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Waking up rested and refreshed: the key factors

Do you have trouble getting up in the morning? Do you wake up tired and try to deal with daytime sleepiness in various ways? You're certainly not alone, as many people report similar sleep difficulties.

In a recent study conducted by the University of California, researchers found that the levels of alertness when we wake up to start our day are not completely genetically predetermined but can be significantly influenced by four independent factors:

- the quantity and quality of sleep the previous night

- the levels of physical activity the previous day

-the nutritional value of the breakfast we consume

- the blood glucose levels after breakfast

For two weeks, researchers systematically recorded the alertness levels of 833 participants from the time they woke up and throughout the day, their levels of physical activity during the day, the consumption of different breakfast meals, and the quantity and quality of their sleep. Subsequently, theycombined and analyzed these data and came to the following conclusions:

- the increase of sleep duration compared to what is usual for the person

- substantial physical exercise the previous day

- eating a breakfast rich in complex carbohydrates, with limited sugar

- the normal, controlled blood glucose levels after breakfast

significantly related to higher levels of alertness and energy after waking up and during the day.

The important thing about these findings is that these factors are independent. So, even if daily obligations don’t allow you to extend the duration of your sleep, by trying one or more of the above and applying them systematically for a period of time, you can see changes in the alertness and energy levels after you wake up and during the day.

 

Journal Reference:

Vallat, R., Berry, S. E., Tsereteli, N., Capdevila, J., Khatib, H. A., Valdes, A. M., ... & Walker, M. P. (2022). How people wake up is associated with previous night’s sleep together with physical activity and food intake. Nature Communications, 13(1), 1-15.