1) Night Owls Are Less Healthy<\/h3>\n
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Hey, the scientists said it, not us! According to a recent study published in the journal Chronobiology International<\/em>, people who identify as \u201cdefinite evening types\u201d have a 10 percent higher risk of mortality. This doesn\u2019t mean that staying up late will kill you, but of the nearly 500,000 adults who participated in the study, night owls suffered from more health problems than early risers. These ailments ranged across the board, from diabetes to heart disease, and included neurological disorders, psychological disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, and respiratory disorders.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we think might be happening is, there\u2019s a problem for the night owl who\u2019s trying to live in the morning lark world,\u201d said Kristen Knutson, Associate Professor of Neurology at Northwestern\u2019s Feinberg School of Medicine and the leading author of the study. \u201cThis mismatch between their internal clock and their external world could lead to problems for their health over the long run, especially if their schedule is irregular.\u201d<\/p>\n An earlier 2014 study suggests that people who stay up late are more prone to depression. According to Knutson, being a night owl is probably a result of both genes and environment. You can\u2019t change the genes you inherit, but modifying your evening habits can have a positive impact on your health.<\/p>\n \u201cAn important message here is for night owls to realize that they have these potential health problems and therefore need to be more vigilant about maintaining a healthy lifestyle,\u201d Knutson said. \u201cEating right, exercising, getting enough sleep \u2013 all of these things are important, and maybe particularly so for night owls.\u201d<\/p>\n Part of that \u201cmaintaining a healthy lifestyle\u201d thing means treating your body right. If you sleep late and wake up late, chances are you\u2019re out the door before you\u2019ve had a chance to eat breakfast. You\u2019ve heard that it\u2019s the most important meal of the day, but do you know why<\/em>?<\/p>\n Whether you sleep a little or a lot, you\u2019re fasting the entire time. If you don\u2019t feed your body nutrients when you wake up, you\u2019ll continue to function in what is basically \u201cstarvation mode.\u201d That means less energy, less focus. and a much bigger craving for sweets and greasy snacks. Plus, you\u2019ll be much likelier to overeat when you do finally break your fast.<\/p>\n Outside the bedroom, breaking from routine and thinking outside the box is rewarded \u2013 but your body will definitely not reward you for sleeping willy nilly. Where sleep is concerned, routine is essential.<\/p>\n First, find out how many hours of sleep you need each night. This doesn\u2019t mean the bare minimum of hours you need to function, but how many hours make you feel rested the next day. (Some people need a full eight, but not everyone.) Waking up early is less of a chore when you give yourself adequate time to rest.<\/p>\n Obviously, choosing to wake up at 5 AM no matter when<\/em> you finally hit the pillow is a recipe for disaster. Sleep experts say that going to sleep earlier and waking up earlier offers a fuller, deeper sleep, because it matches the natural circadian rhythm of the Earth.<\/p>\n The next thing you need to do is examine your evening stimulation. Caffeine intake, exposure to bright screens, too many lights, level of exercise \u2013 all of these things factor into your sleep schedule. Closing the laptop earlier and cutting off the coffee drip can make a world of difference, even to self-professed night owls.<\/p>\n Once again, this is science talking. Who doesn\u2019t feel grumpy when dragging themselves out of bed in the morning? Well, morning people, that\u2019s who.<\/p>\n According to Forbes, many successful business people are early risers. This doesn\u2019t mean waking up one hour before your commute; this means waking up hours earlier. This quiet time is great for exercising (which also boosts mood and fitness), for meditation, and for getting a head start on the day \u2013 before the real distractions set in.<\/p>\n In 2008, Harvard biologist Christoph Randler found that \u201cmorning people\u201d are more likely to anticipate problems and minimize them efficiently. They are also better at planning and making decisions. Just deciding to wake up early is a bold decision!<\/p>\n A good night\u2019s sleep is essential to healthy living. Neglect it, and you\u2019ll gradually feel your energy drain away. Ironically, this isn\u2019t something that can be fixed overnight. Establishing a healthy sleep routine requires diligence and commitment. It\u2019s hard, but it\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n Regular exercise and a healthy diet can do wonders for your sleep, and it\u2019s a self-fulfilling cycle. When you wake up early, you have more time to exercise, which in turn makes you hungrier for a real breakfast, which jumpstarts your body and makes you less inclined to eat junk.<\/p>\n In the long run, a healthier diet will improve your sleep.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Maybe there are people who wake up early on purpose, but they\u2019re as rare as unicorns. Or maybe not. Research suggests that waking up early can have a powerful and positive effect on your health.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":5020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[83,84],"class_list":["post-5009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sleep","tag-ogimageheight3840","tag-ogimagewidth5760"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5009"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5999,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5009\/revisions\/5999"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturalwellness.com\/nwupdate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2) Breakfast Is Good for You<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\n3) Routine Is Good for You<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\n4) Morning People Are Happier People<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nSweet Dreams<\/h3>\n