- There are three key factors that influence how alert and refreshed you feel in the morning, according to one study.
- Researchers found that sleep length and quality, physical activity the day before, and a high-carb breakfast helped people feel more alert in the morning.
- Experts explain the impact of these three factors.
If you’ve ever fallen into bed totally exhausted and drifted off immediately, only to wake up feeling tired and groggy the next morning, you’re not alone. There are plenty of factors that influence the quality of your sleep and your energy levels, just as there are plenty of strategies that may help you sleep better and feel less fatigued. For example, one study claims to have pinpointed the secret to waking up alert and feeling refreshed and ready to attack every day—and it’s not just about getting a good night’s sleep.
Meet the experts: Amit Sachdev, M.D., medical director for neurology at Michigan State University; John Whyte, M.D., M.P.H., a physician and author; Marc Milstein, Ph.D. a brain health expert.
The research out of the University of California, Berkeley, published in Nature Communications, looked at how a previous night’s sleep, together with physical activity and food intake, affects how we feel upon waking up in the morning. In this prospective long-term study of 833 twins and genetically unrelated adults, the researchers demonstrated that how effectively someone wakes up during the hours following sleep is not associated with genetics, but rather four independent factors: sleep quantity/quality the night before, physical activity the day prior, a breakfast rich in carbohydrates, and a lower blood sugar level following breakfast.
In a press release from UC Berkeley, researchers explained that the secret to alertness is a three-part approach requiring substantial exercise the day before, sleeping longer and later into the morning the day of, and eating a breakfast high in complex carbohydrates but low in sugar. The researchers also discovered that a healthy controlled blood sugar response after eating breakfast is key to waking up more effectively.
The first key is getting high-quality sleep, which is important because the brain must rest and reset in order to perform the next day, said Amit Sachdev, M.D., medical director for neurology at Michigan State University. “Interrupted or insufficient sleep does not allow for the best performance in the day.” The study actually found that those who slept longer or later than usual felt the most alert upon waking. “Sleep is all about our circadian rhythm—our natural body clock,” said John Whyte, M.D., M.P.H., a physician and author. “It’s largely controlled by two hormones—melatonin and cortisol. Sleeping longer and later allows these two hormones to stay in balance.” He explained that cortisol naturally rises in the morning as melatonin falls, so allowing these two hormones time to naturally make these adjustments can make you feel more alert when you wake up.
The second main feature predicting day-to-day changes in morning alertness was the intensity of physical activity the day before. In particular, researchers found that when the extent of an individual’s physical activity was comparatively greater the day prior, people felt more alert the next morning. Why? Exercise increases hormones such as adrenaline that make us alert and moving, explained Dr. Whyte. Moreover, stress is well managed with exercise, said Dr. Sachdev, “and stress is very distracting to alertness.”
The final factor happens not on the day prior or even the night prior, but the morning of. Specifically, researchers found that it was the unique composition of food that participants consumed for breakfast that explained their alertness levels. Compared to an example breakfast meal used in the study, which consisted of a moderate amount of fat, carbohydrates, and protein, when individuals consumed the “high carbs” breakfast, they experienced higher levels of alertness. In contrast, the “high protein” breakfast predicted a lower level of alertness following sleep, relative to the reference meal.
Beyond the effects of the high carbohydrate meal itself, one of the strongest outcomes revealed in the study was the marked reduction in alertness on days when participants consumed a lot of sugar, which was demonstrated using a standardized liquid glucose bolus at breakfast (the oral glucose tolerance test—OGTT). The OGTT consists of 100% monosaccharide glucose (think pure sugar). It may sound contradictory that a large dose of glucose predicts a drop in alertness and the high carb breakfast is linked to an increase in alertness. But, despite having a high carbohydrate content in common, there are key nutritional distinctions between the high-carb and OGTT meals that dictate the subsequent change in blood sugars. Although many of us skip out on that first meal of the day, breakfast truly is the most important meal that contributes to how awake we feel. What we eat impacts our alertness—particularly sugary foods, said Dr. Whyte. “When we have a breakfast high in sugar our blood sugar spikes and then drops, making us feel less alert,” he explained. Similarly, Dr. Sachdev added that well-balanced nutrition is essential, and “a robust body supports a robust brain.”
All told, “all of these have a unique and independent effect,” said Raphael Vallat, first author of the study, in the press release. “If you sleep longer or later, you’re going to see an increase in your alertness. If you do more physical activity on the day before, you’re going to see an increase. You can see improvements with each and every one of these factors.”
While this study was published in 2022, others that have come out since support the pillars set out that contribute to alertness. For example, research in Frontiers in Psychology found that high-intensity exercise was the most effective for improving sleep quality.
The bottom line
This fascinating study shows that it’s not just one factor that can make you more of a morning person, said Marc Milstein, Ph.D. a brain health expert. “It’s also not strictly based on genetics, as this study included twins,” he added, “the fact that it is not just one thing highlights that multiple factors play a role.”
Now that we know the secret to seize the day, every day, with optimal alertness, it’s time to put these important factors into action. “The basics of healthcare matter: diet, sleep, stress reduction, and exercise all matter,” stressed Dr. Sachdev.
In the end, it all boils down to the basics of your day-to-day habits. Your daily behaviors impact your sleep, said Dr. Whyte. “If you want to wake up more alert, you have to have the power to do that.”
As far as what we know for certain, Dr. Sachdev noted that we already know a lot about how to make the brain work more efficiently. Now, a “better understanding of how to best execute these strategies is what we need.”
The study findings make a lot of sense, said Dr. Whyte. “Now with all the sleep trackers we have, I’d like to see a larger study with tens of thousands to continue to get more insights.”
Sleep is one of the most powerful actions you can take to improve day-to-day brain health and lower the risk of dementia, said Milstein. “The factors in this study are not only important for how you feel in the morning but can also play a role in protecting your brain long term.”
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