The Body Clock, known as our Circadian Cycle is described as the various systems in our body performing their many vitally important tasks at different times throughout our sleep-wake cycle. If we are consistently fighting against this schedule, we are essentially fighting against our body’s clock and our internal systems will begin to malfunction.
Our body knows that it is time to sleep as the sun goes down and away as the sun rises, it identifies these times of the day through light exposure. As night begins to fall it is time for our bodies to drop in temperature, our metabolism to slow, the production of melatonin to drastically rise and our feelings of hunger to decrease due to the increase in leptin levels. As the sun comes up, the opposite occurs and melatonin begins to drop, as a result, you wake up.
Unfortunately due to society’s increase in blue light exposure ‘after hours’, with the use of laptops, tablets, and smart phones increasingly becoming the norm, our body’s Circadian Cycle is repeatedly being disturbed. Our bodies are unable to perform their functions effectively, thinking it is time to stay awake rather than preparing for a quality nights’ sleep! This results in interrupted sleep patterns and a restless, unsatisfying nights sleep.
enigma7 recommends switching off electronic devices (which take up so much of our time these days) around an hour before bed to ensure your body begins to switch to ‘sleep’ mode, performing all its necessary tasks to ensure a good sleep. We also suggest making your room as dark as possible, avoiding even alarm clocks by your bedside, if this is something that you cannot sacrifice, we suggest getting a red light alarm clock and having it set on its dimmest setting. Sleep eye-masks are also a great investment to consider, as these will help to maintain a good nights sleep wherever you go!
Another note to keep in mind: Gene expression is also affected by your Circadian Cycle, as is cellular growth and repair hormone production. Exposing your self to light at night leads to the disruption of all these processes, setting the stage for diseases like obesity, diabetes, cancer and depression. A 10 year study conducted by the Chronobiology International: The Journal of Biological and Medical Rhythm Research, found that a sample group of over 1,670 woman who were exposed to high intensity light in their sleeping environment had 22% higher odds of developing breast cancer than those who slept in total darkness. The researchers blamed it on hormone disruption cause by melatonin suppression. This should be motivation enough for you to turn those devices off before hitting the hay!
