Sleeping: Starting off the day right can lead to increased productivity and focus throughout the day. This fact explains why we’re suckers for listicles that divulge the morning habits of successful people. It turns out they always seem to offer the same insight: Wake up early.
A genetic study of nearly 700,000 people has revealed new insights about the genetics of chronotype – our preference to rise early or sleep late – and how it influences our mental and physical health.
We all lie somewhere on the chronotype bell-curve, with larks (early sleepers) at one end and owls (late sleepers) at the other.
Our chronotype is partly influenced by our environment. Factors include season, latitude and whether we live in an urban area.
Men are more likely than women to be owls and we become more lark-like as we age. However, studies have shown that anywhere between a fifth and a half of our chronotype is fixed at birth by our genes. Until as recently as 2016, little was known about what these genetic factors were.
Analysing genes from the data of about 700,000 people against whether they were “morning” or “evening” people, studies have found 351 genetic variants that contribute to determining a person’s chronotype. Before this study, we knew of only 24.
Research has shown that owls have an increased risk of obesity, depression and even type 2 diabetes. The newly found chronotype variants allowed us to investigate whether sleeping and rising later are directly responsible for this.
HOW OUR GENES AFFECT OUR BODY CLOCK
Your body clock doesn’t just keep time but also acts as an internal scheduler. It tells your body when to be active, when to be hungry and when to release important hormones. Most importantly, your body clock tells you when to be tired and so when to sleep.
Some genetic variants we identified were in or near genes responsible for the correct functioning of the body clock.
This suggests that some differences between larks and owls can be ascribed to slight differences in the clock itself. It may explain previous findings that owls have clocks that run slower than larks.
Artificial light at a non-natural time seems to have adverse effects on health.
While genetics is partially to blame for whether we’re morning or night people, recent research suggests that another part of the puzzle is our behavior. In other words, if you want to become a morning person, you might actually be able to.
So give it a try – after all, why not?
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About Author:
Hello, my name is Rajesh Himmatlal. This is my blog, where i will be posting articles related Travel, Career Advice, Trading, Investment, Health Tips and much more…I started with this blog to provide you all with daily fresh new ideas.
