The Times Weekend - UK (2021-11-13)

Body + Soul 7

been associated with a higher risk of obe-

sity, and “people who sleep for less than

seven hours each night generally have a

higher BMI [body mass index] than

people who have a regular good night’s

sleep”, Stanley says. This is partly because

of the effect of night-time snacking. A re-

view of data on almost 20,000 people by

Christopher Taylor, a professor of medi-

cal dietetics in the School of Health and

Rehabilitation Sciences at Ohio State

University, found that those going to bed

later tend to snack more on sweets, salty

snacks and soft drinks. And the longer

they stayed up at night, the more oppor-

tunities there were for extra calories to be

consumed.

... and you’ll burn fat

more efficiently

Late-night eating means more than just

extra calories. Some researchers have sug-

gested that defying our natural circadian

rhythms by eating late at night interferes

with the body’s ability to burn fat. Last year

researchers who compared morning

(8am) with evening (10pm) snacks found

that nibbling on extra calories at 10pm de-

layed the body’s ability to target fat stores

for burning, causing it to break down car-

bohydrates instead.

Kevin Kelly, a researcher in the school

of Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt Uni-

versity and an author of the paper in PLOS

Biology, found that participants who ate

breakfast burnt 15g more of fat over 24

hours than those who ate late at night.

Over time this could lead to significant fat

accumulation around the body. “This con-

firms that the timing of meals during the

daytime and night-time cycle affects how

ingested food is used and stored,” Kelly

says. “And that any food ingested prior to

bedtime will delay the burning of fat dur-

ing sleep.”

To demonstrate this, a team of researchers

from the University of Birmingham and

the University of Surrey recruited 22 night

owls with an average bedtime of 2.30am

and an average wake-up time of 10.15am

and asked them to go to bed two to three

hours earlier than usual and to stick to the

routines at weekends, for three weeks. Dr

Andrew Bagshaw, from the University of

Birmingham’s Centre for Human Brain

Health, says that the phased earlier nights

were “associated with improvements in

mental wellbeing and perceived sleepi-

ness”, as well as improved cognitive func-

tion, and even physical improvements

such as improved grip strength of muscles.

Many participants also reported that they

reached “peak” mental and physical per-

formance capacity in the afternoons

rather than in the evenings, as they were

before the study, with implications for im-

proved work performance.

You’ll feel less anxious

and stressed

In another large-scale study at the Uni-

versity of Exeter that was published in

June, researchers showed how frequently

defying their need for an early night can

leave people feeling more anxious. “We

found that people who were misaligned

from their natural body clock were more

likely to report depression, anxiety and

have lower wellbeing,” says Jessica

O’Loughlin, a researcher at the University

of Exeter Medical School. Staying up late

and missing your opportunity to get eight

hours a night may also mean you are prone

to ruminating on negative thoughts that

can heighten feelings of anxiety.

Early nights will help

you to lose weight

Chronic late nights and missed sleep have

Go to bed! The 7 reasons

you need an early night

A new study says

that late nights are

bad for your heart.

Peta Bee on the

other reasons to be

tucked up by 11pm

L

ast week a team from the Uni-

versity of Exeter reported that

people who went to sleep

between 10pm and 10.59pm

had lower rates of heart dis-

ease than those who did so

earlier or later. The incidence

of cardiovascular disease was 25 per cent

higher in those going to bed at midnight or

later. “Our study indicates that the opti-

mum time to go to sleep is at a specific

point in the body’s 24-hour cycle and devi-

ations may be detrimental to health,” says

Dr David Plans, a senior lecturer at Exeter.

“The riskiest time was after midnight,

potentially because it may reduce the like-

lihood of seeing morning light, which re-

sets the body clock.”

Dr Neil Stanley, an independent sleep

researcher and the director of sleep

science at Sleepstation, says that early

nights used to be more common. “It has

become less socially acceptable as our

lifestyles have changed and we have 24-

hour television and 24-hour shopping,” he

says. “But many of us naturally need

earlier nights.”

