4 Common Causes of Circadian Rhythm Disruption
1. Drugs and Alcohol Can Disrupt Your Biological Clock
Drugs, both legal and illegal, have a strong impact on the central nervous system. While this can affect all types of circadian rhythms, sleep is one that is most apparent. For example, caffeine is a stimulant that can disrupt and push back your normal sleep cycle. Alcohol can do the opposite. It promotes drowsiness. But, at the same time, it can prevent you from entering a deep and restful sleep.
Drug abuse is especially harmful to circadian rhythms. Even a single case of abuse disrupts sleep cycles in a way that can lead to further abuse and addiction. Drug abuse can also cause long-term disruptions to circadian rhythms that last after you break the addiction.
These disruptions can be caused by all types of drugs, including prescriptions. You should not stop taking your prescription medication, but you should work with your doctor and pharmacist. They will help you determine medication timing and other lifestyle changes to keep you in rhythm and at your healthiest.
2. Artificial Lighting Negatively Affects Your Daily Rhythms
Your eyes might not mind the difference between natural and artificial light. But your circadian rhythms do differentiate between types of light. Depending on the timing and color, artificial light can increase or decrease your natural, daily rhythm.
Shorter wavelength lights, like blue and ultraviolet, are especially harmful to your biological cycle. These wavelengths inhibit the production of melatonin. Remember, melatonin is your sleep-promotion hormone. Lights in your home, on your television, phone, or computer monitor all can negatively impact your melatonin production.
As you get ready for sleep each night, consider turning off your digital screens. Another option, many phones and computers now include a “Night” setting that makes the screen much warmer colored and reduces its blue-light output.
3. Working Nights is Bad for Circadian Rhythms (and Health)
Unfortunately, this is one disruption that you might not have as much control over as you would like.
Working night shifts disrupts your circadian rhythms in a number of ways. You have to work when you should be asleep, sleep when your body wants to be awake, and you’re surrounded by either artificial light or sunlight 24 hours a day.
There are a few things that you can do to create a healthy routine around your nighttime work:
✔️ Stick to a schedule.
✔️ Wake up and go to sleep at the same time each day. Create a dark sleep environment.
✔️ Use blinds, blackout curtains, or get creative to block out the sunlight from coming in your windows.
✔️ Put a towel under the bottom edge of your door. Do whatever it takes to make it feel like night.
✔️ Consider a melatonin supplement. For shift work, supplementing melatonin can help support your body’s natural circadian rhythms.
4. Fight to Stay on Local Time to Combat the Effects of Jet Lag
If you have ever flown across several time zones, you know the feeling of jet lag. It can leave you tired when you want have energy, or stuck awake all night long. Airline pilots, flight crews, and frequent fliers are all too familiar with these feelings. With extreme cases leading to constant tiredness that never actual leads to a good night of sleep.
One of the best ways to fight jet lag is to stick with the local schedule. You might have just gotten off a 10-hour flight ready for sleep, but locally it’s only noon. Do your best to stay awake. Feel free to take this first day easy, but don’t go to sleep until it’s actually night.
Alternately, due to the time zone changes, you might arrive feeling rested. But the locals are heading to bed. This is most likely to happen if you’re travelling east a few time zones. In this case, consider waking up early the day of your flight and avoid sleeping on the plane. This will help shift your waking hours closer to your destination.
In either of the cases above, a melatonin supplement about one hour before you plan to sleep can help shift your circadian rhythms towards the local time zone.* This will help you feel energized and ready for whatever your location has in store.
Stay in Rhythm
As you can see, your circadian rhythms are super important. But they are so overlooked when it comes to achieving optimal health. You’ve seen a they can impact your life, and how your life can impact your circadian rhythms. Do what you can to protect your natural cycles to help keep you as healthy as possible
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