- Make It Yourself Lavender Heart-Shaped Bath Bombs!
- 20 Things You Never Knew About “Down There”
- 12 Best Foods For Those Suffering From Arthritis Pain
- 12 Personal Hygiene Mistakes Almost Everyone Makes (Mom Never Told You About #4!)
- 15 Medicinal Plants And Herbs From The Cherokee People
- 12 Mind-Blowing Benefits Of Drinking Coconut Water During Pregnancy
- 12 Outstanding Winter Foods That Won’t Fatten You Up Like A Christmas Turkey
Top 10 Things You Never Imagined Were True about Your Internal Clock
Photo credit: bigstock.com
Although it feels like you just went through the “clock change” thing a few weeks ago, it will be coming back at you before you know it! Even though we change our little digital clocks forward or back as needed, your body doesn’t really understand that whole clock thing. This is due to a little device inside our heads called our internal clock.
OK, so technically the name for it is our circadian rhythms, but you know what we mean. Internal clocks are a series of internal variations that are controlled by our brain on a roughly 24 hour cycle. This clock is extremely sensitive to light and dark. It doesn’t care too much what our mind tells us (“Hey, its 5 AM, time to get up! I know the sun isn’t up, who cares?!”) but it cares very much about the sun (or any other type of light) and darkness. Those are your body’s clues for when to sleep, when to wake up, when to eat, and a whole host of other things.
Scientists really don’t have a complete understanding about how our internal clock works, but they do know a few things, and most of them are downright interesting, not to mention revealing.
Keep reading and found out everything you never knew about that invisible clock inside your noggin. You will be fascinated if nothing else!
1. You can give your body jet lag and never step foot on a plane
Most people think “jet lag” means what the word says, but you don’t have to travel through a couple time zones to trick your brain into thinking you are in another part of the world. Just stay up late on Friday and Saturday nights, then sleep in late Saturday and Sunday mornings. Sleep past noon if you really love that jet lag feeling, because that’s all it takes. That’s why so many people are groggy and irritable Monday morning. Some people call this “social jet lag,” and that’s a pretty accurate name. Want to avoid that Monday morning “time hang over”? Keep your weekend hours pretty close to your regular hours. Getting a good eyeful of sunlight in the morning will help to wake you up, as well as get your clock back on the right track.
2. Your Produce Also has a Circadian Clock
It sounds funny, but it’s true. Just because someone picks, plucks, or cuts your produce, it’s still alive. Your produce has its own clock and it keeps on ticking even after it’s sitting in your refrigerator. One study done in 2013 showed that fruits and veggies responded to their environment for days and that by using light they could cause veggies to make more of the cancer fighting antioxidants during certain times of the day. This study was done at Rice University.
3. Artificial Lights are Messing Up Your Clock
As we said before, your body doesn’t really care what time your cell phone says it is; when it’s dark, it starts getting ready to go nighty night. Artificial light from a lamp, cell phone, laptop, or television screen tells your body that it is still light outside so going to sleep is out of the question. How many people do you know post on FB or send you a text message saying that they simply can’t sleep? Next time, tell them to turn off the phone! Technology has removed our body’s understanding of a 24 hour cycle. Read also 7 reasons to turn offf your netflix and just go to sleep.
Continue to Page 2
Photo credit: bigstock.com
4. Want to Reset Your Clock? Go Camping
For some people their addiction to technology, combined with irregular hours, has them feeling like they will never sleep normally ever again. Well, the good news here is that there is an answer: Go camping. When you remove all technology from your life, including artificial lights, you will reset your natural clock in a matter of days.
5. Some of Our Genes Work in Conjunction With Our Clock
There are genes in our bodies that work with our internal clock and when our rhythm gets messed up, so do they. These genes control all kinds of things such as our blood sugar levels, body temperatures, even our moods. One study showed that when subjects were put on a 28 hour day, every single one of their genes were completely out of whack. By the way, some of those genes affect our immune system, so not getting regular rest is bad news.
6. Our Internal Clock and Immunity
Do you remember the time you skipped on sleep to study or to party and the following week you came down with the worst case of the flu? Yep, that lack of sleep really screws up your immune system. Scientists really don’t know why this is, but they believe it has something to do with the gene function we mentioned in the point above.
7. Trying to Get Pregnant?
If you are a woman who is trying to conceive, or if you have recently found out you are pregnant, you should take extra steps towards keeping your bedroom free from artificial lights. When your internal clock is screwed up, your biological clock gets screwed up along with it. A review done in 2014 showed that our body’s production of melatonin is naturally triggered by our on-schedule circadian rhythm, but that it is stunted by artificial lights. Melatonin naturally protects a woman’s eggs from stress due to its powerful antioxidant compounds.
Continue to Page 3
Photo credit: bigstock.com
8. Is This Why Depressed People Can’t Sleep?
One study, done in 2013 at the University of Michigan, compared the brains of mentally healthy subjects with those that were clinically depressed at the time of their deaths. Those who were depressed had gene activity that was much different from the normal 24 hour cycle of our internal clock. Their sleep cycle was disrupted as well as shifted over time. Those who were depressed slept at the wrong hours and therefore got poor quality sleep.
SEE ALSO: Top 12 Reasons Why You Should Sleep Naked
9. Is There a Perfect Time for Eating?
Recent research seems to say yes. Cell Metabolism performed a study and tried to determine that, if everything else was equal, did eating at certain times of the day make a difference? Using two groups of mice, scientists gave the first group of mice food 24 hours a day. The other group only received food during their most active 8 hour period. Both groups received the same amount of food with the same caloric intake. The mice that only ate during an 8 hour period were 40 percent leaner, had lower blood sugar, and lower cholesterol levels than the mice that ate whenever they wanted. This might mean limiting ourselves to eating only during our busiest 8 hour period could be the best “diet” anyone could ever imagine. Find out why night sowls risk much more than just missing breakfast.
10. “Jet Lag” and other sleeping problems are actually circadian rhythm problems
Jet lag and other disruptions to your normal sleeping pattern, whether it’s from something like jet lag or from external cues, such as artificial light, can lead to both insomnia and excessive sleepiness during the day. These are all known as circadian rhythm disorders, not just “difficulty sleeping.” Although some people will attempt to correct their internal clocks by using pills or alcohol, those things have been shown time and again to not work over the long haul. Changes to your lifestyle are what really need to occur to get yourself back on the correct sleeping track.
Sources:
