If t-shirts with cheeky phrases emblazoned on them has taught me anything, it’s that coffee and naps are the two most popular things in the world (and maybe pizza). And according to a sleep and wellness study, combining the two—for what is called a “coffee nap”—is good for you.
To successfully perform the coffee nap ritual and summon the alertness demon, you drink a cup of coffee and then jam out a kick 15-minute snooze. Caffeine takes 45 minutes to be absorbed into the body, so drinking a cup of coffee and then getting a little shut-eye in that absorption window allows you to wake up more refreshed and alert than simply having a coffee or a nap alone.
To test this theory, researchers set up a driving simulator to test the alertness of the coffeed, the napped, and the coffee-napped. According to the article in The Conversation:
Although drinking a coffee (without a nap) helped their driving performance, combining caffeine with a nap (a coffee nap) improved it even further. People who took a coffee nap were less likely to drift out of their lanes on a two hour monotonous simulated drive, compared to when they just drank a coffee (and had no nap) or when they had a decaffeinated coffee (and without a nap).
So there you have it. Coffee naps are a real thing and they are good for you. If you’re a little sleep-deprived after pulling a double or maybe tying one too many on, don’t just drink a coffee, don’t just have a nap, get yourself a coffee nap.
Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network.
