A sleep expert has advised people to take regular daytime naps in a bid to improve their brain health, and has also revealed the sweet spot length needed.
It's expected that babies and young children will take naps throughout the day, but it's not something that many adults will factor into their working day.
Now a team of scientists has discovered that those who nap could well be slowing the process of brain ageing by between three and six years, helping to "reduce brain shrinkage".
The team behind this study, made up of researchers from University College London (UCL) and the University of the Republic in Uruguay, hope that their findings will help to tackle the stigma surrounding daytime naps, by showing just how beneficial they can be.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live this morning, senior author of the report, Dr Victoria Garfield explained that the brain shrinks naturally as we get older, but there are things we can do to slow down the process, including napping,
Considering the "perfect" nap, Dr Garfield advised: "There's evidence that the post-lunch time is really good for a nap, and that evidence comes from previous studies.
"The reason for that is that after lunch you may be feeling a bit tired, and you may need a sort of boost in energy, a boost in cognition."
According to the Sleep Foundation, the best time of day to take a nap, for most people, would be either just before or during the "post-lunch dip", a time when many will be less alert and productive following their midday meal.
Taking a short nap at around 12:30 pm or around 2 pm could help alleviate afternoon drowsiness while ensuring your nap doesn't interfere with your nighttime sleep.
Revealing the ideal amount of time to take a nap, Dr Garfield continued: "In terms of length, nothing more than about 30 minutes. There is some evidence for sort of five to 15 minutes, and that's for people who like to have a really short what we call power nap.
"But anything up to 30 minutes is quite beneficial. Anything longer is difficult because then you're sort of going into that deep sleep, and it's much, much harder to wake up."
Later on in the show, sleep expert Susan Lee also stressed the importance of finding time for a nap, adding: "I think sometimes napping is best if it's 10 to 15 minutes because we're not looking to go into deeper levels of sleep, it's just about switching off.
"A normal sleep cycle is about 90 minutes, and then we wake up every 90 minutes or so, you know, you have ups and downs with your sleep cycle.
"But this is slightly different when we're talking about napping, where we're not going into deep sleep, we're just literally taking the edge off a bit, allowing our body to relax, allowing our body to be still for a while, and we're getting the advantage of doing that without going into dream sleep or whatever."
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