While most people are aware of the fact that getting too little sleep, too much sleep, or quality sleep is absolutely damaging and devastating to their health, many believe that “sleep is sleep”, and it doesn’t matter when you go to bed just so long as you get in your solid eight hours.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
A new study published by a consortium of British medical researchers reports that the actual timing of your sleep – whether or not you are an early riser and a morning person or a night owl – has a tremendous impact on your body’s ability to fight against infection, push back against disease, and conquer heart health issues.
Unsurprisingly, the research finds that morning people are a lot more likely to stay healthy than those that sleep late and get to bed even later.
Folks that get seven or eight hours of sleep a night are generally much, much healthier
The research (surveying more than 500,000 adults throughout the United Kingdom and Europe) shows that individuals that get between seven and eight hours of sleep every night are a lot less likely to smoke cigarettes, much more likely to eat fruits and healthy vegetables, and generally enjoy significantly improved health.
The same report shows that individuals getting six or less hours of sleep are dealing with incredibly severe health issues ranging from obesity, diabetes, and heart health problems that just aren’t as frequently prevalent in those that are getting solid sect time every night.
Early risers are also shown to be a lot more productive and more socially adjusted and emotionally strong than those that are awake while the rest of the world sleeps.
How can you become a morning person?
The last thing that you want to do is attempt to become a morning person overnight – it just isn’t going to work out that way and you’ll be really screwing with your body and its biochemistry.
What you’ll want to do instead is slowly step back your sleeping habits one hour at a time until you hit the sweet spot that you’re looking for. This will take probably two or three weeks until it really cements itself into your daily routine. But by the time it does your body will have already undergone a significant number of beneficial changes and you’ll be in a much better place health wise.