There are people who, before the sun rises, had breakfast, cleaned the house and organized the day. But for most people, waking up with the first rays of the sun is a feat. In fact, some people are just the opposite – they are much more efficient and productive at night.
In this sense, science has created two opposing groups: early risers (larks), who wake up early and take advantage of most of the morning, and vespers (owls), whose performance increases during the day. Recently, a new study conducted at the Research Institute of Molecular Biology and Biophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences revealed that there is actually much more behind these chronotypes and that certain people should never get up early in the morning .
“Lethargic” and “energetic” people
These researchers looked at 130 people who had to stay awake for 24 hours to test their energy level. Then they discovered that there are people who can spend the whole day with a low energy level, classified as “lethargic”, while others could remain more active despite lack of sleep and regardless of what time they woke up, the latter were classified as “energetic”.
These new categories indicate that getting up early would be detrimental for people with less energy . In fact, your problem stems from the fact that your circadian rhythm is out of sync with the natural cycle of light and dark.
In essence, sunlight is a kind of natural clock that stimulates our body to stop producing melatonin, the hormone that causes sleep. Then we can maintain an adequate level of care during the day. On the contrary, when the light ceases, the melatonin levels rise and we fall asleep slowly.
In early risers and energetic people, the peak of the greatest activity occurs mainly at noon, when the sunlight is most intense. However, the vespers or lethargy would not be so well synchronized with the light cycle, so its performance would increase slowly during the day.
These differences are due, among other factors, to our DNA. According to research conducted at the National Center for Neurology and Psychiatry in Tokyo, the PER-3 gene, one of the genes of our biological clock, determines the propensity to get up sooner or later, as well as our energy levels throughout the day. .
Why should you know and adapt your rhythm to your chronotype?
Knowing your chronotype allows you to work at your own natural circadian rhythm, which influences not only your productivity but also your mood and health. In fact, it has been shown that when there is a circadian rhythm mismatch, a person is more likely to suffer from obesity, diabetes, and certain types of cancers. Plus, taking advantage of your most productive moments will allow you to do more with less effort, which will have a positive effect on your mood.
In fact, the circadian rhythm is so important that some doctors at the Paul Brousse Hospital in Paris have even said that chemotherapy should be applied according to this cycle because we know that the cells of some types of lymphoma tend to multiply more between 9 and 10 pm. on the contrary, intestinal cells tend to do so at 7 am and bone marrow cells at noon. Therefore, if chemotherapy is given at this time, it will be more effective and less toxic.