Everything You Need to Know About The Body’s Internal Clock
To ensure your best sleep possible, it is important to sleep and wake according to your body’s rhythm.
What is your best sleep possible? Our resident sleep expert Dr. Christopher Drake recommends sleeping and waking according to your body’s clock. This means falling asleep around 10:oo or 11:00 at night and rising around 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning. Not only is this in sync with your circadian rhythm, but also it ensures the recommended 7-8 hours of sleep.
Located in the Hypothalamus part of the brain, your body’s circadian rhythm is a cycle of biological processes that include among other things, body temperature, hormonal function and gastric activity.
“Your body’s clock is a little longer than 24 hours,” said our sleep expert Dr. Christopher Drake. You can keep it on track with light in the morning and lack of light in the evening. Too much nighttime light can disturb Melatonin secretion, the chemical the body releases to make you sleepy.
While you can not significantly change your sleep and wake schedule, it is a cycle that can be influenced by outside factors, such as jet lag, stress, hormones, pregnancy or overnight shift work. If such disruptions become chronic, they can eventually impair your memory, reduce your ability to concentrate, and possibly affect your overall health.
If you find yourself out of sync, your goal should be to establish sleep-wake patterns that will “reset” your body’s biological clock. For example, if you work nights, you will need to trick your body into thinking it is nighttime when you go to bed. Heavy curtains, a sleep mask and settling down to sleep at regular times each day will help. If the problem becomes ongoing, you may want to seek help from a sleep specialist.
The Henry Ford Health System offers sleep tips for shift workers and the Center for Circadian Medicine offers advice on how to gauge your body clock.
