Are you feeling at your peak when it is time to turn off the light? Dear … “owls”, as the scientists who study the biological clock call you, take care of your health: according to a study published in the journal Experimental Physiology, those who like to stay late in the evening and feel more alert in the second part of the day also find it harder to use their fat reserves for energy than early risers. The accumulation of fat in the body is linked to a higher probability of cardiovascular problems and the onset of diabetes.
Tell me how you wake up and I’ll tell you how much you burn. Our chronotype, that is the set of characteristics that defines the time of day when we feel most active, influences the metabolic rhythms, that is the way in which the human body uses the reserves it has to obtain energy.
Scientists at Rutgers University in New Jersey classified 51 participants into “owls” or “larks” according to their propensity to be more active in the evening or in the morning, and then studied, for each, their body composition, insulin sensitivity. and the metabolism of fats and carbohydrates. Insulin is – remember – that hormone produced by the pancreas that allows cells to take the sugar taken with food to use it as a source of energy.
More efficient metabolism. For a week, the volunteers had to follow a controlled diet and were examined both at rest and after two 15-minute training sessions on the treadmill, one moderate and one intense. It has thus been seen that larks, compared to owls, burn more fat for energy both at rest and during physical activity, and that they are more sensitive to insulin, the key to getting glucose into cells.
On the other hand, those who are more active in the evening are more often insulin resistant, that is, they more frequently have a poor sensitivity to insulin, the antechamber and the main characteristic of type 2 diabetes. The body of owls also prefers carbohydrates to fats as a form of energy, and it is easier for unburned fats to accumulate in it, leading to overweight, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Better to prevent. It is not yet clear what these metabolic differences depend on, but in the meantime the association with one or the other chronotype will help doctors understand which diseases a patient is more susceptible to and what to pay attention to. For example, the study found that larks are more physically active types during the day and more trained, while owls are more sedentary. This relationship between body clock, metabolism type and exercise will need to be deepened, but in the meantime: if you are an owl, a little extra movement may not hurt you.