Sleep Your Way to Good Health: The Italian Way
Posted on: Jul 6, 2009
I’m going to let you in on one of my tightly guarded morning ritual secrets …
You ready?
Gulp.
I’m a junkie. An online magazine junkie, that is. Or actually, to be more specific … a Real Simple magazine junkie.
The worst part is, I’m not even sure how it started.
You see, somewhere in my web-browsing ecstasy I signed up for their daily newsletter and well … those 15-20 minutes a day I spend browsing their “Daily Finds” and clicking through their highly researched and smartly-written articles somehow gets me through my day.
I. Love. Them.
(Whew … it is good to get it off of my chest.)
In fact, I’ve been wanting to tell you just how special Real Simple is to me, but “Best Lightweight Pajamas” and “Espadrilles for Every Occasion” don’t really fit into the whole American girl living it up in Calabria theme I have going on here.
Until today.
I hungrily clicked through to the read “8 Health Shortcuts That Work,” because come on now, aren’t we all looking for a break on that “eight glasses of water a day” rule?
Well, anyway …
Shortcut on exercise? Nice.
Shortcut on fruits and veggies? I’m in, I’m in …
Shortcut on sleep? Wait. Didn’t the Italians invent that? According to the article, there is a shortcut on sleeping 7-8 hours a night, too.
“Sleep
The ideal: Get at least seven hours each night. Skimping on sleep can have a major impact on your health. A 2007 study at the University of Warwick, in England, found that women who slept fewer than five hours a night were twice as likely to suffer from hypertension as women who got seven hours of sleep. Previous studies have linked lack of sleep to weight gain and a weakened immune system.
The next best thing: If you’ve been short on sleep, take a nap. A recent study found that people who took a short daily nap had a lower rate of dying from heart disease than did those who never snoozed during the day.”
Well, if you say so.
Over the last year or so I’ve gotten out of the Italian habit of napping post-pranzo and continue working throughout the afternoon. But if Real Simple says it is so … it is so.
Speaking of, it is just about that time over here in southeast Texas.
So I’m off to have an afternoon riposo. What about you-do you nap during the day? Come on. You can tell us. And if you’d like to receive any of Real Simple’s newsletters, you can register here.
I don’t try to nap but often find myself doing just that if I’m at home. Around 2 or 3ish.
Sleep is very important. When I was younger I used to sleep as little as possible (there was work to be done!). Now I get it.
I try to sleep at least six hours a night.
You are lucky. I need WAY more than 6 hours a night.
.-= nyc/caribbean ragazza´s last blog ..Creepy fountain on Via Flaminia and some J.S. Bach =-.
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I’m a stay at home mom….no napping for me. Nap time is critical hour to get stuff done without Miss Madeleine under foot.
BTW, I love, love, love Real Simple and have been a subscriber of the mag for a few years now. They put out a great cookbook mag called Meals Made Easy. I also love my new Real Simple Solutions!
Aren’t they the best, Brandi? LOVE them!
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It all depends on what I have been doing, but I find it very hard to nap during the day, and it really is not a thing done in the Uk…but if I have been working hard, and not getting enough sleep, I might just nap on the sofa, normally read for a bit..
I am one for going to bed pretty early, especially when my husband is away, but at the moment with summer here it is way toooo light.So find myself staying up, My husband on the other hand is the total opposite to me, stays up way to late, naps anywhere, ..so it is true, he needs to change his sleeping pattern!!
Oh no. I am thankful P and me are on the same page … more or less.
.-= anne´s last blog ..A Fun day out in Oxford….. =-.
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