午睡有得有失 You snooze, you lose, but you might also gain

I've never been one for taking afternoon naps, or "power naps" as some insist on calling them in a vain attempt to sound more grownup. Whenever I try, I tend to wake up feeling even more drained than when I went to sleep.

我从来都不午睡。一些人坚持把午睡称为“能量小憩”，认为这样就能显得自己很成熟，但其实并不是。每当我尝试午睡时，醒来以后感觉更难受。

Of course, anyone who has worked in an office in China will have at some point spotted someone taking a post-lunch snooze, most likely right at their desk. Once, I dropped by a colleague's desk around 1 pm to find her fully reclined in her large leather chair with a blanket pulled up to her chin, comatose. I quietly placed the urgent paperwork she'd requested on her desk and tip-toed away.

当然，每个中国上班族都会看到有同事趴在桌上午睡。我就曾经在下午一点的时候，看见一个同事舒展在大皮椅上，毯子盖到下巴上睡着了。我只好把她之前急着要的文件放在桌上，蹑手蹑脚地离开。

Even if I did like napping, I'd never have dreamed of sleeping at my desk when I was working in Britain, not least because of the risk that some prankster might take the opportunity to decorate my face with phallic symbols using a permanent marker.

在英国工作时，就算我喜欢午睡，也不会趴在桌上，因为可能会有人恶作剧，在我脸上画东西。

I used to put all this afternoon napping down to big lunches, but it's become fairly obvious that many people aren't getting a sufficient number of z's on an evening.

我过去中午都是大吃一顿，也不午睡。不过很多人晚上睡得少。

More than 60 percent of people age 28 or under don't get enough sleep, largely because of late-night smartphone use, according to estimates by the China Sleep Research Society.

中国睡眠研究会称，晚上玩手机在很大程度上导致超过60%的28岁及以下的人睡眠不充足。

The China Sleep Index, compiled by nal Health Commission, showed people sleep less than 7.6 hours a night on average, just below the recommended amount. In Beijing, at least 30 percent of the population survive on fewer than six and a half hours a night.

中国国家卫生健康委员会统计的睡眠指数显示，中国人每晚平均睡眠时间不足7.6小时，低于建议时长。至少有30%到北京居民每晚睡眠不足6.5小时。

Worryingly, the problem appears to be growing particularly acute among adolescents.

青少年睡眠不足的问题日趋严重。

Yet while some see napping as simply a midday recharge, scientists at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore have discovered evidence that suggests "catching 40 winks" during the day could actually improve our brain function.

有人认为，午睡能补充能量，杜克-新加坡国立大学医学院的科学家们也发现，午睡确实可以提高大脑功能。

Researchers recently tested the cognitive performance and glucose levels of two groups of students, ages 15 to 19, over a two-week period. One group received six and a half hours of continuous sleep at night while the other group kept a split schedule: five hours at night with a one-and-a-half hour nap in the afternoon.

研究人员近期对15岁和19岁的两组学生进行了两周测试，检验他们的认知表现和葡萄糖水平。一组学生每晚连续睡眠6.5小时，另一组每晚睡5小时，下午睡1.5小时。

"Compared with sleeping nine hours a night, having only six and a half hours over a 24-hour period degrades performance and mood. But interestingly, the split-sleep group exhibited better alertness, vigilance, working memory and mood than those who slept continuously," said professor Michael Chee, who heads the school's Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience.

该大学认知神经学院的主任Michael Chee领衔这个研究，他表示：“与每晚睡九小时的人相比，24小时内只睡6.5小时的人会表现不好，心情变差。但有趣的是，与晚上连续睡觉的人相比，午睡的人在工作上反应更灵敏，心情也更好。”

However, the downside was that the split-sleep group saw a greater increase in blood glucose levels, potentially firming up the link some have made between insufficient sleep and a higher risk of diabetes.

然而，午睡的一组血糖偏高，可能说明睡眠不足与糖尿病相关。

So napping could make you more productive, but it could also damage your health. I know. Nightmare, right?

所以午睡可以让你工作更精神，但也可能毁掉你的健康。这真是噩梦啊。

We obviously still have a lot to learn about the positive and negative effects of sleep, but one thing is already certain: Leaving a pool of snooze drool next to your mouse is gross!

我们依然要探索睡眠带来的影响，但可以确定的是，睡觉流口水太恶心了！