Say good night to your nocturnal existence as German scientists have discovered that the very hormone that helps you perform in between the sheets can also hinder the other bedroom activity: sleep.
Testosterone may make men susceptible to being night owls. And why you may ask? The master clock in your brain has male hormone receptors which could alter your clock to a later schedule, says study author, Christoph Randler.
So when you are dozing off late and waking early for work, you’re looking at serious sleep deprivation.
Are you ready to reclaim the night?
Loosen up at lunch
Lower your cortisol which is a stress hormone that peaks later in night owls without messing with your testosterone. Want to know what the trick is? It takes 20 minutes of tensing and releasing your muscles at lunchtime.
This causes your cortisol levels to decrease, say German researchers.
Pour a warm one
The opposite of enjoying a ‘cold one’. If you want to sleep better; you should turn to the power of warm milk. As your sleep hormone melatonin rises throughout the night, your temperature drops which initiates sleep; but the melatonin spike occurs later for night owls.
After drinking warm milk, it causes a spike and then a significant decrease in your body temperature, says MH sleep advisor W. Christopher Winter, M.D
Rethink your weekends
Sadly the only way to undo your night-owl cycle is to follow your weekday cycle on weekends, says Dr Winter. Since you do not have the worry of being late for work, set- up a reward for rolling out of bed early- like a special breakfast and eventually you will start waking up earlier on your own.
Fuente: www.mh.co.za
