No Such Thing As Chronotypes

[Juniperus]

The title of this post is a little bit provocative. In the study they made the participants to make non-pharmacological, practical interventions in a real-world setting. These interventions targeted light exposure (through earlier wake up/sleep times), fixed meals times, caffeine intake and exercise.

From the study results:
"Overall, participants demonstrated a significant advance of ∼2 h in sleep/wake timings as measured by actigraphy and circadian phase markers (dim light melatonin onset and peak time of the cortisol awakening response), whilst having no adverse effect on sleep duration. Notably, the phase advance was accompanied by significant improvements to self-reported depression and stress, as well as improved cognitive (reaction time) and physical (grip strength) performance measures during the typical ‘suboptimal’ morning hours."

The participants did not only feel better overall, they actually turned from night-owls into morning-larks. With this study you can actually question whether there is such a thing as chronotypes in humans.

Resetting the late timing of ‘night owls’ has a positive impact on mental health and performance - ScienceDirect
Night owls can 'retrain' their body clocks to improve mental well-being and performance

 

[yerrag]

Another myth busted!

A lot of myths to bust really. That there are people born to graze, for example. They just don't have good blood sugar regulation, and instead of fixing their patients, doctors tell them they're the grazing type.