What would be your perfect day? While most of us imagine fine dining and sunny beaches, scientists have a different picture.
Last week, research revealed that 7.30am is the perfect time to make love, while wine is best enjoyed at 6.10pm. In fact, there’s a best time for everything from swimming to shopping and drinking coffee — but not always when you might expect. Here, the experts describe the perfect day hour by hour.
6.45am
RISE AND SHINE
Sound early? This is the ideal waking time for most of us. ‘Wakefulness is controlled by two processes in the brain, one that alerts you and another that drives you towards sleep,’ explains Dr Paul Kelley, a sleep expert based at Oxford University. ‘This is governed by melatonin, the sleep hormone, and orexin, the wakefulness hormone.’
Last week, research revealed that 7.30am is the perfect time to make love, while wine is best enjoyed at 6.10pm. The experts describe the perfect day hour by hour (file image)
A teenager’s system is dominated by melatonin until mid-morning, so they’re lethargic if they rise early. But as our brain, lungs and muscles slow down, our body clock shifts forward to compensate by keeping us alert for the maximum time.
Getting up at 6.45am also ensures seven to nine hours of sleep.
7am
PRE-BREAKFAST WORKOUT
Earlier this year researchers at the University of Bath found that exercising before breakfast burns more fat, because the body taps into fat reserves instead of our most recent meal.
Similarly swimwear brand Speedo recommends swimmers diving in an hour before breakfast because carbohydrate stores have been depleted overnight, giving your body no choice but to raid its fat stores for energy.
7.45am
BRUSH YOUR TEETH
Before or after breakfast? That is the key question with teeth-brushing. Most studies suggest waiting 30 minutes after breakfast, especially if you like a glass of orange juice or half a grapefruit. Dentists at Bristol University found that acidic foods like these soften teeth enamel, so brushing too soon damages the surface of the tooth.
8am
Michael Smolensky, author of The Body Clock Guide To Better Health, says our muscle strength peaks between 2pm and 6pm (file image)
GET SEXY OR SUNNY
Conjugal bliss this early? Yes.Male testosterone levels peak in the morning, so sex lasts longer — and women have more energy.
The rush of endorphins sparked by sex lowers blood pressure and also puts you in a better mood.
If you’re after a more leisurely activity, 20 minutes in the garden under bright morning light is a ‘potent’ trigger for your metabolism, according to neurologists at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
9am
SOCIAL MEDIA
A two-year study of 509 million tweets found messages sent in the morning were upbeat. As the day wore on, posts showed distress, anger or guilt.
10am
PROBLEMS AND COFFEE
We reach our mental peak three hours after waking, say biologists at the University of Southern California. It’s because body temperature has its first peak mid-morning, so concentration and memory are optimal.
Lunch should be around four hours after breakfast according to Dutch biologists to speed up your metabolism (file image)
You can get an extra boost from coffee — though not before 10am. From 7am to 10am, cortisol, a stress hormone that helps wake us up, is at its highest. Extra stimulants will make you jumpy.
11am
BE CREATIVE
we need a break just after 10.45am, when stress levels peak. Research from one U.S. nursing college found 45 minutes of art therapy lowered cortisol levels and reduced anxiety. Visiting an art gallery has a similar effect.
12am
TIME FOR LUNCH
Lunch should be around four hours after breakfast according to Dutch biologists. Eating roughly every four hours speeds up your metabolism, they said, helping us lose weight.
A study of 420 dieters by researchers at the University of Murcia in Spain also found early lunchers lost more weight even when they ate the same calories as those who ate later.
For most adults, problems that require open-ended thinking are best tackled in the evening when they are tired, according to the journal Thinking & Reasoning (file image)
1pm
ASK A FAVOUR
People are more generous after lunch, research suggests, so if you’re seeking promotion or want to persuade a friend to babysit, now is a good time to ask.
2pm
HAVE A NAP
We feel tired around 2pm when our cortisol levels drop for the second time during the day, thanks to the ‘cortisol curve’, says Dr Sara Gottfried, author of The Hormone Reset Diet, so now is the perfect time for a nap.
Ten minutes can improve performance for the rest of the day by restoring wakefulness, U.S. doctors found. The key is to nap for 30 minutes maximum.
3pm
A SPOT OF PAMPERING
Now is a great time for a manicure or a blow-dry. We’re most distracted between noon and 4pm, Pennsylvania State University psychologists have found, so a break is beneficial.
It takes most of us 20 minutes to drift off, so retiring at 10.10pm allows us to drop off by 10.30pm and get 90 minutes of non-rapid eye movement sleep before midnight (file image)
4pm
WORK ON WILLPOWER
our willpower is weakest in mid-afternoon, with almost 40 per cent of dieters saying they reach for the biscuit tin around 3.30pm. In his book The Marshmallow Test, psychologist Walter Mischel suggests giving willpower a workout by visualising what you want to eat, then imagine it turning into something less appetising.
5pm
FLEX THOSE MUSCLES
While morning is the best time for running, most studies find our muscle strength climbs through the day as our body temperature naturally rises.
Michael Smolensky, author of The Body Clock Guide To Better Health, says our muscle strength peaks between 2pm and 6pm. Your breathing is better, too, because our lungs function 17 per cent more efficiently at 5pm than midday, according to a study by medics in New York.
So whether it’s yoga or physically difficult tasks such as lifting or carrying, now’s the time.
6pm
DINNER — AND A DRINK
we spend a whopping 64 per cent more money in stores when hungry, researchers at the University of Minnesota found (file image)
Adults benefit from eating their evening meal early, sociologists at Colorado University found. Late meals could even have a detrimental effect, such as raising the risk of obesity and heart problems, because metabolism is slower later in the day.
Plus, an early evening drink gives your liver time to recover before you sleep.
7pm
GO SHOPPING
Unlikely as it seems, shopping is better done after dinner, psychologists say. Why? Well, never shop on an empty stomach — we spend a whopping 64 per cent more money in stores when hungry, researchers at the University of Minnesota found. Even goods not related to food.
8pm
LEARN SOMETHING NEW
For most adults, problems that require open-ended thinking are best tackled in the evening when they are tired, according to the journal Thinking & Reasoning.
The psychologists behind the study said being fatigued allows the mind to wander more freely.
It’s also the best time to learn something new, say psychiatrists at the University Medical Centre in Freiburg, Germany, have found. Going to sleep after taking on board new information helped it stick in the brain.
9pm
BEAUTY AND A SNACK
Most of us apply deodorant after we shower. But research in the journal The Dermatologist found women between 18 and 65 reduced the amount they perspired after three days of applying deodorant in the evening.
Doctors believe it’s because deodorant had time to ‘set’ in the pores during sleep, making it last longer in the day. Night is also best for applying anti-ageing products and face-creams.
This is also the time for a quick snack. Contrary to popular belief, nutritionists at Florida State University say that as long as it’s protein-rich and under 150 calories, it might improve cardiovascular health by speeding up the metabolism while we sleep.
10.10pm
AND SO TO BED
It takes most of us 20 minutes to drift off, so retiring at 10.10pm allows us to drop off by 10.30pm and get 90 minutes of non-rapid eye movement sleep — the most restorative — before midnight.
Don’t be tempted to read — save it for the quiet hour between 9pm and 10pm. By 6.45am, you’ll have had just over eight hours deep, ready to make tomorrow another perfect day.