Your body has a rhythm, find it, and you’ll find health.

If you’ve been following along with me for a while, you’ll already know that I love circadian biology. It’s often overlooked when we talk about health and diet, even though I think WHEN we eat, move, is almost more important than WHAT we eat. I want to take it a step further so you too, can optimize your innate, internal clock. Every aspect of health, every function in your body follows a rhythm. Our modern day lives have hoisted us outside of our natural rhythm causing a whole host of issues from obesity, to cardiovascular disease, to sleep disturbance, to digestive issues, to disease and cancers.

Circadian rhythms are 24-hour cycles that are part of the body's internal clock. They are attuned with the rising and setting of the sun. Every cell, every organ, every bodily function and process are synced to a circadian rhythm. And all of it happens just because the sun comes up, how cool that is!? Pretty magnificent to be part of such an important cycle.

In a perfect world, where your body is beautifully attuned to its natural rhythm, this is what it the day would look like; what good health means for your circadian clock.

Morning.

Before you even open your eyes, the internal clocks in your body are preparing for the day. Before the sun rises your body can detect a change in light through the millions of light receptors you have on your skin and eyes. This change in light halts the production of melatonin (your sleep hormone), while serotonin (your feel-good neurotransmitter) and cortisol comes out to play, helping you feel awake, alert, and ready to tackle the day.

You roll out of bed feeling energized and well-rested from a good night’s sleep. You have a bowel movement some point in the morning as your body gets rid of the toxins it collected over night. Most people think their coffee makes them poop, but it’s actually your digestive system waking up from being relatively dormant overnight.

Hunger will kick in shortly after too. Your body is preparing itself for an influx of fuel for the day, hence your Break-Fast meal. Your pancreas is waiting on idol to produce insulin in anticipation of that delicious meal. This is why I ask people to make their first meal of the day, their biggest meal of the day. Your body is fully equipped for it, insulin is working most efficiently, and that fuel will be swooped up into the cells, and recycled into energy to support your endeavors for the day. It’s a good circadian aligned time to get after a full meal of nourishing, supportive, human food.

Afternoon.

Now you move on with the rest of your day because after a restful sleep and a nourishing meal, our bodies, and our brain are ready to tackle the daunting, strenuous, and brain-power using tasks in the first part of the day.

As the day goes on, muscle tone peaks, this is a great a time to get your workout in, sometime in mid/later afternoon if your schedule allows. Your muscles will be ready to be worked, and ready to start repairing as the day winds down and you get ready for your next restorative sleep.

Evening.

You’ve had a productive, energized day. You feel good, and now, the evening is upon you. The day winds down, the sun begins to set, and the quality of light is changing again from the blue light of the day, to the amber and oranges of the evening.

Your body temperature starts to lower in anticipation of sleep and around 8pm your melatonin ramps up its production to make us feel sleepy so we can drift away in a slumber at bedtime. You create a peaceful, relaxing environment, you dim lights, set a screen curfew, and avoid doing any strenuous activities (no more working, no more exercise) at this time.

When it comes time to lay your head down, you fall asleep fairly quickly, fairly effortlessly. Some people like to think our brains shut off when we sleep, but it’s actually a very busy time! It’s busy configuring, sorting, and transmitting all the knowledge and memories from the day. It works on creating new connections and new brain patterns. Other hormonal cascades also happen when we sleep, like a surge of HGH (Human Growth Hormone) which aids in recovery, fat loss, and repair. The brain also detoxifies while you snooze away, a process called neurogenesis; basically your brain is doing a little clean up, taking out the trash from the day.

ALL this happened just because the sun came up and went back down, crazy right?! After you get some glorious sleep, you wake up feeling rejuvenated, you do it again; the cycle continues.

As you can see, it’s pretty important to have strong circadian rhythms. Although this explanation was very general and you might have to tweak somethings in order to make the pieces fit in your life, it’s a good indicator of what true health means when you are in tune with your natural, primitive, rhythmic clock.

This harmonious life and boy are only a few simple changes in the away. Changes in the way you sleep, eat, move, and expose yourself to light is all it takes.