Summary:
The factors that influence how we feel when we wake up and for the duration of the day are expected to be due to how we sleep, however this paper has explored the notion that it’s also about our eating patterns and exercise routine the day before. This paper is a prospective longitudinal study that analysed 833 twins and compared them with genetically unrelated adults to demonstrate that how someone feels when they wake up and throughout the day is in fact not genetic, but heavily dependent on activities completed the day prior. The lifestyle factors the paper looked at were sleep quantity/quality the night before, physical activity and a low blood glucose spike following breakfast. These findings are important as they releval a set of factors that are modifiable in order to maintain alertness throughout the day and help combat feeling lethargic when you wake up.
Abstract:
How people wake up and regain alertness in the hours after sleep is related to how they are sleeping, eating, and exercising. Here, in a prospective longitudinal study of 833 twins and genetically unrelated adults, we demonstrate that how effectively an individual awakens in the hours following sleep is not associated with their genetics, but instead, four independent factors: sleep quantity/quality the night before, physical activity the day prior, a breakfast rich in carbohydrate, and a lower blood glucose response following breakfast. Furthermore, an individual’s set-point of daily alertness is related to the quality of their sleep, their positive emotional state, and their age. Together, these findings reveal a set of non-genetic (i.e., not fixed) factors associated with daily alertness that are modifiable.
Article Publication Date: 19/11/2022
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34503-2
