To learn more about how factors like when we eat and how much sunlight we receive affect our ability to feel rested, happy and balanced, Lynne Peeples spent 10 days exploring 50 feet underground.
Peeples, a science journalist and author ofThe Internal Clock: Living in Synchrony with Our Circadian Rhythms,” found a Airbnb in Arkansas That used to be a bunker during the Cold War.
“This guy bought an old nuclear missile silo from the government and upgraded it,” she said on the show.Leah Smart makes every day better” podcast.
In the bunker, “there was no sunlight,” she said. Peeples also got permission from her Airbnb host to cover all the clocks on her digital devices with black tape so she wouldn’t know what time it was.
The lights in the bunker were dim and red. “We know that red is the wavelength of light Minimal impact on our circadian rhythms,” she said.
In her book, Peeples wanted to explore what would happen to her biological clock “if I cut myself off from the cues I need to tell time.”
During her stay, Peoples documented her experiences via audio recordings and plans to use timestamps to see how closely she fits into a typical schedule — such as when she eats breakfast or goes to bed.
“For the first few days, it was a miracle because I could later look at the timestamps on the recordings I made and I was pretty accurate about the 24 hours in a day,” she said. “Our internal clocks do run very accurately.”
But about halfway through the experience, Peoples started feeling “really uncomfortable,” which she likened to severe jet lag.
“The worst part was, I was completely devastated. I was living my life while everyone else on the ground was sleeping. So, I had almost 12 hours of rest,” she said. “I feel the impact of it.”
Once her biological clock gets out of sync with her usual sleep schedule, Peeples starts feeling moody, “feeling hot and cold,” and feeling hungry. She also found that her thinking was fuzzy and clumsy than usual.
“It’s not that I didn’t expect it, but I actually felt it, which is quite profound.”
Getting enough bright light is necessary for your circadian rhythm
According to research, when your circadian rhythms are out of sync, you may experience fatigue, insomnia, headaches, and even depression. cleveland clinic. Peoples’ experimental results add to the evidence that research shows how certain factors, such as exposure to sunlight, can affect your circadian rhythm.
“To maintain this calibration, it takes approximately Get plenty of bright light, especially in the morning,” Peeples said.
“If you can expose your eyes to bright daylight within an hour or two of waking up,” you’re in good shape.
She recommends taking a 15-minute walk in the morning and “as close to the window as possible throughout the day.” night, Dim the lights in your home as bedtime approaches Prepare your body for bedtime.
Aligning your lifestyle with the 24-hour cycle is essential for your body’s functions, including processing food correctly and “priming our immune system” to fight off certain pathogens. This is the best way to make all these body systems better at doing the right thing at the right time. she explain.
Peeples also provides a list of factors that may disrupt your circadian rhythm, affecting more than just the quality and quantity of your sleep:
- dark during the day
- Too much light at night
- Eating at the wrong time of day (snack anytime)
- The time on the clock changes twice a year, when we “turn back” andmove forward“
- Travel across time zones
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