What is Circadian Rhythm and How to Fix Circadian Rhythm?

It is important for you to understand how to fix your circadian rhythm in order to achieve a solid health foundation. It supports your hormones, metabolism and the way you rest and digest throughout the day.

I see a lot of my clients, and folks in general, not giving this topic enough attention. Everybody likes to skip breakfast, work out late in the evening or have bright blue lights turned on late into the night and go to bed way past sunset. But few understand just how much this influences our bodies' homeostasis.

Signs you might be out of balance and need to fix circadian rhythm.

• You have a difficult time falling asleep

• You struggle to stay asleep and often wake up several times during your sleep cycle

• You wake up too early and can’t go back to sleep

• Quality of sleep is poor

• Hormones are out of balance

• Decreased alertness

• Problems with memory and decision making

• You're often most alert, productive and creative late at night

• If forced to get up early, you are sleepy during the day

• Often perceived as lazy, unmotivated, or a poor performer who is always late for morning responsibilities

• Stress in relationships

• Poor work/school performance

• Inability to meet social obligations

• Depression

Let’s cover the basics and explain, What is the circadian rhythm?

Inside of your body runs an automatic program which is your internal clock or the sleep-wake cycle. It tells you when it's time to sleep or wake and when you are out of sync with your environment.

Your internal clock, called a circadian clock, cycles about every 24 hours. These repeating 24-hour cycles are called the circadian rhythm.

Your body tries to align with your sleep-wake cycle by cues in the environment.

• When it gets light or dark outside

• When you eat

• When you are physically active

• Your Sleep habits

Of course there are other things that influence circadian rhythm.

• Job shifts

• Traveling to different time zones

• Aging

• Your genetics

• Medical conditions

Jet lag

When you fly to a new time zone it makes it hard for your sleep-wake cycle to adjust and function normally. Eastward travel is more difficult than westward travel because it is easier to delay sleep than to advance sleep.

Common signs of jet lag are:

• Change in appetite

• Changes in gastrointestinal (stomach and bowel) function

• General tiredness

• General feelings of discomfort or uneasiness

• Mood disturbance

Graveyard shifts and shift work disorder

You may have shift work sleep disorder if you frequently rotate shifts or work at night.

Unfortunately, these work schedules conflict with your body’s natural circadian rhythm, making it very difficult for you to adjust to the change.

When a constant or recurring pattern of sleep interruption takes place, it leads to insomnia or excessive sleepiness.

Other common features of shift work disorder are:

• Ongoing tiredness.

• General feeling of discomfort or uneasiness, mood disorder.

• Gastrointestinal problems.

• Decreased sex drive.

How can you measure circadian rhythm?

There are several ways to track circadian rhythm:

1. A sleep diary where you take notes of when you go to bed, when you wake up during the night, time of urination per night, rising time.

2. A tracking device can be very helpful for this. Tracking devises show you:

• REM sleep

• Light sleep

• Deep sleep

• Pulse

• Heart rate

• Temperature

• Amount of movement

• Number of times woken during the night

3. Testing your cortisol pattern via a saliva or urine test throughout the day which can confirm sleep-wake cycle issues.

Which hormones signal to circadian rhythm and influence its' balance?

An approximately 24-hour circadian clock is present in virtually all cells of the body, and this circadian system tightly regulates physiological functions and endocrine rhythms. This system exists and functions as an independent organism all on its own but it does need your support in a lot of ways or else it will get off track and produce hormones at the wrong time of the day.

Testosterone production peaks in the morning between 7 – 10 am. Production starts to raise slowly throughout the night. You can see why a man’s libido is highest in the morning when the circadian rhythm is in balance. Since testosterone creates energy among other things, it’s a good idea that you get most of your physical work done in the first part of the day.

Cortisol is also made as soon as you open your eyes. Cortisol gives you energy for the day ahead. It peaks a couple of hours after waking up and declines to a pretty low level by 5pm, then drops to an even lower level signaling your body to slow down. Cortisol is your main hormone to check for your circadian rhythm balance.

