The doctor pointed out the harm of waking up before sunrise

Waking up in the dark before sunrise can have a negative effect on your health. A recent study has shown that regularly waking up in the dark hours of the day disrupts circadian rhythms and affects mental and emotional state and physical health. This was reported by doctor Suzanne Wiley.

"When you constantly wake up in the dark, your body has to redefine some very old biological rhythms. Light is the main regulator of your circadian rhythm, an internal clock that helps your body decide when to feel awake and when to feel sleepy. When you wake up before sunrise, your brain doesn't receive the early morning light signal," the Metro newspaper quoted her as saying.

According to the expert, without light, such important processes as an increase in cortisol levels, which makes you feel cheerful, and a decrease in melatonin, which should occur to facilitate awakening, do not occur in the human body. According to her, such mechanisms often lead to drowsiness and a slowdown in cognitive processes.

"Prolonged darkness outside of normal sleep time can disrupt the circadian rhythm and affect the production of hormones such as melatonin. It usually rises in the evening, helping us fall asleep, and decreases in the morning, helping us wake up. Prolonged periods of darkness can blur these signals, leading to more intermittent sleep, difficulty waking up, and more shallow, less restorative sleep," the doctor added.

How to improve sleep quality and get enough sleep in the autumn-winter period

Wiley emphasized that morning light helps regulate serotonin levels, a hormone that supports mood during the day and helps convert into melatonin at night. At the same time, she noted that when people regularly wake up in the dark, they often complain of a bad mood, irritability, and decreased motivation.

In addition, waking up in the dark worsens the quality of sleep, disrupting the body's recovery cycles. When the body does not receive a light signal, it cannot begin to synthesize hormones correctly. This can lead to more shallow sleep, difficulty falling asleep, and increased fatigue during the day. At the same time, it is clarified that staying awake in the dark does not cause direct harm to the immune system.

Such an awakening affects the metabolism, and can also cause appetite problems and increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The best solution, Wiley said, was to expose yourself to bright light as soon as possible after waking up. For people who often wake up early, it is useful to use LED lamps with daylight or go outside when the sun is just rising. According to her, this can help reset the internal clock and alleviate many of the effects.

On November 4, Dr. Karin Johnson, a sleep medicine specialist and representative of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), a global network of specialists in the field, explained increased sleepiness in the autumn-winter season. According to her, fatigue and drowsiness can be affected by less sunlight, colder weather and changes in diet.

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