Former prime ministers Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher swore by them for much needed energy. But it seems power naps might be bad for us. Those, who steal forty winks in the day are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure, according to research.
The Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, pooled data from nine studies with 112,267 participants. They found those, who took a snooze in the middle of the day were between 13 and 19 percent more likely to have hypertension.
But, when the researchers looked at the association between night-time napping in those who work night shifts, there was not the same link. One study found shift workers, who napped at night actually had a 21 percent reduced risk.
The clinic’s Dr Wisit Cheungpasitporn said, “More research is needed to better understand if the duration of midday sleep, or if diet, exercise, or an underlying medical condition, might be impacting risk.”
Another study presented at a New York conference found, eating grated Italian cheese could reduce blood pressure. Researchers said that eating a daily ounce of grana padano – a hard cheese similar to parmesan – was just as good as taking blood pressure medication.
Scientists from the Guglielmo da Saliceto Hospital and Catholic University in Piacenza, Italy, said peptides in the cheese relax blood vessels, using the same action common blood pressure pills.
Researcher Dr Giuseppe Crippa told the American Society of Hypertension, “Adding a little Grana Padano to a healthy diet may provide clinically significant blood pressure lowering benefits.”
At least 16 million in Britain have high blood pressure, which is known as the ‘silent killer’ because there are no obvious symptoms. Left untreated it can lead to a heart attack, stroke and kidney disease. Patients are given drugs to reduce the pressure, but in up to a fifth of cases these do not work.
In study of 30 patients with high blood pressure, participants were given either an ounce per day of Grana Padano cheese or a placebo imitation cheese for two months. Blood pressure is expressed as two numbers, systolic – the upper number – and diastolic – the lower one.
The experts reported a seven to eight-point drop in systolic blood pressure and a five to seven-point drop in diastolic blood pressure. No changes were seen in body mass index, cholesterol or blood sugar levels. The findings come after experts at Northumbria reported last week that people, who drank cherry juice saw their blood pressure drop enough to slash the risk of a stroke by 38 percent.
That team, whose work was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, said that, reducing blood pressure by tiny amounts can have a huge impact on life expectancy.