A regular one hour nap can lower blood pressure by almost the same amount as taking medication with the same goal, according to new research.
A study by doctors from the Asklepieion General Hospital in Voula found the correlation between napping and the health benefit, the Mail Online reports.
Experts tracked 212 patients with a high blood pressure figure of 130mmHg and found daily napping brought this down by 5mmHg.
This is comparable to medication, which usually does so by 5 to 7mmHg.
"Based on our findings, if someone has the luxury to take a nap during the day, it may also have benefits for high blood pressure," Dr Manolis Kallistratos is quotes as saying in reports.
"Napping can be easily adopted and typically doesn’t cost anything. The higher the blood pressure levels, the more pronounced any effort to lower it will appear."
He said even minor reductions in blood pressure can have an impact on health and help to avoid a number of issues such as heart attacks.
He added: "We obviously don’t want to encourage people to sleep for hours on end during the day, but on the other hand, they shouldn’t feel guilty if they can take a short nap, given the potential health benefits."
High blood pressure can put pressure on the heart and other organs, which can lead to heart disease and strokes.
It is measured with two numbers, the systolic pressure then the diastolic pressure.
The first is the force at which blood is pumped and the latter is the resistance to blood flow.
A healthy measurement is between 90/60mmHg and 120/80mmHg.
