Optimize your biological clock in these 3 ways

Joep Rovers Founder Elvou | November 27, 2023

It is safe to say that our human lifestyle has changed dramatically in the last 100 years. In contrast, man has not. In fact, this one is still almost exactly the same as the hunter-gatherer. Therefore, we can speak of a mismatch: the lifestyle of most people, does not live in accordance with our DNA. By this I mean mainly the biological clock.

One of the biggest changes is how much daylight we see during the day. Where a hunter-gatherer was outside most of the day, we are now mostly inside (especially in winter). This has major consequences for us (and not only in terms of vitamin D production).

This has everything to do with our circadian rhythm, or biological clock. Our body has many different rhythms that are all controlled by this biological clock. Circadian rhythms involve physical, mental and behavioral changes that follow roughly a 24-hour cycle. This includes your sleep-wake rhythm, hormone release, body temperature and more. So when your body doesn't know "what time it is," it leads to circadian disruption. And so you can imagine that this causes problems. But how do you optimize your biological clock? We'll get to that now.

Way 1: seek out the sun to reset your biological clock

Our biological clock, unfortunately, cannot tell time. Instead, it needs a signal from Mother Nature to know "what time it is. You might be able to guess what this signal is. Your biological clock knows "what time it is" through a stimulus from sunlight.

Inside our head is a small gland called the Nucleus Suprachiasmaticus (SCN). This lies right above the optic nerves and uses sunlight to know "what time it is. In doing so, it is beneficial to take in light at different times of the day so that your body knows at what particular times it needs to do certain things. For example, your body knows that it needs to produce cortisol (our stress hormone) when it gets light in the morning and that it needs to produce melatonin when the sun goes down.

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

Way 2: Limit blue light exposure before bedtime

By now you know that light has a major impact on your biological clock. Unfortunately, not all light has a positive impact on your biorhythm. Artificial blue light is one of the biggest disruptors of your biorhythms. This is because this light constantly makes your biological clock think it is 12:00 noon. Artificial blue light includes light coming from your electrical devices, such as your laptop or smartphone, for example.

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

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

Way 3: Establish a regular sleep pattern

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

If you want to know more about sleep you can read this blog.

The key take aways

You, of course, now know all about the biological clock. Here are some more key takeaways:

- Grab 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.