithms which must be used in the search engine rating process, this one touched a nerve. At the time, I was writing a kind of Andy Rooney like tongue-in-cheek comment about the concept that you need a lot of sleep to keep your weight in check.
I can't resist going for the Google Gold one more time with another post about the benefits of sleeping your way to a better life.
Today comes word that taking a lot of naps leads to a healthy heart. Here's the work-out formula: take at least a 30-minute nap at least three times a week. After this rigorous schedule of snoozing, you will have 37% less chance of heart disease. Maybe all the extra sleep will keep you more trim and that's the reason for the heart healthiness. Just don't forget that coffee's turning out to be good for you, too. That could interfere with the nap. It gets confusing, staying in top shape.
So let's see then... I could go jog every day and maybe reduce my heart risk (but running advocate Jim Fixx died of a heart attack, remember?) or I can take a snooze on the couch after lunch? Then when I get home I should turn in early and get up late. I'm not being lazy, I'm training for a Triathalon or something. This fitness thing is getting easier...
By the way, they had to conduct this study in Greece where people actually do take naps. Here in the U.S. there just aren't enough of us with the guts to nap. I know for a fact that if any of the TV series writing staffs I've been on made everybody take a post lunch nap, we'd have all been a lot sharper around four or five when we hit the wall. But naps are seen as a sign of weakness or a lack of commitment to the cause so they really don't happen much in the American workplace. Besides, if employers gave their workers a chance to nap, we'd probably all just play Brick-Breaker on our cell-phones and have some more coffee...
