The secret of daytime sleep: Exactly how many minutes should you sleep to keep your body refreshed?

Taking a short nap during the day to overcome fatigue and restore energy is a habit common to many people. However, experts recommend strictly controlling the duration of daytime sleep and not exceeding 30 minutes. Otherwise, instead of the expected refreshment, a sense of heavy exhaustion and unease may arise for the rest of the day.

From a medical standpoint, this condition is directly related to chemical processes in the human brain and the alternation of sleep stages.

The 20-minute "magic" sleep: The role of the serotonin hormone

A short-term daytime rest restores the body in the following ways:

• Serotonin production: During the first 20 minutes of daytime rest, the body actively produces serotonin, known as the "happiness and energy hormone";

• Source of refreshment: It is precisely after this short sleep that a person feels a surge of strength, brain activity clears up, and mood lifts, which is ensured by the timely activation of serotonin.

What happens if it exceeds 30 minutes? The negative effect of the deep phase

The main reasons why sleeping longer during the day is harmful:

• Entering deep sleep: 30 minutes after sleep begins, the body enters a deep phase, and "waking up" the brain from this stage is much more difficult;

• Heavy fatigue and unease: A person who wakes up during the deep phase feels even more tired and sluggish;

• Heart rate and mood disorders: Waking up at the wrong time causes an accelerated heartbeat, internal unease and anxiety, as well as a sharp drop in mood.