Get in Tune with Your Circadian Rhythm

We have news for you: ‘hanging out’ until late hours, eating whatever we want at any time we want, being passionate about coffee/tea and not being able to think about conversations and work hours without it, waking up at noon and having long late breakfasts are outdated…

Don’t say ‘What’s fashionable about this?’, it’s the sum of the 4-5 people you see most often around you… If you are close to people whose lifestyle is shaped by such habits, their lifestyles may become similar as the circle grows. Of course, we cannot cut the whole bill to our friends and relatives, what is important here is to know whether we, as an adult, take care of our sleep, nutrition and exercise regime and make arrangements accordingly. Because we now clearly know that how bright and vibrant our skin is, how strong our musculoskeletal system is, our joy, our well-being, the harmonious functioning of our internal organs, everything depends on our living in harmony with nature.   

Especially in the last few years, we know that healthy living trends have almost gone viral with the support of social platforms. The popularization of this issue affects us positively, of course, but we should also be careful about information pollution and seek reliable information. The reason why we want to include the content we have carefully and carefully compiled on OAN’s Blog page is to ensure that you can easily access qualified and reliable information.

We chose the topic of Circadian Rhythm, one of our first articles, because we need to place a healthy life on the basis of a healthy biological clock, a healthy body / soul…

Circadian is a concept formed by the combination of the Latin words circa (around) and dia (day) and means ‘around a day’. The earliest recorded description of the circadian process in the West dates back to the 4th century BC and belongs to Theophrastos, who is considered the founder of botany. However, the introduction of circadian rhythms to humanity is much older: The science of Ayurveda, born in the Indian geography with a history of about five thousand years, has examined our biological clock in great detail and provided us with a complete guide on how to organise our daily life. Our biological clock / circadian rhythm, which works perfectly when we live in harmony with our nature, has also attracted the attention of scientists: The 2017 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to studies in the field of circadian rhythm.

 

Decode Your Biological Clock And Be Happy

We are devoting another article to Ayurvedic tips for organising daily life and in this section we will take a closer look at what affects our circadian rhythm and how we can simply regulate it, especially how we can improve our sleep quality and quality of life…

The circadian rhythm is our internal clock that regulates the body’s sleep and wake cycles over a 24-hour period and our biological processes that take place during these processes. Various systems of the body follow circadian rhythms, which synchronise with a biological clock in the brain. This internal clock is directly influenced by environmental factors, especially light. Our circadian rhythms are therefore linked to the day and night cycle. Other factors such as exercise, social activity and temperature also influence the internal clock, but the most powerful influence on circadian rhythms is light.

Circadian rhythms affect important functions in the human body.

For example

Sleep patterns

Hormone release

Appetite and digestion

Temperature

Circadian rhythms are present in all kinds of organisms, for example, they help flowers to open and close at the right time, they prevent nocturnal animals from leaving their shelters… In humans, circadian rhythms coordinate the mental and physical systems. The digestive system produces protein to match the typical timing of meals, and the endocrine system regulates hormones to match normal energy expenditure.

Circadian rhythms in the body are linked to an internal clock in the brain. Specifically, it is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in a part of the brain called the hypothalamus. At different times of the day, clock genes in the SCN send signals to regulate activity in the body.

 

How Does The Circadian Rhythm Affect Our Sleep?

The sleep-wake cycle is one of the most obvious and critical examples of the importance of circadian rhythms. Exposure to light during the day causes the internal clock to send signals that create wakefulness and help keep us awake and active. When night falls, the internal clock initiates the production of melatonin, a hormone that promotes sleep, and then continues to transmit signals that help us stay asleep throughout the night.

In this way, circadian rhythms align sleep and wakefulness with day and night, creating a stable cycle of restorative rest that allows for increased daytime activity. Isn’t it a complete example of the flawless functioning and perfect harmony of our nature and nature?

 

It Affects Both Your Mood And Our Weight…

While the sleep-wake cycle is one of the most prominent circadian rhythms, these 24-hour cycles play a vital role in almost all systems of the body.

Circadian rhythms influence mental health, including the risk of psychiatric illnesses such as depression and bipolar disorder, as well as the potential for neurodegenerative disease. By regulating blood glucose and cholesterol levels, it contributes to metabolism and helps us keep our weight in balance.

One of the most important issues here is to adjust our meal times correctly, as it is obvious that what we eat and when we eat has an impact on sleep quality. First of all, you should have breakfast between 8.00-9.00 in the morning. In this time period, our body is slowly waking up in harmony with nature; therefore, it is recommended to eat light food as the digestive system is not yet very lively. At noon, when the digestive system is most active, a strong lunch should be eaten and eating should be stopped before 8.00 pm. Food eaten after this time in the evening remains in the stomach, cannot be digested and has a direct negative effect on sleep quality. Again, it is recommended to eat light food in the evening…

 

What Happens When The Circadian Rhythm Is Disturbed?

