Balancing Your Circadian Rhythm
Have you ever traveled across time zones and experienced jet lag? You know how you feel groggy, irritable, have an upset stomach and almost feel ill? Well that’s because you are out of sync with your circadian rhythm. That’s how powerful and important this rhythm is to our lives and our health. I’m going to walk you through what this rhythm is and how we can take full advantage of it to maximize our health and feel amazing!
Your circadian rhythm is an internal clock that is responsible for the regulation of your immune system, hormones, and energy. It operates on a 24 hour schedule, and regulates how much energy you have throughout the day and your quality of sleep. It’s not only controlled by internal factors, but external factors such as light and food intake. This natural rhythm is incredibly important to many processes, and there are things we can do to make sure our body clocks are working properly.
Circadian clocks - think biological clock, not a clock with gears - are found within almost every cell in the body. These clocks are coordinated with a “master clock” in the brain, which sends signals to the others. The master clock responds to stimuli like light and food to regulate various bodily functions like temperature, memory, and autonomic function. Needless to say – making sure our rhythms are balanced is important for a wide variety of reasons!
When you hear “circadian rhythm,” the first thing that often comes to mind is the contrast between day and night, dictated by the amount of sunlight. Our internal clocks are responsible for signaling when it’s time to sleep by producing melatonin, or when to be awake and promote wakefulness. Light plays a huge role in this process, and it starts the moment you wake up! This is why I recommend we get at least 5 minutes of morning light each day if possible, or at least open up the blinds!
For the same reason, I also recommend everyone turn off their lights and put down their devices before bed. The ultimate goal would be to maximize natural light during the day, and minimize artificial light at night. I am a big proponent of blue light blocking glasses with amber lenses to be worn in the 1-2 hours before you go to bed to help mimic the darkness our body expects at night. So if you’re someone who brings their phone to bed, or waits a few hours before stepping outside for the first time in the morning, consider altering those habits for your circadian rhythm!
Light is the most significant environmental cue, and can be pretty easily monitored throughout the day. But food timing is an example of an internal factor that can balance (or throw off) our natural rhythm. If we sleep for 8 hours at night, our fasting window would be at least 8 hours long, and occur while it’s dark. This would be our “inactive” period, where our bodies can naturally wind down rather than actively digesting. This “inactive” period is actually quite active and when our body goes through repair and rebuilding processes and cleans out all the damaged cells.
If we eat late into the night, then our body has to be digesting during this time and cannot do all those other amazing processes until later on. Ideally, dinner would occur at least 2-3 hours before bedtime. Various circumstances like night shifts, frequent travel between time zones, and busy schedules can make this difficult! Try finding what works for you, and try to stop eating around 2-3 hours before you plan to go to bed so you can take full advantage of all the benefits sleep has to offer!
Sleep is just about the cheapest medicine there is, and keeping our sleep consistent benefits many facets of our health. Our circadian rhythms directly influence our body’s ability to sleep when we are supposed to sleep, and have energy while we are awake. The release of melatonin at night allows us to feel sleepy and rest, which is triggered by darkness. By keeping food and light exposure consistent throughout the day, while eliminating nighttime snacking and artificial light, we can optimize our sleep! And the timing of when you go to sleep is another critical factor in setting up our rhythms. Staying up late on the weekends and then sleeping much later than normal will be very disruptive to these precious rhythms. See if you can get to sleep each night within a 30-60 minute window. Your body will thank you!
Since our circadian rhythm is responsible for so many processes, significant and chronic disruptions can really take a toll on our health. One night of staying up late or late night snacking won’t do long term damage, but repetitive actions will lead to disruptions in the rhythm of intestinal cells and your gut microbiome. This can lead to cardiovascular disease, obesity, and insulin resistance. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared shift work as a potential carcinogen - yes, not being in sync with our circadian rhythms for long periods of time can lower our immunity and allow cancers to grow. So, if you’re someone who finds yourself eating erratically throughout the day (or night), and has very different bedtimes from one day to the next, consider establishing habits to balance your circadian rhythm! You will not regret it!
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