There are many factors that affect our level of alertness during the day, but three of them are related to our waking routine - and you probably regularly do at least two of them without realizing how they damage your body.
Dr. Karan Raj from London reveals in a TikTok video the morning habits that take away the bursts of energy we need to get through each day, and claims that changing our routines will do wonders for us.
1 - Stop the nudnik
Dr. Raj, a surgeon and clinical lecturer at Imperial College London and the University of Sunderland in England, explains in a video that has almost 2 million views on TikTok that the common habit of pressing the snooze on our alarm clock is bad.
He states that ignoring this warning will put our body back into a sleep cycle. Entering the sleep cycle causes our body to release hormones that help us sleep, which only makes us more tired if we delay getting up. Raj said that we wake up when our body is flooded with chemicals that can cause fatigue up to four hours after waking up. So, try to give up the snooze and get up with the first ring of your alarm clock.
1 - Wait a bit before grabbing your phone
What's the first thing you do every morning? Of course, check your phone: messages, news, Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok.
All of these ruin our morning, Dr. Karan said.
In the video he states that when we wake up our brain gradually moves from what is called a "delta theta to alpha in brain wave activity.”
This means that your brain becomes more alert in gradual stages, but if you interfere with this cycle by scrolling through your phone - the brain will skip straight to the alpha stage and be awake too quickly.
Raj argued that if our brains skip stages we’ll feel anxious, on edge throughout the day.
Next to the video he wrote: "I used to check my phone first thing every morning for years and wondered why I felt so bad. Just try it and you’ll be surprised at how different you feel."
In response, one viewer asked, "So how long do I need to wait before checking my phone?" He replied, "At least an hour."
That’s really rough, right?
3 - Skip your morning coffee
Okay, we know you're probably grinning to yourself across the screen: "Stop drinking my morning coffee? In your dreams."
But wait a minute - there’s a middle ground.
R. Raj claimed in his video that our body naturally produces the stress hormone cortisol every morning so we can be alert and that our blood sugar levels rise.
Our bodies naturally know how to wake us and the habit of drinking coffee when getting up is wrong because it won’t produce the desired effect.
He recommends waiting until our natural cortisol levels drop later in the day to enjoy a first coffee. When does this happen? In the early afternoon, but if it’s too difficult for you - even two hours after waking up will do the trick.
If you don’t think that you can break these habits, you're not alone.
The video has received many responses from people who admit it will be really hard to break these daily rituals.