One way to respect your body is to be aware of your natural body cycles. Within your biological system you have a timekeeping computer inside the hypothalamus and consisting of a small cluster of about 20,000 neuron cells. This suprachiasmatic nucleus controls many nerves and hormones to regulate a person's body functions over 24 hours.
While that is the main clock for our bodies, we also have many smaller clocks that run the different organs, tissues and cells. Nearly every cell in the body has a circadian clock, which tells each cell when to use energy, rest, make repairs, or multiply. All these clocks interact.
Circadian clocks are critical for good health. But scientists are finding that a lot of the lifestyle changes within the past 20 years disturb our natural rhythms and cause health conditions. For instance, body clocks are designed to respond to a special wavelength in the visible light spectrum called blue light. During daytime, blue light can boost mood, attention and even reaction times. However, when we view electronic screens at night, the blue light makes our bodies think it's around noon, which can cause sleeping problems.
Here's how some of the system clocks work.
Brain-The brain connects the body's sleep cycle to the day/night cycle. Our brains are most alert around 10 a.m. and sink into the deepest sleep around 2 a.m.
Heart-Our blood pressure experiences its highest rise at the start of the body's day, around 6:45 a.m. Its peak hour is 6:30 p.m.
Adrenal Complex-This releases an increased stress hormone, cortisol, in the early morning as we begin to wake up.
Lungs-Lungs fight diseases best during the daytime hours when we're most active and are more likely to be asthmatic at night.
Liver-Most active when we are, the liver regulates cell growth, produces bile (to digest fat) and removes toxins.
Stomach-When we eat at odd times, such as late at night, it can cause weight gain because the other organs in our body's clock aren't prepared to deal with the food.
Pineal Gland-This regulates secretion of the hormone melatonin at night to help us sleep. It stops around 7:30 a.m.
Pancreas-This clock regulates insulin production, the hormone that regulates blood sugars. If the pancreas clock is out of sync with the master clock, this can cause diabetes.
Body Fat-Even our body fat has a clock and when it is disturbed, it can exacerbate obesity. Body temperature, which is a key marker of circadian rhythm, drops to its lowest around 4:30 a.m. and rises to the highest around 7 p.m.
Skin Cells-Wounds heal twice as fast during the day.
Muscle-Muscle takes the largest amount of glucose from the blood around 5 p.m., maximizing muscle strength.
Being aware of our body clocks and helping our body systems work optimally can help us be healthier. So when you see studies, like those that tell us electronic screen time at night is detrimental to your body clock, take heed. Help your body function to its very best ability!
