The next time your boss takes you to task for napping on the job, tell him or her you are just trying to improve your job performance. It’s official, taking an afternoon nap is good for you and may even make you brainier.

You don’t even need to sleep for long, just a few minutes will work wonders for your memory, focus and concentration. It seems that the mere act of nodding off is what counts rather than the duration of the nap.
A new study by German researchers and published in the medical journal New Scientist will be music to the ears of office workers – who have always sung the praise of power napping anyway.

Also, previous studies have shown that the brain is more active in people who nap than in those who do not sleep during the day. 

But don’t take the news as an excuse to sleep away the entire afternoon; naps are only beneficial when they do not last longer than 20 minutes. A study from Harvard Medical School of nearly 24,000 people found that those who regularly took afternoon naps were nearly 40 percent less likely to die from heart disease than non-nappers. 

It has long been thought that humans need long periods of uninterrupted sleep – refreshing stage four deep sleep to feel truly refreshed – but now it seems that much of sleep’s functional aspects are accomplished at its very beginning. Sleep experts are playing with the idea that memory processing may be triggered at the onset of sleep – while the deeper sleep we slip into at night may be important for core functions. Only then is it crucial that you sleep uninterrupted.

So the next time you feel like nodding off in the office, on a train journey, or after the lunchtime news, just tell yourself and your boss if you have one that you are doing it to improve your afternoon performance. Now you have the evidence to prove it!

If you’re trying to make up your mind about whether or not to take hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or try natural alternatives a major new study by the Women’s Health Initiative gives food for thought. The US study suggests HRT patients face a higher cancer risk long after they have stopped treatment, when compared to those who never had the treatment.

Previous studies have shown a link between HRT and breast cancer – but it was thought that the increased risk disappeared fairly quickly.  This new study, however, shows that the risk of breast cancer can linger for up to three years after stopping HRT.

The results published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggest that the risk of breast cancer remained 27% higher while risks of any type of cancer were 24% higher.  The other health risks associated with HRT e.g. strokes and clots do not persist and return to normal after stopping HRT.

Here’s another reason to watch your intake of chips and crisps. Eating fried food every day isn’t just bad for your waist line and your heart – it can also increase your risk of ovarian or womb cancer.

Scientists from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands believe a chemical called acrylamide, found in chips, crisps, burnt toast and grilled or barbecued meat, could be the culprit. Women with the highest amounts of acrylamide in their bodies were found to be twice as likely to have one of these cancers. All processed foods, such as chips and crisps are best avoided, but if you do decide to indulge now and again it’s best to cook chips to a golden yellow rather than a golden brown

Meanwhile a new study by the Institute of Food research has suggested that an onion a day may be all that it takes to keep heart disease at bay. Research from the Institute of Food has shown that quercetin, a compound in onions helps prevent chronic inflammation that can lead to thickening of the arteries and an increased risk of heart disease. (Quercetin can also be taken in supplement form – see the Resources Page).