Is staying up late really that unhealthy? Actually...

Hello, this is Science Popularization China. Today, let's talk about the topic of "staying up late". I guess we all have some experience of staying up late, watching a football game, or working overtime or rushing homework, which are all common. But is "staying up late" really that bad?
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In fact, what we call "staying up late" is a relative concept. It is mainly because we need to adapt to society and have to get up and work at the time that has been agreed upon by society. If we go to bed late at night, we must get up at the prescribed time in the morning, which will compress our sleep time, change our work and rest schedule, and naturally harm our bodies.

In other words, if you can manage your time freely, even if you go to bed at two in the morning and get up at ten in the morning, and you can maintain this for a long time, then there is actually no problem with staying up late.
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At this point, you may have questions: since staying up late is okay, then why do I sometimes go to bed late and feel groggy and groggy the next day?

There are actually two concepts being confused here: one is "staying up late" and the other is "irregular work and rest". Our bodies have a biological clock, and the time to go to bed and get up to maintain the best mental state varies from person to person. If a person develops a regular work and rest routine, but this routine is changed for various reasons, the body will feel uncomfortable, which is what we usually call a disrupted biological clock.

This is why people always say "early to bed, early to rise, good health". After all, we still need to have some social activities, and sometimes we have to follow the work and rest rules of most people. If you go shopping with good friends, have a date, or go to the bank to do something, you can't expect them to wait for you at the same place at 11 o'clock in the evening, right?
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So, if you can "go to bed late and get up late, but sleep until you wake up naturally every day," it won't have any effect on your body. But if you can't do this, then we should try to go to bed early and get up early to maintain a full mental state. Well, let's stop here today, see you next time.

Reviewer: Dong Xiaosong, Deputy Director of the Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Peking University People's Hospital