Sleeping is a component of a healthy lifestyle, along with a healthy diet and some physical activity. That’s the triangle of health right there. Daytime sleeping is quite common, so common that we gave it a name: napping.

Ahh…To nap. That’s an activity that I like to do when I have the time. Specially if it’s in a hammock at the park. Unfortunately, napping is not so good for people who are overweight and have a sedentary lifestyle.

Research presented at 2015 annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes showed that taking long naps is associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes. The research, led by Dr. Tomohide Yamada from the University of Tokyo, Japan, consisted on a meta-analysis of different published scientific works. Their search included 261,365 Asian and Western subjects. Escessive daytime sleepiness was defined as having problems with sleepiness during the daytime. Daytime napping was defined as taking daytime naps.

What the researchers found is that excessive daytime sleepiness increases the risk of diabetes by 56%, while a longer daytime nap of 60 minutes or more increases the chance by 46%. In contrast, shorter naps (less than 60 minutes) had no effect in the risk of diabetes.

Excessive daytime sleepiness might be the consequence of sleep disturbance during the night, like sleep apnea.

Short naps, less than 30 minutes, are good. They help you increase your motor awareness and alertness.