How Circadian Rhythm Impacts Health and Wellbeing

How Circadian Rhythm Impacts Health and Wellbeing

When it comes to having enough energy to get through your day, you probably already know how important sleep is. You may even know that your body’s circadian rhythm is key to good sleep. What you may not be quite so aware of is how circadian rhythm impacts health and wellbeing.

From appetite to immunity, you definitely want to make sure that your body’s circadian rhythms don’t get thrown off for very long. Here are just a few of the roles that your circadian rhythm plays in wellbeing and what can happen if you disrupt your body’s natural rhythms too much.

The effects on energy

The dreaded afternoon energy slump is partly due to your body clock. Your body’s circadian wave starts to dip after midday, which can make you tired and lethargic from early to mid afternoon. If your body clock is disrupted, the afternoon slump and lethargy can be even more pronounced.

The effects on mood 

Sleep disorders can be a symptom of mood disorders. Many people with depression sleep a lot, for example. However, in addition to this, levels of neurotransmitters such as serotonin go up and down according to the light-dark cycle and the number of daylight hours. These normal shifts in levels help maintain the sleep/wake cycle. When your circadian rhythm is off, the levels of these neurotransmitters can also be off, resulted in changes in your mood and level of happiness. 

The effects on appetite

Disrupting your body clock can have big effects on your appetite and by default, your ability to maintain a healthy weight. 

Disrupting your circadian rhythm makes you more likely to overeat and to turn to unhealthy snacks. Your levels of ghrelin increase, which brings cravings for foods made of sugar and refined carbs, in particular. At the same time, levels of leptin can also go down. This is bad news as our bodies rely on leptin to send signals to say that we’re full. The combination means that you’re more likely to overeat foods that put you at higher risk of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and more. If you find yourself constantly fighting the urge to snack on these kind of foods, it could be due to your circadian rhythm. On top of this, your body also finds it harder to burn calories when you’re not getting enough sleep at the right times; which just compounds the problem.

The effects on immunity

Do you get sick a lot? Getting enough quality sleep supports a well-balanced and adaptive immune system. Lack of sleep increases your chances of getting sick and can slow recovery during illness.

The effects on risk on long-term health and quality of life

When your body clock is disrupted, every organ system and physiological process is impacted. For example, heart rate and blood pressure go up. Insufficient sleep is connected to metabolic syndrome, diabetes, pre-diabetes, obesity, cancer, hypertension and heart disease.

The effects on hormones

Your circadian rhythm affects production of key hormones, including melatonin and cortisol. Your body’s melatonin levels naturally rise in preparation for sleep and fall again in the morning. 

Cortisol is another hormone that can be easily disrupted by changes to your body clock. Levels of this stress hormone are raised when you’re awake outside of your natural sleep cycle. This can be a big problem for shift workers. Over time, it can affect immunity, metabolism, blood sugar control, and other functions. 

As you can see, it is very important to stick to your body’s natural circadian rhythm as much as possible. You’ll sleep better and most other aspects of your health and wellbeing will benefit too. Your body clock can be disrupted by internal and external factors but there’s a lot that you can do to keep it on track too.