It's safe to say that our human lifestyle has changed dramatically over the past 100 years. Humans, on the other hand, haven't. They're still almost exactly the same as hunter-gatherers. Therefore, we can speak of a mismatch: the lifestyle of most people doesn't align with our DNA. By that, I'm referring primarily to our biological clock.

One of the biggest changes is how much daylight we see during the day. While hunter-gatherers spent most of their time outdoors, we now spend most of our time indoors (especially in winter). This has significant consequences for us (and not just for vitamin D production).

This all has to do with our biorhythm, or biological clock. Our body has many different rhythms, all controlled by this biological clock. Biorhythms encompass physical, mental, and behavioral changes that roughly follow a 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 reset your biological clock

Unfortunately, our biological clock can't tell the 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 heads, there's a gland called the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN). It's located directly above the optic nerves and uses sunlight to tell time. It's beneficial to experience light at different times of the day, so 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 melatonin when the sun goes down.

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

Method 2: Limit exposure to blue light before bed

You already know that light has a major impact 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 it constantly tricks your biological clock into thinking it's noon. Artificial blue light includes light emitted by your electrical devices, such as your laptop or smartphone.

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

So avoid artificial blue light 2 hours before going to bed or wear blue light filter glasses (these remove most of the blue light and can be purchased from Loptimize ).

Method 3: Maintain a regular sleep pattern

Maintain a regular sleep pattern, going to bed and waking up at the same time every day. This helps your body recognize when it's time to produce certain hormones. This also helps your body better understand when to go to sleep and wake up. It's completely illogical for your body to maintain a fixed sleep pattern five days a week and then be in bed at 4:00 AM on the weekend.

The key takeaways

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

– Get sunlight at different times.

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

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