Well, it's a natural physiological cycle of about 24 hours that persists even in the absence of external cues. In other words, your natural sleep/wake cycle that we lived by for thousands of years before our world of bright light at the touch of a switch. Whenever light stimulates your skin or eyes, regardless of the source, your brain and hormonal system think it's morning. Your hormonal system naturally releases an activating hormone cortisol. This activates the body and prepares it for movement, work combat or whatever may be necessary for survival. As the day progresses, the levels of cortisol decrease and the body increases it's growth and repair hormone or melatonin.
Natural Sleep/Wake Cycle
As the sun rises, our cortisol levels rise and peak between 6:00am and 9:00am. They drop a little but remain high through midday. From 12:00pm on, cortisol levels begin dropping significantly, especially as the sun goes down. We start to wind down as the sun sets and should fall asleep by about 10:00pm. Physical repairs mostly take place when the body is asleep, between about 10:00pm and 2:00am. After 2:00am, the immune and repair energies are more focused on psychogenic (mental) repair, which lasts until we awaken about 6:00am.
Effects Of The Disruption Of Your Sleep/Wake Cycle
Disrupted cycles prevent the normal release of melatonin, growth hormones, and important immune factors, cutting into your immune system's valuable repair time. People who work graveyard shifts commonly have a laundry list of nagging musculoskeletal injuries, and increased incidence of headaches, a sagging personality and even neurological disorders. Excessive production of cortisol leads to adrenal fatigue which presents itself in any number of ways including chronic fatigue syndrome, viral infections, bacterial and fungal infections and headaches.
Watch Out For
Stimulants - Reaching for caffeine, sugar and tobacco when you get tired in late afternoon excites your sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response) triggering the release of cortisol. Extending this release throughout the day cuts into your psychogenic repair time. Caffeine, for example, has a half-life of 6hrs so if you have caffeine at 4:00pm, you will still have 1/2 the mg of it in your blood stream at 10:00pm.
Electromagnetic Pollution - Low frequency electromagnetic energies like power lines, electrical circuits in your walls, electrical appliances and TV's can disrupt your natural sleep/wake cycles.
Entrainment - You can be synchronized to a dysfunctional schedule in as little as 7-21 days. If you stay up past midnight long enough and your internal body clock will become trained to wait until midnight to start reducing cortisol output and increasing melatonin production.
What You Need To Do
Go to sleep by 10:30pm !! Minimize your exposure to bright lights for at least 2 hours before going to bed. Sleep in a room that is completely dark. Avoid stimulants after lunch. Eat right for your metabolic type especially at dinner. Drink plenty of water since the body is stressed once dehydrated and will produce stress hormones. Getting some type of exercise during the day will generally help you sleep better at night. Unplug all electrical appliances in your bedroom including TV's, clocks and lights. Also avoid using an electric blanket (read 'Sleep, Biological Rhythms and Electromagnetic Fields' by Chris Maund in the articles section of the website: http://www.chekinstitute.com/.
Nighty Night!!
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