Good Timing Is Key to Health, Happiness

Good health means good timing--from when you rise and shine to when you eat, work and exercise. You can stay in step with your body clock by knowing a little about its natural peaks and troughs.

The following describes the best time of day to engage in various mental and physical activities.

THE BEST TIME . . .

- To make decisions: Early morning, between 8 and 8:30 a.m., when anxiety and depression are at their lowest. The worst time is between 2 and 7 p.m., when anxiety and depression are highest. Neutral hours are between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m.

- To count to 10: The three half-hours before breakfast, lunch and dinner. Hunger pangs and low blood sugar can make you more irritable and likely to lose your cool during these three “hot spots,” so start counting when tempers flare.

- To persuade the boss you’re long overdue for a raise: Over lunch (order something cheap). A 3-year study at Johns Hopkins University of more than 1,000 companies found that more contracts were signed at “power” lunches than at any other time.

- To study for a final: In the evening, before going to bed. The shorter the delay between study and bedtime, the more likely you are to retain the knowledge. Falling asleep to taped information improves retention even more because our subconscious mind is open to suggestion.

- To think your most positive thoughts: Right after you get out of bed. Studies show that unless we’re on vacation or have something special to look forward to, most of us experience our most “down” feelings immediately after rising. Moods generally improve throughout the morning and peak by mid-afternoon.

- To read and reflect: Between 2 and 4 p.m., when your body temperature starts to drop.

- To pay your bills: At midday or late afternoon. Most of us are best prepared to handle tasks requiring mathematical skills when body temperature reaches a normal high point in mid-afternoon. This is also a good time to engage in activities requiring good memory and strong hand-eye coordination.

- To feast on forbidden fruit: If you really must indulge, do so within an hour after you wake up. Calories burn faster and more completely in the morning, because the thyroid is more active and insulin levels are lower. The same meal eaten in the morning is more likely to turn to fat if it’s eaten later.

- To take aspirin: Between 7 and 8 a.m. Aspirin is least effective between 6 p.m. and midnight.

- To shave (especially if you’re a bad aim with a straight edge): The morning hours. Blood clots much faster in the morning than in the afternoon, so a nick in the morning will bleed less.

- To take a caffeine break: Around 3 p.m. Stimulants work best when we’re already stimulated; sedatives when we’re already sedated. You’ll get more of a boost from your caffeine if you drink it at 3 p.m. The typical American wake-up cup of coffee may be based more on mental conditioning than physiological factors.

- To limit your consumption of alcohol: All the time, naturally, but particularly in the morning and in the evening. Alcohol has its maximum effect in the morning. However, by the cocktail hour, even though a shift in body rhythms makes us less susceptible to alcohol, we’re likely to drink more because we don’t feel its effects as much.

- To rise and shine: The moment you wake up. Don’t linger in bed, as you may use this time to dwell on unpleasant thoughts and start the day tense and anxious.

- To visit the dentist: In the morning. Your threshold of pain is much higher in the morning than at any other time.

- To run your fastest mile or to weight train: In mid- to late afternoon, when your body is at its fastest and strongest.

- To have sex: Early morning. Midnight might sound more romantic, but both male and female sex hormones peak in the early-morning hours, making this prime time for l’amour.

- To conceive: Just before daylight. Set the alarm for sunrise and you’ll take advantage of peaking male hormones. If the man in your life has a low sperm count, you’ll increase the odds of conceiving at this early-morning hour.

Maria Simonson is creator and director of the Health, Weight and Stress Clinic at Johns Hopkins Medical Institution-St. Luke’s Health Center, and co-author (with Joan Rattner Heilman) of “The Complete University Medical Diet,” Rawson-Warner Books, New York, 1988.