Metabolic WireShort, careful dispatches on hormones, sleep, stress, and the molecular machinery of everyday life.https://astro-news-en.pages.dev/The afternoon dip is a pacing problem, not a moral onehttps://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/afternoon-dip-mitochondria/https://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/afternoon-dip-mitochondria/The mid-afternoon slump is circadian and post-meal, with mitochondria supplying ATP at the pace the cell allows.Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTDaylight, brain serotonin, and the gut's separate poolhttps://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/daylight-serotonin-gut/https://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/daylight-serotonin-gut/Morning light reaches brain serotonin through the eye. The gut's serotonin does not commute upstairs to become a mood.Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTCold hits the nerves first and the thyroid laterhttps://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/cold-and-thyroid/https://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/cold-and-thyroid/The first response to cold is sympathetic. Thyroid hormone turnover changes on a slower clock than shivering.Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTGrowth hormone waits for deep sleep, not for an early bedtimehttps://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/deep-sleep-growth-hormone/https://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/deep-sleep-growth-hormone/The big growth-hormone pulse rides slow-wave sleep. Going to bed early does nothing if that deep sleep never arrives.Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTWhat dopamine does in the last minutes of hard efforthttps://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/dopamine-in-the-last-minutes/https://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/dopamine-in-the-last-minutes/Dopamine in hard effort is a keep-going signal, not a pleasure spray that arrives when the work is over.Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTLactate is a fuel, not the thing that burnshttps://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/lactate-as-fuel/https://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/lactate-as-fuel/Working muscle ships lactate as a fuel other tissues can oxidize. The burn is not lactate acting as a toxin.Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTWhat the day-after ache is actually signalinghttps://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/inflammation-the-day-after/https://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/inflammation-the-day-after/The soreness after a long effort is not the same signal as chronic inflammation, and muscle IL-6 is not a fire alarm.Thu, 29 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTA late meal and the next morning's insulinhttps://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/late-meal-insulin/https://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/late-meal-insulin/Eating late lands the meal when insulin sensitivity is already lower, and the next morning still shows it.Thu, 19 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTLight affection and the oxytocin pulsehttps://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/light-affection-oxytocin/https://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/light-affection-oxytocin/A hand on an arm can raise oxytocin when the touch is wanted. The pulse is a context signal, not a switch.Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTWhat an orgasm changes in the next hourhttps://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/orgasm-prolactin-next-hour/https://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/orgasm-prolactin-next-hour/After orgasm, prolactin often rises and oxytocin can rise with it. The next hour is a hormone shift, not a cure.Thu, 05 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTWhy nerves misfire when you only drink waterhttps://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/sodium-and-nerve-firing/https://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/sodium-and-nerve-firing/A nerve fires on a sodium gradient. Drinking only water during long effort can wash that gradient down.Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTHow a short night changes the next morning's glucosehttps://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/overnight-glucose-after-short-sleep/https://astro-news-en.pages.dev/articles/overnight-glucose-after-short-sleep/A short night raises the morning cortisol signal and makes the same breakfast harder for insulin to clear.Thu, 08 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT