and lay there for few minutes between the land of wake and sleep known as the hypnopompic

在清醒和昏睡之間的半醒狀態下繼續躺了幾分鐘

state. When you do finally get up, you’re groggy and disoriented thanks to sleep inertia.

當你終於起床時，會因為睡眠慣性的緣故而感到昏昏沈沈

Most of it is shed in 10 minutes, but can sometimes linger for a few hours. During this

這些感覺大部分在10分鐘內就會消失，但是偶爾卻會持續幾個小時

time your body temperature is still low, but your blood pressure is sharply rising. There’s

這段時間內，你的體溫仍然很低，但是血壓卻急遽攀升

a 50% increase in the stress hormone, cortisol, pumping through your bloodstream, in preparation

在血液中流動的壓力賀爾蒙—皮質醇—增加了50％

for the stresses of your day!

為接下來一天的壓力做準備

Time for a shower! It’s also the best time to shave as clot forming platelets are most

洗澡時間到了！這時候凝結血液的血小板最充沛

abundant right now, making your blood more sticky. Meaning less bleeding from cuts! But

讓血液變得濃稠、割傷比較少出血，因此很適合除毛

it’s also the time of day when heart attacks most often occur.

但同時這也是一天之中心臟病最容易發作的時段

7:30am swings around and it is time for coffee and breakfast. Enjoy the smell before sipping!

早上7：30，該吃早餐了 在飲用前先聞一聞吧！

75% of how we enjoy flavour is not through the tongue, but through smell! The vapours

我們的享受味覺的方式有75％是來自嗅覺，而非舌頭！

pass through your mouth, around the soft palate, into the nasal cavity and to the olfactory

氣味通過嘴巴、繞過軟齶、進入鼻腔和嗅球

bulb. Mmm that’s good!

嗯，真好吃

Settling in at work, and your mental activity is actually at a peak in late morning. Most

準備開始工作，你的精神狀態在稍晚的早晨達到最高峰

of us are sharpest 2 and a half to 4 hours after waking. But your memory is impacted

大部分人在起床後2.5-4個小時狀態最良好，但是你的記憶力在一天中

as the day moves on. In the morning we forget an average of 5 facts, but by afternoon we

會隨著時間漸漸受影響 我們平均在早上忘記5件事，但是到了下午

forget around 14. Not if you’re a young adult though. In fact the reverse is true,

我們則可能忘記14件事 但對年輕人來說卻恰好相反

with young people becoming more mentally alive in the afternoon and evening. But, at night

他們的精神狀態在下午和晚上反而比較活躍 但是在晚上

our biological clock seems to turn off the proteins involved in forming long term memories,

我們的生理時鐘停止了有關長期記憶的蛋白質的活動

which is why it’s best not to cram for a test all night.

因此最好不要徹夜臨時抱佛腳準備考試

It’s noon and it’s time for lunch! Your stomach is able to expand as much as two and

中午吃午餐的時間到了！你的胃在一餐之中

half pints to receive a meal. Here it stays for a few hours before it’s sent to your

可以擴張到2.5品脫 食物在這裡待了幾個小時後便送往

small intestine. We digest meals without even thinking about it - in fact, there is a brain

小腸。我們不需要經過思考就能消化食物，事實上

of sorts in your belly called the enteric nervous system which performs everything from

肚子裡有類似大腦、負責各種消化行為的長神經系統

sensing nutrients, measuring acids, and coordinating the immune system to defend your gut.

包括偵測養分、測量酸性物質以及與免疫系統協調、保護內臟

Around 2:30pm and lunch has left us a wave of fogginess and fatigue. After a meal your

下午2：30左右，吃過午飯讓我們感到昏沉又疲憊 在用完一餐後

body has a short boost in energy from the glucose, but is then followed by a wave of

身體獲得葡萄糖短暫能量的提振，但緊接而來的是胰島素

insulin, the hormone that transports sugar to your cells. Scientists believe that insulin

一種將血糖輸至細胞的激素 科學家認為

might pull too much from your blood, causing an energy nosedive. However, this phenomenon

胰島素可能因為從血液中帶走過多血糖，導致能量急速降低

occurs even if you don’t have lunch, which has led to much research on the power of naps,

但是就算沒有吃午餐也會發生這種現象，也讓我們對午睡的作用有更深入的研究

which increase productivity and safety.

包括提升效率和安全

4:30pm and it’s time to hit the gym. Though many try to work out in the morning, studies

下午4：30準備去健身房 雖然很多人習慣在早晨運動

suggest that you may gain 20% more muscle strength by working out in the afternoon.

研究顯示在下午健身可以提高20％的力氣

Your airways are more open, your heart works more efficiently and your reaction time is

氣管會比較通暢、心臟運作比較有效率、反應時間也達到最佳狀態

at its peak. Much of this has to do with your core body temperature peaking later in the

這些大部分都跟我們的體溫在下午達到最高峰有關

day. Even most sports records are achieved between 3pm and 8pm.

