Biological Reset - Circadian Rhythm
When our rhythms are coordinated, life flows easily. We have more energy and everyday tasks are easier to perform. When we are ‘in our rhythm,’ we are more socially engaging and life is more satisfying.
We each have a body clock that regulates how we feel and perform. These rhythms, called circadian rhythms, are the signals our body clocks produce, and they affect every aspect of our life. They tell us when to wake up, to be active, to sleep and how energetic to be. It turns out that ‘finding your rhythm,’ is more than psychological. Even how we socialize and how we feel is affected by circadian rhythms.
In fact, these rhythms are so predictable, you can set your clock by them. That’s where the term ‘body clock’ comes from. Our body clocks have evolved to depend on the sun to function properly each day. The problem for most of us though, is that our lifestyle has changed dramatically over the last 50 years.
We no longer get up with the sun, and we stay up hours after dark. This plays havoc with our body clocks: they don’t get the signals they need and so don’t produce the right hormones during the day.
Sleep is an integral part of our lives and is, indeed, essential to proper mental health and function, which is required to be ready and able to concentrate on new and essential information on our environments, as well as consolidate and understand new information. In addition, sleep has an important role in learning and memory.
Sleep patterns also influence body weight and metabolism, making them important in physiological regulation, in addition to the already known involvement that it has in other mental processes.
A circadian rhythm is a roughly-24-hour cycle in the physiological processes of humans, animals and plants. The term “circadian” comes from the Latin circa, “around”, and diem, “day”, meaning literally “about a day.” We now know there are clear patterns of brain wave activity, hormone production, cell regeneration and other biological activities linked to this daily cycle. The circadian “clock” in mammals is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), a distinct group of cells located in the hypothalamus. Destruction of the SCN results in the complete absence of a regular sleep/wake rhythm.
Human Circadian Rhythm
The circadian rhythm is regulated by structures deep in the brain, responsible for not only timing of when we feel sleepy or alert, but also to control of different aspects of sleep. Sleep is broken up into stages, each thought to have different and overlapping roles in consolidation of learning, memory, as well as physiological function and mental application. These stages, which can be broken up into slow wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement sleep (REM) occur at regular intervals and take approximately 3.5-4 hours to cycle through.
On average, an adult requires at least 2 sleep cycles per night (approximately 8 hours) to achieve full, restful sleep. The MOST important, regenerative sleeping hours are from 10pm to 3am nightly.
Consequence of Sleep and Circadian Rhythm Disturbance
As sleep is so integral to daily function, it is no wonder that the disturbance of sleep and the circadian rhythm can cause many difficulties with concentration, general mood, focus, as well as mental and physiological health, in addition to applicable tasks, such as raising a family or keeping a job.
There is a wide range of sleep disorders, involved in different aspects of sleep and wakefulness but, in addition to these issues, sleep disruption may occur and accompany other mental disorders and difficulties, further aggravating an affected individual’s condition. Those who have trouble sleeping are 10 times more likely to have depression, and 17 times more likely to have anxiety than those having full, restful nights of sleep. Additionally, sleep disorders have been linked to fibromyalgia and nerve pain, as well as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity.
Conditions within the Circadian Rhythm
Resetting the Circadian Cycle
For gut repair and biological reset, fasting 16 hours daily (evenings and nights) for 10 days is highly recommended to give the gut the time to recover every day (stop eating by 6pm and no breakfast before 10am the next day).
Clean filtered Hydration water: Consume a minimum of 2 liters of fluid daily to relieve bowel problems. You can drink water and tea throughout the day, broths are great though when fasting starts in the late afternoons. We recommend a plant based, whole food diet, coupled with hydration throughout the day, which is crucial – the body is 70% water, so get the water and electrolytes right and everything else functions better again!
A system burdened with chemicals, including natural supplements, becomes toxic to the body if one is taking too many things at the same time because the system can no longer deal with them all, and then many other things go wrong.
Stress is a killer, as the amounts of adrenalin released into the body (for fight or flight) burdens the system tremendously, even leading to more inflammatory responses and, of course, chemical imbalances. Exercising, including walking for just 10 minutes per day, helps to get rid of some of that.
Eating combinations of healthy vegetables, veggies raw and cooked, colorful and happy food that you normally eat, but exclude beef, pork, non-organic chickens, dairy, sugars, carbs such as pastas, processed foods and shop breads – also avoid meats or animal proteins after 2pm.
From 4pm, broths, vegetable juice, water and teas for the rest of the day and evening to rest the gut from processing food, which utilizes a great deal of energy.
Do not eat after dark, nor watch any TV, phone, or other electrical screen activities within the last hour of wakefulness prior to bedtime.
All meals should be eaten by 3pm or 4 pm, whilst drinking fluids in small, consistent quantities in between, of course. Hydrating broths, which contain minerals, nutrients and electrolytes are great to have in the evenings.
By granting your body time to “fast,” you enable it to shift into healing, rather than digesting. By allowing the night and resting time to be the healing time, every day, the most effective recovery and rejuvenation is possible.
In short then: Clean, Nourish, Replenish, Rest – all of these will result in a better state of mind and spirit. This directly involves ensuring that the health of the gut also improves. The gut is a greatly underestimated cause of many neurological challenges, including mood, depression, seizures, and motivation troubles as the healthy gut flora is responsible for producing many neurochemical hormones, such as serotonin and melatonin. And since the gut directly connects to the nervous system (more neurons than in the spinal cord). Medications and toxic foods can wreak havoc on how the gut transfers nutrients to the rest of the body, this will affect mood, brain function plus many other things.
There are many things in our lives affecting our physical, emotional and psychological health. We remind you of our 5 Track Plan in reviewing a few fundamental habits to improve overall wholeness and wellness.