Yes! Just like you have a routine of getting up in the morning and doing your routinely chores, the body has its own chores that takes place without you even realizing it. Before you even get to brush your teeth or to take a quick shower before going on about your business, your body is already working its routine.
Natalie Zises, functional nutrition and eating psychology coach, says “What many people don't realize is that your body goes through lots of cycles throughout the day, and the morning one is fascinating,” your body follow a 24-hour daily pattern called the circadian rhythm. “Throughout the day, many hormones and proteins are involved in circadian rhythm maintenance," she says.
The two big hormones responsible for the start and end of your day are melatonin and cortisol. For instance, cortisol is the stress hormone. If you don’t get enough sleep at night or throughout the day, your body will start ‘cortisol over production,” which Zises says can make it difficult for you to lie down and sleep at night.
It's important to know that your body operates on a natural on-going cycle. "It's like a ‘goods’ supply chain," Zises says. "Imagine throwing a wrench or drastically changing one part of the chain — it has rippling effects in a closed system like the body where everything affects everything else."
If you don't start or end your day off right, it will affect you throughout the day. If everything's functioning as it should, you may not even realize anything's happen. Here are some of the things your body does, as part of its routine daily.
1)Morning Breath
You will never find a single person claiming that they have a great-smelling breath in the morning. Well, it is for a reason, “While you are sleeping, thousands of bacteria hiding in your dental plaque create harmful acids that can damage your teeth and gums and leave your breath smelling like death,” says DR. Lev Kalika, DC, owner of New York Dynamic Neuromuscular Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy in New York City. “Saliva fights off bacteria, but production decreases at night, so sleeping with your mouth open makes matters worse.” Taking care of oral hygiene before going to bed is key.
2)Dry Mouth
“why am I thirsty?” you have probably ask yourself this question right after you have woken up, even though you were certain you drank enough water the night before. Well, according to Gina Sam, MD, a gastroenterologist in New York City, when we sleep, we don’t produce much saliva in our mouths, so we naturally wake up with a drier mouth than we went to sleep with. If you find this parchedness annoying, you can tackle it by avoiding to use mouthwash containing alcohol, which can dry out your mouth. Also, keeping a glass of water on the nearby table, so when you wake up, you have something to counter the dryness with.
3)Body Odor
Despite your love for deodrants and perfumes, you will still wake up smelly in the morning, especially in the underarm area. It is perfectly normal to wake up smelly, and a lot of it has to do with metabolic processes taking place while you sleep, according to Dr. Kalika. “ Your body takes advantage of this downtime to detoxify, eliminating toxins through sweat and lymph, so bacteria on your skin act on the excretions, creating unsavory odors,” he explained. “drinking plenty of water and eating a whole-food, plant-based diet can dramatically reduce morning body odor.”
4) Temperature Increase
Dr. Don Grant, clinical lead at The Independent Pharmacy, said "One interesting thing that happens without you realizing is the slow increase of your core body temperature." It reaches its lowest point between approximately 4 to 5 a.m. and then slowly gradually increases throughout the morning to its highest point in the early afternoon. Normally, your body temperature undergo changes about 0.9 degrees F between its highest and lowest point. So if you are to take your temperature in the morning and in the early afternoon, you are in for a surprise.
5) Darker Urine
Ever notice your urine is darker than usual in the morning? Despite having a good hydration level? Well, this is because your kidneys have been at rest for quite some time, according to Dr. Sam. “Your kidneys are part of the renal system, or urinary tract, along with the ureters, bladder, and the urethra, so if they are resting, your urine is concentrated, and therefore darker in color,” she explains.
6) Cracked Corners of the Mouth
Did your parents ever scold you for licking your lips? They had their reasons, medically speaking as well. “When you sleep, saliva builds up at the corners of the mouth and can start to break down this delicate skin,” says Erum Ilyas, MD, a dermatologist at Montgomery Dermatology. “If this goes on long enough, a yeast infection can develop called perleche.” If you are someone who has a blocked nose and need to breathe through the mouth or have a cold, she recommends applying Vaseline to the corners of your mouth before bedtime. This can serve as a barrier to protect your skin from breaking down and getting irritated.
7) Eye Boogers
Waking up and then rubbing your eyes is probably the first thing we do as our morning routines. It’s perfectly normal, but definitely an irritating task. “Sometimes an accumulation of tears, mucus, and dead skin cells can build up along the eyelids and make them feel ‘crusty’ in the morning,” Dr. Ilyas explains. “Washing your face with a gentle cleanser can remove this.”
8)Muscle stiffness and Cramps
Have you ever feel tired in the morning? Even though you have just woken up? Well, As it turns out, stiff joints and cramped muscles in the morning have more to do with circulation. “As you begin to move around, blood and oxygen are diverted from your digestive tract and vital organs to meet the demands of your muscles,” Dr. Kalika explains. “Poor sleeping posture, trigger points in your muscles, poor cardiovascular fitness, and dehydration can all contribute to morning muscle stiffness.”
9) Greasy Skin
You should always wash your face in the morning, let me tell you why. According to Dr. Ilyas, “At night our oil glands can be active and leave a layer of ‘grease’ on our skin first thing in the morning.” One of the ways you can counter this according to Dr. Ilyas is, “stick with gentle cleansers and avoid overly harsh or abrasive ones at night that can cause your skin to overproduce oil.”
10) Large Bowel Movements
If your morning poop scale is shifting to a large side, it is because your body was digesting all of the food while you were in REM sleep. “The contractions in the colon are highest in the morning, and this is when most people have a large bowel movement to get rid of the stool digested from food overnight,” says Dr. Sam.