Anyone who gets as little sleep as me becomes obsessed with it, so I am always intrigued by sleep research.

I read two things lately on sleep. One is a simple trick to help you get more of it and the other is the power of the nap.

I am all about the nap. I am a huge believer in the power of the nap. Anyone who gets up at 2.45am would be all about the nap. Napping is quite literally life.

But turns out it’s not just for us shift workers, napping is good for everybody.

According to research out of Switzerland based on data collected from 3500 people over five years, daytime naps may be linked to lower risk of heart attack or stroke.

The key? To limit them to just a few times a week.

Healthy adults who took one or two naps a week had “lower risk for cardiovascular disease compared to people who were not napping at all.” Occasional napping was linked to a 48 percent lowered risk for heart attack or heart failure.

So what constitutes a nap? The ideal nap time is apparently 20 to 45 minutes.

On top of that, I read that according to a Neurology and Sleep medicine director, there’s an optimal temperature that our bodies sleep best at.

According to his research, if the temperature in the room you’re sleeping in is between 15 and 19 degrees, that’s perfect. ‘If it falls below or climbs above that range, you’re more likely to toss and turn and have poor quality sleep.’

Our bodies inability to regulate temperature is linked to insomnia.

So if you have a nice cold room, then your natural sleep cycle should be able to function normally.

Studies of sleep insomniacs showed they had consistently warmer core body temperatures than other adults.

So if you’re spending the night kicking off duvets and thrashing around feeling hot, that could be your problem.

There are other benefits of good sleep in a cold room, it lowers the risk of diabetes apparently, and keeps you looking younger.

Why? Because good sleep helps release growth hormones which are important for anti-ageing.

So far so easy then.

A cold room, and a couple of daytime naps a week and we should all be sleeping like babies.

Babies who sleep that is, not newborn babies.