To Your Health
October, 2022 (Vol. 16, Issue 10) |
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Early Bird or Night Owl?
By Editorial Staff
The early bird is early to rise and early to sleep; the night owl is just the opposite, waking late and staying up late. If you make a habit of being the latter, you could be increasing your health risks dramatically, suggests new research. Let's learn why the night owl should consider taking advice from the early bird – before it's too late.
Your sleeping pattern affects your risk of developing two major health issues: type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Specifically, night owls are more likely to suffer from one or both conditions compared to early birds. Research published in
Experimental Physiology suggests differences in the wake-sleep cycles between early birds and night owls affect metabolism and energy storage; early birds have a greater tendency to use fat as energy, both at rest and during exercise.
In arriving at their findings, researchers evaluated adults from each sleep-wake cycle who ate the same calorie- and nutrition-controlled diet, and fasted overnight, for one week. They also had participants performed aerobic fitness tests to assess energy use. In addition to using less fat for energy than early birds (and favoring carbohydrates over fat), night owls also were more insulin resistant – a risk factor for both type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Are you an early bird or a night owl? If you're a night owl, consider becoming an early bird (or at least and earlier bird) for the reasons this study suggest. If you don't think you can do it (but want to), start with slow, incremental changes in your sleep cycle. This week, try going to bed 30 minutes earlier every night and waking up 30 minutes earlier every morning. Next week (or next month, depending on how this week goes), make another 30-minute change. Before you know it, you'll be an early bird ... and enjoying the health benefits!
