Your Circadian Rhythm is your 24hr clock that regulates all your biological functions.

If your Circadian Rhythm is not in sync your sleep, digestion, and energy will suffer.

Here's how you can optimize for your natural rhythm.

Your Circadian Rhythm (CR) is your body’s 24-hour rhythm controlled by an internal clock.

Circa - approximately. Die - day. Circadian.

Your CR responds to light changes in your environment and communicates these changes internally to regulate biological functions.

the CR functions by the secretion of hormones Cortisol and Melatonin which are regulated by the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN) in the hypothalamus in the brain. The biological clock.

The SCN receives input from light-sensitive proteins called Melanopsin in neurons in your retina.

The SCN sends signals to the rest of the cells in the body via the hormones Cortisol and Melatonin to either wake the body up or bring the body into a resting state.

Thus, harmonizing all cells, organs, and systems in the body.

Cortisol production peaks the first hour upon waking and decreases throughout the day.

The rise in cortisol prepares the body to wake after fasting overnight and prepare for alertness, physical activity, and feeding.

Melatonin, the sleep hormone, is produced by the pineal gland and is triggered by the SCN when our environment becomes dark.

This hormone communicates to the body and its systems the message from the SCN about the changes in light environment, prompting our bodies to rest.

By this process the CR is responsible for synchronizing the functions of the body, helping biological systems to work in a coherent manner.

This elegantly designed internal clock allows us to maintain homeostasis through synchronizing with Earth’s light/dark cycles.

Why does this matter?

Our natural rhythms are responsible for optimal biological function.

Various health risks have been linked to irregular rhythms:

- Cancer
- Diabetes
- Sleep disorders
- Metabolic dysfunction
- Cardiovascular dysfunction
- Mood disorders

Going against your body’s natural CR, not having established routines that support your biology, can have systemic effects.

This disrupts:

- Sleep
- Energy
- Digestion
- Metabolism
- Cognitive function

Leading to suboptimal biological performance and well-being.

If your CR is in constant disruption and functioning sub-optimally, your body and its systems will function sub-optimally, resulting in poor health.

And when you’re in poor health you limit your energetic capacity and ability to enjoy life.

Don’t work against your body.

Starting to optimize your CR and health is relatively easy.

The major causes of Circadian Disruption are changes in cycles of:

- Sleep & Wake
- Light & Dark
- Feeding & Fasting

We’ll dive into each of these now.

Sleep & Wake Cycles

Humans are diurnal animals. Meaning we’re active during the day and we sleep at night.

Our CR resets every day and is adjusted by our first exposure to light on our rising.

We must optimize our sleep and wake schedules to support our natural rhythms.

Sleep and wake schedule is highly individual, dependent on your chronotype.

Your chronotype is your natural tendency to be a morning lark or a night owl.

You should know when you are most energetic.

To support your CR it is essential to maintain consistent sleep and wake times.

I go to bed at 10PM every night and wake up at 6AM every morning.

This allows me to get 8 hours, and rise in the morning with the sun to get optimal light exposure.

Prioritize sleep.

Light & Dark

Light intake is one of the most important factors in optimizing our sleep and CR.

Get plenty of bright, natural light upon waking, this resets your CR syncing your internal clock with the daily cycle of light/dark

This is called Circadian photoentrainment.

When it gets dark, the SCN signals melatonin production, preparing the body to shut down, fast, rest, and heal.

Exposure to blue light inhibits the production of melatonin, disrupting your CR.

This is why viewing screens and artificial blue light, at night, is an issue.

If you optimize your light environment (especially at night) you can start to optimize sleep, CR, and health:

- View sunset
- Turn screens off
- Wear blue light blockers
- Use F.LUX app for computer
- Use blackout curtains in bedroom

Practice good light hygiene.

@Grimhood has an incredibly detailed thread on artificial blue light and bodily function if you're looking for further knowledge. https://twitter.com/Grimhood/status/1486775201232678916?s=20&t=tbgtJDMeA6lJhl5mR5So_g

Check out this post of @solbrah with tips for optimizing sleep and managing light exposure https://twitter.com/SolBrah/status/1410799880872755200?s=20&t=tbgtJDMeA6lJhl5mR5So_g

The quality of the light you are exposed to matters as well, you need natural sunlight, not the artificial blue light in a windowless office building.

This is unnatural.

We will go into different kinds of light and light quality in a future thread.

Feeding & Fasting Cycles

When we sleep we fast. Our bodies burn stored fat for energy.

When we’re awake and alert, we feed. Consuming and storing energy to be used and burned during sleep.

These two processes of burning and storing cannot take place at the same time.

As your environment changes from light to dark your body slows its processes and prepares to enter a resting state.

If you eat right before your body shifts from storing to burning, you process these calories less efficiently and cause disruption to your CR.

With the advent of artificial light, we’ve become disconnected from our natural feeding rhythms, eating whenever we want to rather than when the sun is out.

Thus, disrupting our CR, digestion, metabolism, and biology as a whole.

Circadian Rhythm Fasting

Is the method of timing eating with your body’s internal clock, ideally from sunrise to sunset.

This is the window when internal organs are most efficient at processing.

When we eat outside this window, tax our bodies and disrupt our natural rhythms.

Your stomach, liver, pancreas, and other organs work best when eating aligns with your CR.

By following a schedule or pattern of eating you allow your body to be more efficient with digestion, nutrient absorption, and overall metabolism.

To recap:

- Circadian Rhythm regulates body and cell function
- Many factors negatively impact the CR
- Disrupted biological rhythms have potential for adverse health effects
- You control the synchronization of your natural rhythms through lifestyle choices

Are you seeing the big picture?

We are biological organisms and all biological organisms rely on a 24-hour rhythm to function properly and optimally.

By getting in touch with our nature we can align our bodies with their optimal biological performance.

Through simple lifestyle changes, you can align your schedules with your natural Circadian Rhythms and enjoy the benefits of health and being in flow with your natural rhythms.

Or you can work against your biology.

The choice is yours.

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