October 31st, 2021
3 minute read
For most of human history, we never had access to alarm clocks - or electric lights for that matter. Our ancestors used their internal body clocks to wake up at the same time and always feel rested. Fast forward to the 21st century and half of us can't wake up without a deafening iPhone jingle. But it doesn't have to be that way.
In one of my previous blogs, I wrote about how I wake up at 6 am every day and feel wide awake. To put it frankly, all I really did was go to sleep and wake up at the same exact times, every day with about 6-7 hours of sleep. It turns out that 6 hours of sleep was my sweet spot. It's no secret that we are creatures of habit, so why not leverage that and get our energy levels back up. I guarantee, Twitter at 1 am isn't more important than your health and mental state - unless your reading through my profile ;)
Many of us are under the impression that caffeine works by giving us a rush of energy. Whilst that is in part true, the caffeine aspect isn't responsible for the energy rush, that's just good old sugar. Caffeine works by blocking adenosine receptors in the brain which are responsible for making us feel tired. But why do we feel tired after drinking coffee? Two reasons:
When the effects of caffeine wear off, there’s a buildup of adenosine wanting to bind to its receptors. This can lead to tiredness.
Caffeine is a diuretic. A diuretic is a substance that makes you pass urine often, leading to an increased risk of dehydration.
Simple really, find your caffeine sweet spot. Back when I was in my 3rd year of university, I experimented with different amounts of caffeine and water. I concluded that the perfect amount for my body was one cup of coffee at around 10 am followed by a glass of water. This reduced the diuretic effect and gave me that kick I needed to study.
Back when I worked in Oncology, we always used to tell our patients to change the frequency of their meals. Instead of the traditional breakfast, lunch and dinner, change it up a little. Have smaller meals in between and replace unhealthy snacks with water to get to your recommended 2L a day. This was the one thing that really helped my energy levels as well as avoiding that mid-afternoon slump at work.
This topic is easily overlooked and not taken seriously. But our sleep is not only directly related to our physical health, but our mental health too. How many things have we put off due to being "too tired". Collectively, we must get a hold of our sleep schedule before surrendering it to the numerous distractions like TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Netflix, the list will just keep growing. I for one find it insulting how these companies are treating our attention as products but hey, that's a story for another time...