It's safe to say that our human lifestyle has changed drastically over the last 100 years. In contrast, humans have not. They are still almost exactly the same as hunter-gatherers. Therefore, we can speak of a mismatch: the lifestyle of most people is not in line with our DNA. By this, I especially mean the biological clock.

One of the biggest changes is how much daylight we see during the day. Where a hunter-gatherer spent most of the day outdoors, we now spend most of our time indoors (especially in winter). This has major consequences for us (and not only regarding vitamin D production).

This all has to do with our biorhythm, or the biological clock. Our body has many different rhythms, all controlled by this biological clock. The biorhythm refers to physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow an approximately 24-hour cycle. This includes your sleep-wake rhythm, hormone release, body temperature, and more. So, if your body doesn't know 'what time it is,' it leads to a disruption of the biorhythm. And you can imagine that this causes problems. But how do you optimize your biological clock? We'll get to that now.

Method 1: Seek out the sun to restore your biological clock

Unfortunately, our biological clock cannot tell time. Instead, it needs a signal from Mother Nature to know 'what time it is.' You can probably guess what this signal is. Your biological clock knows 'what time it is' through a stimulus from sunlight.

In our head, there is a small gland called the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN). This is located directly above the optic nerves and uses sunlight to know 'what time it is.' It is beneficial to get light at different times of the day so that your body knows when to do certain things. For example, your body knows to produce cortisol (our stress hormone) when it gets light in the morning and to produce melatonin when the sun sets.

We recommend getting at least 10 minutes of daylight when the sun rises, about 20 minutes of midday light, and finally another 10 minutes of daylight an hour before the sun sets again.

Method 2: Limit exposure to blue light before bed

You now know that light has a great influence on your biological clock. Unfortunately, not all light has a positive effect on your biorhythm. Artificial blue light is one of the biggest disruptors of your biorhythm. This is because this light constantly makes your biological clock think it's 12:00 PM. Artificial blue light includes light coming from your electronic devices, such as your laptop or smartphone.

Blue light from the sun does not disrupt your biorhythm. This is because natural blue light is balanced by the other light frequencies that the sun contains, such as red and infrared light. Artificial blue light is continuously the same, meaning that the light does not change frequency (unlike sunlight) the longer your screen is on.

Therefore, avoid artificial blue light 2 hours before bedtime or wear blue light filtering glasses (these remove most of the blue light and can be purchased at Loptimize).

Method 3: Maintain a regular sleep pattern

Make sure you maintain a regular sleep pattern, going to bed and waking up at the same time every day. By doing this, you ensure that your biological clock knows when it's time to produce certain hormones. This also helps your body know better when to go to sleep and wake up. For your body, it is very illogical to maintain a fixed sleep pattern 5 days a week only to be in bed at 4:00 AM on the weekend.

The key takeaways

You now know everything about the biological clock. Here are the key takeaways:

– Get sunlight at different times.

– Avoid artificial blue light 2 hours before bedtime or wear blue light filtering glasses.

– Go to bed and wake up at the same time.