Healthy Habits from Morning to Night Quiz

Answer: Pressing the snooze alarm

The human body needs roughly 8 hours of sleep a night for a sharper memory and higher learning ability. Getting that will also help avoid age-related weight gain, since sleep deprivation slows down metabolism. So, try to avoid repeatedly pressing that snooze alarm, because it's better to get your sleep in one block of time rather than in fragments.

Because you are dehydrated after a night's sleep, it's important to rehydrate in the morning, so drink a glass of water. Also, try to stretch in the morning to avoid a stiff body, but don't rush it - take it nice and slow, but do some stretches.

Answer: D

Specifically, the UVB rays are necessary for your body's vitamin D synthesis. As we age, absorption of vitamin D tends to decline, and vitamin D is important for strong bones. A dose of morning sunlight will have the strongest effect in the day because the brain's photosensitivity is greatest at around dawn according to Matthew Edlund, director of the Center for Circadian Medicine.

Answer: Insulin

According to endocrinologist Nicholas Mezitis of Columbia University, the human body takes less time to process food in the morning - about an hour, compared to two hours at lunch time and longer at dinner. The surge in insulin during the morning hours will lead to the body being less likely to store calories as fat. Have a good breakfast of eggs and whole-grain toast, or oatmeal and fresh fruit.

Answer: Drink coffee

Instead of coffee, try switching to black or green tea. Coffee can actually be dehydrating, which can speed up skin-wrinkling but, perhaps more significantly, the antioxidants in tea help prevent cancer. Taking a walk around the block can help get you that dose of sunlight to help you wake up if you didn't get quite enough sleep, and drinking water is good for the cell function in the entire body. Short-term memory skills are actually best in the morning, so it can be a good time to mentally collect information you'll need for your afternoon tasks.

Answer: Best to take it without food

It is better to take your calcium supplement with food since it will be better absorbed that way. A normal diet of dairy foods, leafy greens, and calcium-fortified foods should be enough calcium for most people in the first place.

Since your body can only absorb 500 milligrams of calcium at a time (more than that will be excreted), it might be better to disperse your calcium supplement intake throughout the day. If you've had your morning coffee at breakfast or at work, the caffeine might impede your calcium absorption, so waiting until lunch would be better. Vitamin D also helps with calcium absorption, so those sunlight walks will be a benefit.

Answer: You experience a post-lunchtime energy burst

Right after lunch you actually have a dip in energy, slowing mental processing for a bit, so a short exercise break can help with alertness. A ten-minute walk is a good idea, and will help reduce the risk of type-2 diabetes.

Your body temperature starts reaching its uppermost temperature at around 2 p.m., warming your muscles and tendons and joints. Your body tissues will be more pliable and less prone to injury, so stretching at this time will be a benefit to you.

Answer: Fast-twitch muscles

Roughly around 3 p.m., you are usually at your best period for both physical and mental tasks. Using hand weights at your desk (if you're still at the office) works your fast-twitch muscles, which decline the most quickly with age.

Resistance training, which is what working with weights does, targets type II (fast-twitch) muscle fibers, the ones that generate power and strength. They are a category of skeletal muscle fibers responsible for quick, powerful movements.

Answer: Kegel exercises

With your higher body temperature, joints are more flexible. Your muscles can produce more force and your cardiovascular system is more efficient. Pelvic floor muscles tend to weaken as we age, increasing the risk of incontinence. Kegel exercises can help strengthen these muscles.

Contract the pelvic floor muscles and hold for 10 to 15 seconds, then relax them. Then repeat the contraction again holding for 5 to 10 seconds, and repeat 10 to 15 times. Contracting the pelvic floor muscles is the same as keeping yourself from urinating.

Answer: Glycogen synthase

Your increased level of glycogen synthase (the other answer choices are not enzymes at all) helps you refuel your muscles with glycogen, a stored form of carbohydrates in the body, after you've worked out. You will be re-energized for the next day's physical activity. Glycogen synthase facilitates glycogen storage and so, in a way, helps regulate blood glucose levels, especially in the liver.

Answer: Melatonin

Melatonin is mostly made by the brain's pineal gland, and it helps regulate the body's circadian rhythm and sleep-wake cycle. Melatonin plays a role in synchronizing the body's internal clock with the environment, and it responds to light and dark, increasing in the evening to trigger sleep, and decreasing in the morning, to help wake us up.

Avoid falling asleep with the television on because both the light and the sound can wake you for microseconds without you even realizing it, and this will eat into your sleep quantity (and quality). And do avoid caffeine within 6 hours prior to bedtime as it can interfere with slipping off into sleep.