期末备考季：五种健康方式让你保持清醒

Few people think about the fact that the brain and body use a lot more energy when we are awake. If you are pulling an all nighter, you’re going to need a lot more food then you are used to eating. Your brain can use up to 25 percent of your total calories. To stay awake, plan to eat larger meals than normal and to eat them more frequently.
很少有人意识到，当我们清醒时我们的大脑和身体需要消耗大量的能量。如果你要熬一通宵，你可能需要摄入更多的食物。你的大脑可能需要消耗卡路里总量的25%。想保持清醒，就要比平时多吃点儿，并多几次摄入。

The idea of a midnight snack is a good one. That doesn’t mean you should load up on microwave popcorn and stale donuts. Stick to foods that are high in healthy fats and healthy protein. Vegetables won’t make any difference in terms of keeping you awake, except maybe habaneros. Sugar and lots of starch will give you a boost followed by a crash that will end your late night partying.
夜宵是个不错的选择，但这并不意味着你需要吃很多微波爆米花和不新鲜的甜甜圈。要坚持食用富含健康脂肪和蛋白质的食物。不同的蔬菜对保持清醒所起的作用几乎没什么差别，或许夏宾奴辣椒是个例外。糖分和过多的淀粉摄入会让你短暂性地兴奋，随着而来的是你彻夜狂欢计划的破产。

Protein stimulates a neurotransmitter in your brain called orexin. It regulates arousal, wakefulness, and appetite. In fact, researchers hypothesize that modafinil, the real-world drug most like the fictional drug from the movie Limitless works in part because it increases orexin.
蛋白质会刺激你大脑中的一种神经传递介质，即阿立新。它能调节你的觉醒状态和胃口。事实上，研究人员假设莫达非尼能让人精力充沛，这种确实存在的药物类似电影《永无止境》里的虚拟药物，因为它也能增加体内的阿立新。

That’s why you should have the steak (extra points for grass fed) and avoid the pasta if you want to stay up late.
这就是为什么如果你想熬夜就应该吃点儿肉排（最好是草食动物），而不是意面。

Watch Your Eyes
注意你的眼睛

There’s nothing more annoying than trying to enjoy some late-night revelry only to find that you are squinting and your eyes are tired. When your eyes are tired, you’re squinting will make your facial muscles tired. Your trigeminal nerve runs right through your face, which means that squinting will affect your entire nervous system and make you tired more quickly. If you wear contacts, wear your glasses earlier in the day, and bring some eyedrops.
没有什么比当你准备享受彻夜狂欢时却发现自己耷拉着眼皮昏昏欲睡更令人郁闷了。当你双眼困顿眯着眼睛时，你的脸部肌肉也会疲劳。你的三叉神经在脸部正常活动，这就意味着眯眼会影响你整个神经系统，让你更快地感到疲惫。如果你白天很早就戴着隐形眼镜，记得带点儿眼药水。

Turn Up the Lights
开灯

In my posts on sleep hacking, I’m forever encouraging people to turn the lights down at night because bright lights keep you awake. For three or four hours after you are exposed to bright white light, your body will not make melatonin, the sleep hormone required for deep sleep. You will live longer and sleep better if you avoid bright lights at night. However, if you really want to stay up late, you can turn up the lights and it will help enormously.
在我所写的关于破解睡眠的帖子中，我总会建议人们晚上关灯，因为灯光会让你保持清醒。当你在明亮的白光下暴露了三四个小时后，你的体内就不会产生褪黑素，这是进入深度睡眠的必要激素。当你在夜间避免强光照射时，你就会寿命更长，睡眠更好。不过，如果你真的想晚点儿睡，你可以开着灯，这会大大帮助你清醒。

All of these work, but if you stay up really late, expect to pay for it the next day or the next night as your body’s melatonin production may shift similar to what happens when you have jet lag. Melatonin supplementation may help with this. You also can build up a sleep debt, which means you may want to take a nap to help pay it off. However, research has proven that people can learn to sleep more efficiently.
当你真的熬夜很晚，以上所有这些工作将让你在第二天或第二天晚上付出代价，因为你体内的褪黑素生成会让你感觉像有时差一样。补充褪黑素会有效缓解这种情况。你也可以建立睡眠负债，也就是说打个小盹来缓解睡眠不足的问题。然而，研究也证明了人们可以学着提高睡眠效率。