When the circadian rhythm is disturbed, the body’s systems (movement, circulatory, nervous, respiratory, excretory, circulatory systems) do not work well. A disturbed sleep-wake circadian rhythm can lead to serious sleep problems. Without appropriate signals from the body’s internal clock, a person may have difficulty falling asleep, wake up more often during the night, may not get as much sleep as they need, and their total sleep time may decrease. A disturbed circadian rhythm means shallower, fragmented and lower quality sleep.

 

What Can Disrupt The Circadian Rhythm?

Shift work: Work obligations can cause major disruptions in one’s circadian rhythm. Shift work, which requires working through the night and sleeping during the day, puts a person’s sleep schedule in direct conflict with local daylight hours.

Advanced sleep phase disorder: People with this rare type of sleep disorder notice that they become tired early in the evening and wake up very early in the morning. Even if people with advanced sleep phase disorder would like to get up later at night or sleep later in the morning, they are usually unable to do so.

Delayed sleep-wake phase syndrome: This type of circadian rhythm disorder is associated with staying up late at night and sleeping late in the morning. The exact cause is not known, but delayed sleep-wake phase syndrome may be related to genetics, underlying physical conditions and the person’s behaviour and living habits.

Inability to perceive light: This type of sleep-wake disorder occurs in people who are blind and cannot take light-based cues for their circadian rhythms. Although their body follows a 24-hour cycle, their sleep schedule can be constantly shifted backwards by minutes or hours at a time.

Irregular sleep-wake rhythm disorder: People with this rare disorder do not have a consistent sleep pattern and may have many naps or short periods of sleep during a 24-hour day. Irregular sleep-wake rhythm disturbance is often linked to conditions that affect the brain.

Jet lag: This occurs when a person travels across multiple time zones in a short period of time. Until the person’s circadian rhythm adjusts to the day-night cycle of the new location, they are likely to experience sleep problems and fatigue due to jet lag.

Some circadian disruptions are related to travelling or daily living habits that make sleep-wake schedules inconsistent with normal daylight hours. Other disorders are caused by an underlying problem that causes an inability to receive or process environmental cues that regulate the body’s biological clock. In some cases, genetic causes may be involved or the cause may not be known at all.

 

How To Maintain A Healthy Circadian Rhythm?

Tune in to the sun: Exposure to natural light, especially early in the day, helps to strengthen the circadian cue. When the sun rises, that is, when nature wakes up, we, who are part of it, should also wake up.

Pay attention to what and when you eat: We mentioned meal times above… These are the time periods that our biological clock tells us. For this reason, we should take care of our nutrition by listening to our biological clock, which does not mean eating when hungry, but eating at regular times.

Follow a consistent sleep schedule: Changing the time you go to bed or wake up in the morning can prevent your body from adapting to a stable circadian rhythm. For this reason, going to sleep and waking up at the same time will help you establish this pattern. Start sleep preparations at 21.30: Step away from all screens, take a warm shower, sprinkle natural lavender essential oil on your pillow or in your bedroom, do a short meditation or calming breathing practice and lie in bed with your book. Going to sleep around 23.00 at the latest will help to regulate your circadian rhythm and wake up around 6.30-7.00 in the morning.

Exercise daily: Walking briskly for half an hour every day or every other day, as well as regular exercises such as Yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi or any other exercise that interests you, can support your internal clock and make it easier for you to fall asleep at night.

Avoid caffeine: Stimulants such as caffeine can keep you awake and disrupt the natural balance between sleep and wakefulness. Everyone is different, but if you have trouble sleeping at night, you should avoid caffeine in the afternoon. Again, do not consume alcohol close to bedtime, this is one of the reasons that disrupt sleep quality.

Soften the light before going to bed: Exposure to artificial light at night can affect the circadian rhythm. Experts recommend dimming the lights and leaving electronic devices before going to bed, which we mentioned as part of sleep preparations…

Keep naps short and take them in the early afternoon: Late and long naps can delay your bedtime and disrupt your sleep schedule.

Make your bedroom conducive to sleep: The organisation of your bedroom can affect your sleeping habits and the quality of your night’s sleep. A comfortable bed, orthopaedic pillow, cotton bedding, and other sleeping materials are basic needs, as sleep is one of our most basic needs. Also, ventilate the room where you sleep well, pay attention to hygiene, order and light.

If you have persistent or serious sleep problems, daytime sleepiness or a problematic sleep schedule, it is important to talk to a doctor who can best diagnose the cause and offer the most appropriate treatment.

Sources:

Sleep Foundation, Circadian Rhythm

Health implications of disrupted circadian rhythms and the potential for daylight as therapy. Anaesthesiology, National Library of Medicine.

Overview of circadian rhythms. Alcohol Research & Health, National Library of Medicine.

The Neurobiology of Circadian Rhythms. The Psychiatric clinics of North America, National Library of Medicine.

The genetics of circadian rhythms, sleep and health, National Library of Medicine.

The Circadian System Contributes to Apnoea Lengthening across the Night in Obstructive Sleep Apnoea. Sleep, National Library of Medicine.

Circadian rhythm sleep disorder: Irregular sleep wake rhythm type, National Library of Medicine.