Stanley says that he is in bed between

9pm and 9.30pm because that is what he

needs to stay fit and well. “The key to good

health and good sleep is to find out what

you need and then stick to the same bed-

time within an hour each night,” he says.

Here’s why an early night is so essential

for your health.

It can protect your

cardiovascular system

For their study, Plans and his team collect-

ed data on sleep onset and waking-up time

over seven days using a wrist-worn accel-

erometer. Participants were then followed

up over a period of five years for a new dia-

gnosis of cardiovascular disease — heart

attack, heart failure, chronic ischaemic

heart disease, stroke and transient ischae-

mic attack. During that time 3,172 partici-

pants developed cardiovascular disease,

and those with sleep times at midnight or

later were more likely to suffer. The lowest

risk was found to be in those who went to

bed between 10pm and 10.59pm. Plans

says that “early or late bedtimes may be

more likely to disrupt the body clock, with

adverse consequences for cardiovascular

health”.

It’s not the first time late nights have

been linked to heart disease. Going to bed

later and sleeping in at the weekend con-

flicts with your body’s usual sleep patterns

and can cause what scientists have dubbed

“social jet lag”. Researchers at the Univers-

ity of Arizona found that for every hour of

regular social jet lag at weekends there was

an 11 per cent increase in the likelihood of

a person having heart disease.

The risk of depression

is reduced

Shifting your bedtime forward by an hour

to establish a new sleep routine could re-

duce the risk of depression. A study of

nearly 840,000 people by researchers at

University of Colorado Boulder showed

that each one hour of waking up earlier

could reduce risk of serious depression by

23 per cent.

According to the findings published in

the journal JAMA Psychiatry, this means

that if someone who normally goes to bed

at 1am goes to bed at midnight instead but

sleeps for the same duration, they could

cut their risk of depression by 23 per cent

— and if the same person goes to bed at

11pm, they could cut it by about 40 per

cent. “With the cold, dark weather of

autumn, there is often a shift in our biolog-

ical rhythm to an earlier bedtime,” Stanley

says. “Now is a good time to try it.”

Earlier bedtimes

decrease the risk of

high blood pressure

A single late night can result in a spike in

blood pressure that persists until the next

day, according to one study at the Univers-

ity of Arizona that was published in the jour-

nal Psychosomatic Medicine. Researchers

at Duke University found that even subtle

changes, such as going to bed at 10.10pm

instead of their usual 10pm, were linked to

adverse health impacts for participants.

Adults who varied their sleep times ex-

perienced the most ill effects, including

higher blood sugar and blood pressure

than those who stuck resolutely to sleep-

ing at the same times every day. “Consist-

ency is key for a good sleep pattern and

sleep quality,” Stanley says. “If you switch

to early nights, you should keep it up at

weekends too.”

It’s better for your

cognitive function

Even if you are an extreme night owl who

rarely gets to bed until the early hours, it is

possible to train yourself to go to bed

earlier within weeks. And that could result

in a host of cognitive and physical benefits.

6 A warm bath before

bed Scientists have shown

that a warm bath or

shower 90 minutes before

bedtime allows the body

to reach the optimum

temperature for sleep.

6 Opening a window

Keeping the bedroom at

17C-17.5C reduces your

core body temperature

and promotes sleep.

6 Eye masks Exposure to

artificial light such as

street lights or the blue

light from phones

suppresses melatonin,

the sleep-inducing

hormone. Eye masks help

to block out this light and

allow for deeper sleep.

6 Meditation According

to the Sleep Foundation,

mindfulness meditation

has been shown to help

overcome insomnia.

Meditation slows the

heart rate and breathing

and lowers levels of the

stress hormone cortisol.

6 A cup of camomile tea

This tea contains a

phytonutrient compound

called apigenin, believed

to have sedative effects.

Sleep

aids that

really

work

PIOTR MARCINSKI/EYEEM/GETTY IMAGES