There is something all of us have in common, and that’s the fact that we all have 24 hours in a day. It doesn’t matter how you slice it, the hours are the same and that can lead to some difficulties. One of those problems is the fact that many of us try to live a very busy life and we try to start our day early in the morning. Many people consider it to be good to start early but science says otherwise.
As a matter of fact, science is now giving you permission to sleep in. Now that winter is nearby and we are all preparing for living with shortened daylight hours, this study is sure to make us reconsider how we decide to spend our mornings.
The real problem with sleeping late in the morning is a term that you may not be familiar with, social jet lag. This is the time difference between when we wake up from our alarm and when we would wake up without the alarm. These are the days where were tired from the morning until we crawl back into bed at night. Now you know what it is called.
Dr. Maree Barnes, a respiratory and sleep medicine physician, had the following to say:
When the sun comes up in the morning, the light turns off or suppresses melatonin, which is the naturally occurring body hormone which helps us go to sleep.
At the same time, our internal cortisol levels start to rise in the mornings. Cortisol is the same hormone that’s released if you have a fright and get that jolt of energy.
In other words, if we wake up when the sun comes up, our melatonin production is suppressed. The production of cortisol is what wakes us up physically.
When you wake up in the dark, the opposite occurs. That explains why people who work the night shift are the way they are. It is the negative effect of not getting enough sleep that causes the problems. Those problems range from hormonal imbalances to a wide variety of serious illnesses, including stroke, heart attack and diabetes. Depression may also be associated with lack of sleep.
Controlling when the sun is in the sky is outside of our abilities but there are some things we can do to help hack our sleep.
Less caffeine – Avoid caffeine, particularly within six hours of your scheduled bedtime.
Prioritize – One of the main problems that many of us face is that we don’t plan for a good night sleep. You need to prioritize your sleep and plan in advance to get to bed on time, get the sleep you need and wake refreshed.
Breakfast – Since most of us tend to miss out on sunlight, we need to metabolize vitamin D from another source. Start your day off with a healthy breakfast and you can avoid the midday drag.
Technology – There are many advances in technology that may be able to help us to get the sleep we need. These include alarm clocks that stimulate sunrise that are common among individuals who have odd sleep schedules.
Via: Distractify
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