2 key things you can do to get started:
- Get up at or near sunrise. It’s best to go outside either at sunrise or shortly thereafter to get the clock-setting signals of early morning light in your eyes (no hat, glasses, or sunscreens and if warm enough, bare skin).
- Block or avoid artificial light (especially blue light from devices) after dark.
You’ll have to work with your chronotype – your preference for sleep and wake times. Some of us are morning people, others are night owls. This is our personal circadian rhythm, set by a combination of our genetics, daily routines, age, and other factors. There’s no question that getting up for sunrise is going to be easier for a morning person. Regardless, try to work with the environment as best you can to sync your clock to its rhythms.
There are Apps that can tell you when sunrise occurs, when it’s solar noon, and when the sun goes down and darkness falls, and many other details about the intensity and type of light where you are in the world. I use one and find it helpful, educational, and fun to follow (see Resources below).
There are a number of additional recommendations that add strength to these basic lifestyle hacks, and we’ll feature those in Part 2 of this series. For example, light, water, and magnetism interact with our circadian rhythms to promote optimum health, and we’ll talk more about light, specifically.
For now, just know that bright artificial light at night – even if dim or just a brief minute – suppresses melatonin, the sleep hormone, and stimulates the brain to alertness at a time, after dark, when our brain cells and body tissues should be resting and repairing.
The dark side of disruptions in circadian rhythms
To maintain system robustness, clocks throughout the body must be synchronised, and their functions coordinated.
Circadian Synchrony (2021)
Modern life has changed the way humans are exposed to and affected by light in our environment. We no longer rise with the sun and bed down when it sets. We travel more, work longer hours, and stay up later reading or watching screens that emit blue light, while our homes, workplaces and streets are lit by artificial electric lights after dark.
This is problematic for our sensitive circadian clocks! Artificial light at night (ALAN) sends the wrong light messages to our master clock (SCN) via our retinae (eyes) – a message that says it’s daytime when it’s night, and creates a misalignment between both the master clock and our peripheral clocks – between our brains, bodies, and the environment.
Recent evidence reports that this misalignment, the disruption of our circadian rhythm, can lead to a number of chronic conditions that further upend our internal-external balance, causing a vicious cycle of ill health.
Circadian disruption has been associated with poor sleep, especially loss of restorative deep sleep, psychiatric disorders of all types, metabolic diseases related to glucose and insulin metabolism (obesity, abnormal lipid levels, pre-diabetes and diabetes), increased risk for elevated blood pressure and cardiovascular events, neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases, and many cancers. And poor sleep has been associated with dementia and generally accelerated aging.
Even the shift to Daylight Savings Time, the advancing of our clocks, just one hour in the Spring, has been linked to higher rates of heart attacks and strokes!
Our circadian clocks regulate our cardiovascular function, glucose balance, lipid metabolism (fats and cholesterol), detoxification processes in the liver and the brain, inflammatory and immune reactions (most chronic diseases, including cancers, are underpinned by chronic inflammation), and the general smooth running of our endocrine (hormonal), digestive, elimination, reproduction and nervous systems.
As you can see, being out of sync with Mother Nature could be “ground zero” in most if not all all of our most prevalent chronic conditions.
On the bright side (pun intended), any condition, symptoms, or ailments you may be experiencing – or even if you’re healthy and seeking optimal well-being – your life and health could be very much improved by a switch to a lifestyle based on circadian rhythms.
4 more ways to get in sync:
Take several mini-breaks during your day and go outdoors and absorb the sun’s light (even if it’s overcast) through your eyes and skin. Dress appropriately for the weather, of course! That way your clocks will be kept in sync all through the day.
Naked eyes and skin – but avoid turning pink! Remember that sunglasses and sunscreens block light messages to the eyes and skin. And sunscreen also blocks the UV light that stimulates Vitamin D production in the skin. It’s important to avoid sunburn and eye damage, of course, so gather your naked rays in the early morning and late day when UV light is not dominant in the sky.
Get into the habit of going to bed and getting up at regular times. This may mean some negotiation with your partner, family, and even pets. It’s quite likely that different chronotypes will be living in the same house, which means someone usually has to compromise. If you truly want to optimise your health, tune into your personal preference and negotiate with your people to respect everyone’s bedtime and sleep space preferences.
Eat your meals during daylight hours and avoid late night snacking. Studies have shown that people who eat late at night are at higher risk for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Eating and digesting signals “daytime” to your peripheral metabolic clocks at a time when your body should be in sleep, rest, and repair mode. Carbohydrates are metabolised and stored as fat, it’s as simple as that. For metabolic health, put your fork down 3 – 4 hours before bed.
Tips and Resources
Carrie Bennet, a circadian health expert, is an amazing source of information! One of her tips is that missing sunrise is okay, as long as you can get outside or open a window in the early morning light, for even a few minutes. You’ll still get the clock-setting benefits of the early morning sunlight. Otherwise, try to catch the golden light at the end of the day and the sunset. Carrie shares a ton of helpful information on her Instagram @carriebwellness.
Check out the Circadian App. It’s a really useful tool to tell you when sunrise and sunset are timed in your area, and contains lots of educational information about the benefits of the various wavelengths of light in the sunlight spectrum and tips on how to live a circadian lifestyle.
Dr Satchin Panda, podcast Dhru Purohit, June 12, 2023 – Intermittent Fasting and Circadian Rhythms – a current podcast featuring a circadian scientist. Two hours of accurate, up-to-date information.
www.blockbluelight.co.uk. Blue light blocking light bulbs, glasses, and more. I have personally purchased items from this company. The service is excellent and I’m loving my evening home lighting solutions!
