Working overnight can be deadly. A new study published in Current Biology dig deep into the reasons why.
The research that was finalized last Thursday reveals our body doesn't follow the world's normal time to burn calories. It has its own time when to consume it best. Experts say we can all blame it to its circadian rhythms, which is the one that is responsible for controlling the body's body clock, and sleep and wake cycles.
The study involved seven participants, aged 38 to 69, who underwent one of the worst case study ever recorded, according to News.com.au. These people were asked to stay inside a laboratory where they don't have any idea on what time is it outside. No watch. No phone. Not even a clock is allowed inside the facility.
Without them knowing, their bedtime is also moved by four hours. Their waking and sleeping schedule is also set. They need to undergo this process for the researchers to know how the sudden change in sleeping habits can affect the body's internal clock.
To monitor their body information, every participant is asked to wear a sensor, which measures their core body temperature. According to the experts, the higher the core temperature of the person is, the more its body is burning calories. Their data revealed that the participants' core body temperature is at their lowest during late night and early morning, and pretty high during the late afternoon.
This discovery, as posted by Time, will most benefit overnight workers and people who are often exposed to unusual schedules. Working during unusual hours can pose great health risks such as obesity and diabetes. Duffy shared how the result of the recent study can create a link between the body's circadian rhythm disruptions and these health problems.
"The fact that doing the same thing at one time of day burned so many more calories than doing the same thing at a different time of day surprised us," said Kirsi-Marja Zitting, a representative of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Jeanne Duffy, the study's co-author and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a neuroscientist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, said for a person that wakes up during the day and doesn't get always involved in strenuous activities, 10 percent more calories can be burn late in the afternoon. If one will compute it, that is about 130 extra calories burned based on the daily average calorie intake of a person.