甚至有許多體育紀錄都是在下午3點到8點被打破的

Now you start off the evening by joining some friends for drinks. During cocktail hour you're

接下來你和朋友們一同喝酒來迎接這個晚上 事實上在雞尾酒時間裡

actually more tolerant to the effects of alcohol. In one study, those drinking vodka at 9am

你比較能夠耐得住酒精的作用 在一項研究中顯示，在早上9點喝伏特加的人

had significantly worse reaction time and psychological functioning than those who had

反應時間以及精神功能都明顯的比在晚上6點喝的人

the same dose at 6pm.

還要來得差

It’s around 8:30pm now and you catch someone’s eye in the bar. Most of our mammalian ancestors

到了8：30左右，你和酒吧裡的某人對上眼了 我們大部分的哺乳動物祖先

have ways of advertising their fertility. It turns out that human women also give cues

都有不同展現自己生產力的方法 而人類女性也能夠

when they’re ovulating. In fact, when looking at pictures of women, studies show men find

顯示他們正在排卵的線索 研究顯示當男人在看女人的照片時

women in the fertile phase to be more attractive.

會覺得在生育期的女人較有吸引力

You ask each other to dance - which brings you close enough to get a wiff - after all,

你們邀對方去跳舞，同時也讓你們拉進到能夠聞到彼此氣味的距離

your sebaceous and apocrine glands release scents through the armpit which potential

皮脂腺和汗線從腋下分泌也許能夠

partners may find attractive. And because humans walk upright, the armpit is the ideal

吸引對方的氣味 而正因為人類直立著走路，腋下便是身體上

body part to disperse scent.

散播氣味最理想部分

It’s 11pm now, which is the most popular time for sexual activity. Which has little

晚上11點是大部分性行為發生的時間

to do with our bodies and more to do with societal schedules. In fact, levels of testosterone

而這與社會作息較相關，而非我們的生理

are much lower in the evening and peak at 8AM. While semen quality is best in the afternoon

事實上，睪丸激素在早上8點到達水平高峰，晚上反而較低 但是精液的品質

with 35 x106 more spermatozoa per ejaculation. As such, couples hoping to conceive have better

卻是在下午較高，在射精時較其他時段多了35 x 106個精子 因此想要懷孕的夫妻

chances with midday sex than during the midnight hour.

在中午從事性行為會比在半夜還要來得有機會

As you go to sleep and finally begin to drift off, melatonin is secreted by the pineal gland

當你終於開始進入睡眠狀態，松果腺便分泌退黑激素

which begins the sleep cycle, which happens multiple times through the night. A change

開始一個晚上會循環數次的睡眠週期

from alpha wave drowsiness to lower frequency theta brain waves signify early sleep. And

初期睡眠的特徵是由富有睡意的α波轉為低頻的θ波

as your sleep deepens, your brain moves to longer delta waves. For children, sleep is

當你越睡越沉，大腦漸漸變成傳遞δ波

the time in which 90% of bone growth occurs.

對幼童來說，90％的骨骼成長都在睡眠中發生

Finally, as you move into REM sleep, your brain is as busy as it was during the day,

最後，當你的睡眠進入快速動眼期，大腦便如早上一般忙碌

firing theta waves with burst of alpha and beta. Though dreams occur in all stages of

α波、θ波和δ波都十分活躍 雖然任何一個階段的睡眠都會做夢

sleep, it is during REM that our dreams are most vivid and intense. Recent brain scans

但是在快速動眼期所做的夢最清晰、強烈

have shown that neurotransmitters like serotonin, histamine and noradrenaline are shut off at

近期的腦部掃描顯示如血清素、組胺和去甲腎上腺素等神經傳遞介質在這時候都停止作用

this point, turning off reason and logical sense of time - which explains some weird

無法對時間和邏輯做合理的思考，這就是為什麼我們會做奇怪的夢

dreams! We dream for an hour and half to two hours each night, meaning you spend about

我們一個晚上有1.5-2個小時在作夢

6 years vividly dreaming over your lifetime!

表示一生中總共花6年在做夢！

In the middle of the night, your body actually wakes up periodically, in something called

你的身體在半夜其實會週期性地醒來，稱做微覺醒

microarousals. These can last only seconds, but occur between 200-1000 times per night.

這只為持續幾秒鐘，但是一個晚上會發生200-1000次

Though most of us in the western world sleep all in one go, many past cultures sleep was

雖然西方人大部分都一覺到天亮，但是有許多過去的文化睡眠被分為兩個週期

broken up into two periods with social activity in between. Some studies have even shown that

中間還會起來做一些社交活動，有些研究甚至顯示

we have two distinct 4 hour natural sleep periods, which in the past would last between

我們有兩個明顯的4小時自然睡眠週期

8pm-12am, and then again from 2am-6am.

在過去通常是晚上8點到凌晨12點，以及凌晨2點到早上6點

By 4:30am, your body temperature is at its lowest and your sleep continues to move through

你的體溫在4：30最低，而睡眠週期仍繼續循環

the cycle. In a few hours, it’ll be good morning body! Time for another day :)

再過幾個小時，又是「早安啊身體！」又是新的一天：）