If you prefer to go to bed and get up later – a sleep chronotype known as being a night owl – you may be at higher risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease, a new study found.
Sign up for the Sleep, But Better newsletter series. Our seven-part guide has helpful hints to achieve better sleep. Night owls were more sedentary, had lower aerobic fitness levels and burned less fat at rest and while active than early birds in the study. Night owls were also more likely to be insulin-resistant, meaning their muscles required more insulin to be able to get the energy they need, according to the study published Monday in the journal Experimental Physiology.
If you’re an innate early bird, your circadian rhythm releases melatonin much earlier than the norm, energizing you to become most active in the morning. In night owls, however, the internal body clock secretes melatonin much later, making early mornings sluggish and pushing peak activity and alertness later into the afternoon and evening. Sleep chronotype can have profound effects on productivity, school performance, social functioning and lifestyle habits, experts say.