I write this on the Sunday after going into Daylight Savings Time. Each year, I get aggravated about the time change. This irritation stems from several factors such as losing an hour of sleep and resetting all the clocks that aren’t connected to an electronic device. Plus, my dog and bird don’t understand different feeding times. I know many of you may enjoy having that extra daylight during the summer but frankly I don’t because my internal clock doesn’t adjust easily.

Daylight Savings has a long history and with controversy from the beginning. The first person looking at extending daylight was Benjamin Franklin in the 18th century. Franklin noted that waking up closer to sunrise gave him more hours of daylight to illuminate his home. This allowed him to use fewer smoky and expensive candles, which helped him save energy. The second person was George Bernard Hudson in the late 19th-century New Zealand. Hudson, an entomologist, and astronomer proposed moving clocks forward. The third person was William Willett in the early 20th-century United Kingdom. Willett introduced a bill in the British Parliament to enact a time change. None of the three saw their idea of saving daylight come to fruition, but the idea was later renewed because of WW I. Once World War I ended, push backs against daylight saving time grew, particularly from farmers, which is contrary to what most people think. The British, Germans and Americans brought daylight savings time back in WWII. The U.S. ended the time change after the war and in 1966, the federal government passed the Uniform Time Act to standardize time across the country. Daylight saving time is now observed in 48 states.

All that being said, I want to talk about how changing our time affects our body. You may not realize it, but that one hour’s change does more to us than the loss of sleep. A growing amount of research shows that it also affects your body in other surprising and negative ways. It can disrupt our circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms are the physical, mental, and behavioral changes an organism experiences over a 24-hour cycle. This internal clock helps us to feel alert during the day, hungry at mealtimes, and sleepy at night.

Our natural daily rhythms are synchronized with the sun. A “master clock” in the brain receives direct input from the eyes and coordinates all the biological clocks in the body. During the day, it signals brain regions to make hormones that will help keep you awake, boost your heart rate, and give you energy. In the evening, when less light enters your eyes, it triggers production of a hormone called melatonin. Melatonin makes you feel drowsy and helps you sleep.

Researchers are looking at how the time of day sync’s up with the body’s clocks in all aspects of health. Including the best time to have surgery on specific parts of the body. These studies may lead to new insights for a range of clock-related disorders, from insomnia, shift work, jet lag to diabetes.

Daylight saving time throws your body’s internal clock out of whack, which can negatively affect your health in ways you don’t realize. Although it might seem like gaining or losing a single hour of sleep shouldn’t make much of a difference, it absolutely does. Studies have also shown an increase in heart attacks, car crashes and other ill-health effects, particularly when clocks spring forward. Some sleep health experts argue that permanent standard time would be preferable to permanent daylight-saving time. Ash said we lose about 30 minutes of sleep a night during daylight saving time from March to November because of our bodies being misaligned with the sun.

As of this writing, it appears the clocks will continue to change in the Fall and Spring. Federal law still prohibits states from enacting permanent changes. Proposed legislation to change the law has been stalled. So, whether you are traveling through time zones, are a shift worker, or any of the other items that may affect health, you may want to pay more attention to your inner clock.

If you want to help your inner clock stay more on track, consider the following through the year.

·       Stick to a regular sleep schedule every day of the week.

·       Sleep in a dark, quiet, and comfortable place.

·       Avoid heavy meals two to three hours before bedtime.

·       Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol late in the day.

·       Exercise daily, but not within two hours of bedtime.

·       Limit the use of electronics with bright screens before bedtime.

“I don’t mind going back to daylight saving time. With inflation, the hour will be the only thing I’ve saved all year.” – Victor Borge

Robin Anne Griffiths–Founder of ReChargeMe Zone * Behavioral Change Specialist * Yoga Instructor * Meditation Facilitator * Personal Trainer * Author * Speaker * Helping people on a journey for change to live a fuller and healthier life.