"While there’s nothing you can do to change your genetic chronotype, there are ways to control your lark or owl tendencies, and keep your health on track if you’re working and social life demand it."
An out-of-sync body clock can raise your risk of cancer,
heart disease and type 2 diabetes, and lead to weight gain, according to new
research. Many people don’t even realize
they’re sleep-deprived,’ says Russel Foster, professor of circadian
neuroscience at Oxford University. ‘But if you need an alarm clock to wake in the morning, you
probably don’t get enough sleep — and are out of sync with your body clock.’
Whether you’re a lark or a night owl is known as your
chronotype. It
may be that in human society there was an advantage in having some people
vigilant at night and others in the early hours,’ says Professor Foster. Outside
cues such as daylight and eating and drinking keep us in time with the 24-hour
day. However, our body clock has an ‘intrinsic rhythm’ it wants to run at, says
Dr Archer. Larks — who prefer early to bed, early to rise — have a faster
cycle, while owls, who like staying up and getting up late, are slower.
While there’s nothing you can do to
change your genetic chronotype, there are ways to control your lark or owl
tendencies, and keep your health on track if you’re working and social life
demand it. ‘Bright light is the most powerful way of shifting the body clock,’
says Professor Foster. So, if you’re an owl who has to get up early, get as
much light as possible in the morning. To give owls the best chance of winding
down earlier, they should avoid being too active in the evening and keep lights
dim — and don’t turn on a bright bathroom light to brush your teeth just before
bed.‘Larks who need to work late should do the opposite — making their evenings
active and stimulating, for instance by going to the gym, and keeping bright
lights on.’
Source: dailymail.co.uk
