Nurse explains worrying side effects of hitting snooze in the morning

A nurse has issued a warning about snoozing your alarm clocks and how it could affect your long-term health.

Ah, the feeling of being woken up by the awful sounds coming from your phone, ruining your slumber.

Never mind that it ruins the climax of your dream, it's the fact that you've got to drag yourself up and out of the warmth of your bed into the cold that is life on a Monday morning.

Unless, of course, you snooze and get an extra five to 10 minutes of sleep.

We're all guilty of it, let's not pretend now.

That cup of coffee can wait, it'll all be worth those fleeting moments of extra shut-eye.

Apparently though, doing this on a regular basis could have detrimental effects on your health.

A US nurse has now taken to social media to explain that it isn't just a lack of sleep which can come back to bite you.

Jordan Bruss explained that there's a risk in setting multiple alarms, saying that she has 'bad news' for those with the bad habit.

"Waking to multiple alarms every morning really disrupts your REM cycle frequently," the TikToker explained.

"This actually causes sleep inertia, increased drowsiness, fatigue, mood swings, and it also raises your cortisol levels every time your alarm goes off."

If you're wondering why that passive aggressive message from a colleague drove you up the wall at 9.30 this morning, this might be why.

Apparently, putting your body under this stress triggers your fight or flight response, as a result of the cortisol spike caused.

She went on: "Waking up like that multiple times in the morning is very stressful, so when that alarm goes off in the morning, get up. Don't keep traumatising yourself."

Bruss urged people not to 'cause yourself extra physical and mental stress.'

This isn't all though, as the health professional explained that there's a link between stress and obesity.

"Excess cortisol levels make you gain and hang on to weight," the social media personality said, adding: "So when the alarm goes off, it's time, get up. You'll look and feel better."

Cortisol is the primary stress hormone, which your body produces, keeping you alert by increasing sugars in your blood stream.

But that's not all it does, as increased cortisol levels result in an increase in the fat-storing hormone known as insulin, meaning that more stress could trigger your body storing more fat.

Receptors for cortisol though, are on almost every part of your body, says Cleveland Clinic, meaning it can get into your blood stream and latch on to anything from your muscles to your nails.

It helps to regulate your body's use of energy, its blood pressure, and even tells you when to be alert or asleep.