首页
登录
职称英语
Chronobiology might sound a little futuristic — like something from a science
Chronobiology might sound a little futuristic — like something from a science
游客
2025-01-29
10
管理
问题
Chronobiology might sound a little futuristic — like something from a science fiction novel, perhaps - but it’s actually a field of study that concerns one of the oldest processes life on this planet has ever known: short-term rhythms of time and their effect on flora and fauna.
This can take many forms. Marine life, for example, is influenced by tidal patterns. Animals tend to be active or inactive depending on the position of the sun or moon. Numerous creatures, humans included, are largely diurnal — that is, they like to come out during the hours of sunlight.
Nocturnal
animals, such as bats and possums, prefer to forage by night. A third group are known as crepuscular: they thrive in the low- light of dawn and dusk and remain inactive at other hours.
When it comes to humans, chrono-biologists are interested in what is known as the circadian rhythm. This is the complete cycle our bodies are naturally geared to undergo within the passage of a twenty-four-hour day. Aside from sleeping at night and waking during the day, each cycle involves many other factors such as changes in blood pressure and body temperature. Not everyone has an identical circadian rhythm. ’Night people’, for example, often describe how they find it very hard to operate during the morning, but become alert and focused by evening. This is a benign variation within circadian rhythms known as a chronotype.
Scientists have limited abilities to create durable modifications of chronobiological demands. Recent therapeutic developments for humans such as artificial light machines and melatonin administration can reset our circadian rhythms, for example, but our bodies can tell the difference and health suffers when we breach these natural rhythms for extended periods of time. Plants appear no more malleable in this respect; studies demonstrate that vegetables grown in season and ripened on the tree are far higher in essential nutrients than those grown in greenhouses and ripened by laser.
Knowledge of chronobiological patterns can have many pragmatic implications for our day-to-day lives. While contemporary living can sometimes appear to subjugate biology — after all, who needs circadian rhythms when we have caffeine pills, energy drinks, shift work and cities that never sleep? — keeping in synch with our body clock is important.
The average urban resident, for example, rouses at the eye-blearing time of 6.04 a.m., which researchers believe to be far too early. One study found that even rising at 7.00 a.m. has deleterious effects on health unless exercise is performed for 30 minutes afterward. The optimum moment has been whittled down to 7.22 a.m.; muscle aches, headaches and moodiness were reported to be lowest by participants in the study who awoke then.
Once you’re up and ready to go, what then? If you’re trying to shed some extra pounds, dieticians are adamant: never skip breakfast. This disorients your circadian rhythm and puts your body in starvation mode. The recommended course of action is to follow an intense workout with a carbohydrate-rich breakfast; the other way round and weight loss results are not as pronounced.
Morning is also great for breaking out the vitamins. Supplement absorption by the body is not temporal-dependent, but naturopath Pam Stone notes that the extra boost at breakfast helps us get energized for the day ahead. For improved absorption, Stone suggests pairing supplements with a food in which they are soluble and steering clear of caffeinated beverages. Finally, Stone warns to take care with storage; high potency is best for absorption, and warmth and humidity are known to deplete the potency of a supplement.
After-dinner espressos are becoming more of a tradition — we have the Italians to thank for that — but to prepare for a good night’s sleep we are better off putting the brakes on caffeine consumption as early as 3 p.m. With a seven-hour half-life, a cup of coffee containing 90 mg of caffeine taken at this hour could still leave 45 mg of caffeine in your nervous system at ten o’clock that evening. It is essential that, by the time you are ready to sleep, your body is rid of all traces.
Evenings are important for winding down before sleep; however, dietician Geraldine Georgeou warns that an after-five carbohydrate-fast is more cultural myth than chronobiological demand. This will deprive your body of vital energy needs. Overloading your gut could lead to indigestion, though. Our digestive tracts do not shut down for the night entirely, but their work slows to a crawl as our bodies prepare for sleep. Consuming a modest snack should be entirely sufficient. [br] The underlined word "nocturnal" in Paragraph 2 means______.
选项
A、active at night
B、active in twilight
C、active during the day
D、continually occurring
答案
A
解析
根据文中第2段“Nocturnal animals,such as bats and possums”,可以推断出nocturnal是在夜间活动的意思,因此答案为A。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3934489.html
相关试题推荐
Alargepartofeffectiveleadershipisdependentonsomethingcalled"styl
Alargepartofeffectiveleadershipisdependentonsomethingcalled"styl
Alargepartofeffectiveleadershipisdependentonsomethingcalled"styl
Alargepartofeffectiveleadershipisdependentonsomethingcalled"styl
Alargepartofeffectiveleadershipisdependentonsomethingcalled"styl
Clonescienceshouldbedevelopedtobenefithumanbeings______harmthem.A、more
Therehadbeendictionariesinthepast,thefirstoftheseisalittlebookof
Howeverknowlittlethefeelingsorviewsofsuchamanmaybeonhisfirstente
Socialcohesionandindividualliberty,likereligionandscience,areinastat
Thescienceofagriculture,whichweoweagreatdeal,isperhapsthemostimpor
随机试题
用拆字先生的办法,望文生义,家最初显然和猪圈有关,而家的发展,当然是让它越来越不像猪圈。不过,我并不喜欢那一尘不染的家庭。清洁过了头,家反而不像家。家是
假定利率比股票分红高2%。5月1日上午10点,沪深指数为3600点,沪深300股指期货9月合约价格为3700点,6月合约价格为3650点,投资者认为价差可
A--SalesmanagerB--WholesalebuyerC--Real
下面是调查舞弊行为的内部审计工作底稿上的陈述,其中正确的是:()Ⅰ.工作底稿
安宫牛黄丸的功用是A.清热开窍,豁痰解毒 B.清热开窍,镇痉安神 C.清热开
光明穴可以治疗的病证是()A.痴呆 B.热病 C.失眠 D.胸乳胀痛
下列各项中,属于会计信息质量要求的有( )。[2010年初级真题]A.权责发生
根据《历史文化名城名镇名村保护条例》的规定,不在历史文化名城内的保护界线,由(
侵权责任法适用于什么样的医疗机构?A.适用于所有医疗机构 B.适用于三级以上医
在卫生服务需求中,造成没有需要的需求的原因是( )。A.卫生服务的信息缺乏
最新回复
(
0
)