Thyroid hormones: As soon as you wake up and start moving, your thyroid starts making free T4 (Thyroxine), and sends it circulating through your veins. When you open your eyes, the light signals your brain to start producing TSH, Thyroid stimulating hormone. It does exactly that, it stimulates your thyroid's hormone production of T4 and T3 (Triiodothyronine). Your thyroid carries out many of your body's survival mechanisms, and helps regulate your metabolism, giving you energy for the day.

Evening Hormones

Prolactin is secreted in a circadian and pulsatile pattern with major nocturnal elevations. Sleep onset is rapidly followed by an increase in prolactin secretion, and awakenings coincide with an immediate offset of secretion. Prolactin acts on the reproductive system, influences behavior, and regulates the immune system and metabolic rate. It supports lactation during pregnancy.

Melatonin is activated by the absence of light. Your pineal gland, located in your brain, gets signals from the light you receive through your eyes. It tells your body when to stop and start making melatonin, which helps to regulate your circadian clock. Melatonin has a lot of important functions that it performs while you are asleep. Its acts as a major antioxidant and helps you to detox your brain overnight.

Healthy lifestyle changes help to fix the circadian rhythm.

Is breakfast important?

The answer is yes. When you eat first thing in the morning you give your body all the building blocks to make cortisol, testosterone and your thyroid hormones. You signal to your body to crank up your metabolism. Your body temperature starts rising, and it needs fuel to do so. Skipping breakfast is the first thing that starts interfering with your circadian clock.

Amount of light in the morning, day and night?

Several factors are at play here. Light is transmitted through your eyes into a specific “control center” of your brain.

In the morning you want bright blue light in your environment to signal to your brain that it is time to make all the hormones for the DAY.

At night you want less bright light and preferably red light. Red light mimics candlelight or the light of a campfire. Low blue light signals your body to slow down and start making melatonin, your sleep hormone. Check out my blue light recommendations in my store.

Do you want to exercise late in the day?

As you learn to adjust your circadian clock, you may come to realize exercising late in the day might not be in your best interest. Cortisol gets produced and is needed when you exercise. As you can see above, cortisol is largely produced in the first 6 hours of the day. In the evening you make the least cortisol or testosterone, so exercising late in the day confuses your circadian rhythm.

Why going to bed early matters.

If you want to have a nicely balanced circadian rhythm it is best to mimic the pattern of sunrise and sunset. Wake up when the sun rises to stimulate your brain control center and go to bed shortly after the sun sets when lights naturally reduce. Day light and the darkness of the night have a purpose for human life. The human body lives in balance with nature and all it's signals, frequencies, food, and temperatures.

Why having low blue lights at night matter.

As stated above your melatonin production gets activated when the light in your environment matches that of a sunset. This means dimming lights in the evening roughly 2 hours before you go to bed is very important. If you have work to do on your computer install a software called f.lux. It takes the blue light out of your screen. If you watch a movie wear some blue light blocking glasses. There are even low blue light light bulbs and reading lights. Ideally you want to take a bath or do some gentle stretching in candle light before you go to bed so that your body can start making melatonin for the night.

Why regular meals throughout the day matter.

Having regular meals throughout the day signals your metabolism to activate, digest and produce energy and hormones, and regulate your immune system. If you neglect eating, your body thinks it's nighttime and it starts to shut down. Your body goes into a sleep and energy preservation mode. It starts saving calories and lowers your body temperature which allows infections to move in. Infection gets naturally removed by your body when you have a core temperature of 98.2 – 98.6 throughout the day, your pulse is going a strong 70 beats per minute, and your immune system is active. This cannot happen when you don’t eat and therefore lack the building blocks for your body to carry out anabolic actions.

Resource:

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/circadian-rhythm-disorders#:~:text=You%20may%20have%20symptoms%20such,and%20some%20other%20diagnostic%20tests.