SKOR.id – Everything from jet lag to social media to busy weekends to late nights (otherwise known as social jet lag) can throw off your circadian rhythm — the natural schedule your body goes through when it comes to sleep —. If your schedule is off, it can feel impossible to get it back on track.
But research from the University of Colorado-Boulder found that all it takes to get your body back in tune with a more natural sleep schedule is a weekend of camping.
To find out how natural light affects a person’s circadian clock (the natural timing mechanism that all people have to control circadian rhythms), researchers in the UC-Boulder Sleep and Chronobiology Lab led by Dr. Ken Wright takes participants into the woods for a weekend of camping without all electric lighting.
“There were no electronic devices, no flashlights. Just sunshine and campfires,” said Ellen Stothard, a UC-Boulder graduate who co-authored the study.
Here’s how it works: “When you’re exposed to light, whether natural or artificial, it affects your circadian clock through the secretion of melatonin, a chemical that triggers and regulates human sleep patterns,” Stothard said.
“What we found was that exposure to natural light changed the timing of melatonin secretion,” he explains.
They found that camping on the weekend shifted the timing of a person’s circadian clock to better align with sunrise and sunset in the summer, when the days are longer and the nights are shorter.
Even in winter, with shorter days, shifts still occur. Only, with less precise alignment.
“For most people, this means their circadian clock is ‘moving forward’. “This means that for most people, your body naturally wants to sleep and wakes up earlier,” he said.
Stothard revealed that people can definitely have an “inappropriate” relationship with their circadian clock.
“For some people, this is genetic. And for some people, staying up late is a habit that is difficult to break, resulting in difficulty getting up early for school or work. Moving the circadian clock forward makes all this easier,” Stothard said.
A sleep adjustment strategy that includes s’mores (short for “some more” in English) may seem too good to be true.
But beyond providing an easy and fun way to make mornings more enjoyable, Stothard’s research opens the door to a deeper discussion about sleep-related health.
“While this isn’t something we specifically studied, it’s possible that continued efforts to maintain a more natural circadian timing could have a positive impact on your health,” Stothard said.
“There is a lot of research showing that circadian misalignment can negatively impact metabolic health.”
It’s true that a 2015 review article suggests that circadian misalignment can lead to “negative outcomes” ranging from appetite, metabolism and mood, to disease and sleep disorders.
While you can’t go camping every weekend, Stothard explains that drastic measures like camping without electronics, aren’t even necessary if you make an effort to synchronize our daily activities on a daily basis.
“If you can’t go camping, we recommend that you get out in the morning, as much as you can. Enjoy your breakfast or coffee outside or sit by the window. Do everything you can to get exposure to light. Try cycling to work or going for a walk,” he said.
Towards the end of the day, Stothard suggested points the public had heard before. “Turn off the TV and reduce ambient lighting at night. “Reduce cellphone use and try not to use it at all two hours before bed,” he said.
2023-10-06 02:00:00
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