Hi there, and welcome back to the podcast. It's Matt Walker here. And I am pleased to tell you that. It's not your fault. Now. This is not me trying to lead a class in a self-compassion. I'm talking about when you go to bed. And when you wake
up, or I should say, when you would like to go to bed and when you would like to wake up rather than when Society demands.
That you wake up because the consequences of not sleeping in harmony with your biology, are many,
some of them are
serious. And most of them you will be unaware of today is going to be the first of a three-part
series, all about your chronotype.
In the first episode. We're going to understand what Chrono types are and how you can better understand which type you are in. The second episode will then speak all about.
Knowing why you're chronotype is so important. And some of the dangers of railing against your chronotype. And then in the third episode, we'll discuss whether or not you can, for example, change a night, owl into a morning lock. And if so, by how much the quick answer is
kind of sort of Ash, but we will get to that
at a fundamental level.
There are three
main flavors of Chrono types, about a third of the population are morning types, a third evening
types, and the rest sits somewhere in between. I should also note that sleep science has split this into an even more fine-grained, five category system,
where we have extreme morning types who would want to
go to bed as early as 7:00 p.m. In the evening. Then morning types. Then the neutrals then we
Evening types and then extreme evening types who would for example wish to be going to bed as late as 4 a.m. In the morning. But for this conversation, those three main buckets will do just fine.
I should also note that sex matters. Now. I'm sure you didn't need me to tell you that but what I mean here is
that on average men are more evening types than
Owen with man, wishing to go to bed around 30 minutes later in the evening and wake up 30 minutes later. So same-sex Partners can rejoice in their better alignment, but I should also note, by the way that this difference between men and women is only their up until about the age of 40 after that, men and women are on average mostly alike in their timing. Now, you may have already put
Self into one of these three chronotype buckets, but you may want to pause and check and it turns out that it's easy to do. There is a questioner that you can fill out online. It's called the morning nurse evening, this questioner or the meq for short, and it takes less than about 5 minutes to complete, and you can just Google that. But there is a less precise yet quick single question that I can.
Ask you that will get us pretty close and it's the following. If you were on a desert island, with nothing to wake up, for no other people around, what time would you ideally like to go to bed? And what time do you think you would ideally want to wake up? And that will get you pretty close to what type of chronotype you are? Which of those three buckets that you belong it. Now, it's important to understand the difference between
To type and your circadian rhythm. In our last episode. We spoke all about your 24-hour circadian rhythm. And all of us have this unyielding 24-hour rhythmic pattern. That's not what's different between Corona types. Instead, your chronotype determines, where the peak of your daytime alertness will arrive and were the trough or the lull of your sleep. Phase will arrive.
This is what the different from one chronotype to the next where you sit in terms of your 24-hour Security in Rhythm. This is what the different from one chronotype to the next where you sit in terms of your circadian. Rhythm placed on the 24-hour
clock. Now, before I go any further, I should probably stay for the record. What
type I am. Lest. You think that my words in the
Next, couple of episodes are clouded by any bias
and I will come right back to that in just a
second.
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So, let's get back to the podcast.
As for me. And as with all other aspects of my plebeian character, Micron a type is vanilla, ice it right in the middle. I'm neither a strong morning, type nor strong evening type.
And at this stage of life
and let's say, I am solidly entering the foothills of middle-aged. My bedtime is around.
And
10:30 p.m. And you'll often find me waking up naturally a little before my alarm which is set for 7:04 a.m. And 704. Because why not be
idiosyncratic, I say, but let's get back to the story of Chrono
types. Evening types will have on average a two-hour delay. In when their body is biologically, will want to wake up relative to morning types and their body.
Drop in temperature, which is critical for sleep is also delayed by about two hours in the evening relative to morning types. We also know that evening types must wait at least an hour longer in the
morning relative to morning types
before they release key hormones. That help them manage stress and emotions upon Awakening. And as a result, you cannot, and you should not expect night owls to operate with the same.
Same, good grace and emotional intelligence at an early morning hour. It's simply hormonal, e unfair, and unjust. It would be the converse equivalent of expecting a morning type to be wide awake and not cranky or Moody at midnight or 1 a.m. In the morning. That's the difference that were talking about here. Now, as I said at the start, it's not your fault.
And
it isn't, your chronotype is strongly determined by your genes. And therefore, it's somewhat hard. Wired at Birth. In other words. Your chronotype fate is genetically predetermined and deep-rooted to a degree. So far we've discovered, at least nine different genes, that contribute to your morning, nurse, or evening. This preference, the majority of these genes effectively count.
Out time this sort of tick-tock Tick-Tock instructing of your snowflake like specific 24-hour rhythm. In other words, the very DNA nucleic alphabet that spells out who you are includes who you are when it comes to your sleep preferences. Now, I will save you guessing the category names of these genes, but they include what we call the clock genes and the
Jeans. Now they, of course, are explanatory in there rhythmic name and how they work in terms of timing, but I think they are rather Bland in terms of their naming. Don't you think? Especially considering that genes in other fields have names such as Sonic the Hedgehog and the cheap date Gene? I kid. You not. The latter. Gene has been identified in fruit flies, and
Those fruit flies with that particular Gene are very, very sensitive to the effects of alcohol. I think I may actually have that Gene other genes
include names such
as the Swiss cheese Gene. The boss Gene,
The Brainiac Gene, and drumroll
the Ken. And Barbie Gene. I promise you. These are actual names of Dreams.
I think that's a great
example of when has scientists try to get Ultra daring and sort of crazy. That's the best way that we can cut loose.
So coming back
to it. This is your chronotype and when you or when
Society forces you to sleep in opposition to your chronotype unfortunate, things can happen. And that's what we will discuss in the next episode.
And I just want to make clear that I'm not a medical doctor and
None of the content in this podcast should be considered as medical advice in any way, shape or form and no
prescriptive in any way. So, for now, I will simply say, thank you again for
listening, and I will see you in
that next episode. Take care and goodbye for now.
