Page 7 - IAV Digital Magazine #469

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
H o w D a y l i g h t S a v i n g T i me A c t u a l l y A f f e c t s Y o u
By Rachel Nussbaum
Daylight Saving Time brings on a mild panic over which clocks switch automati- cally and which are manual (how much do you know, microwave?). But beyond that low- level stress, it turns out Daylight Saving Time can impact our health in both positive and negative ways.
Falling Back
The extra hour of sleep we get when Daylight Saving Time ends in the fall is a major boon for our chronically sleep-deprived society,
says Wayne Andersen, M.D., co-founder and medical director of Take Shape For Life.
But it's only great if you can actually sleep that extra hour. Those of us with less-than- stellar sleep habits (like taking long late-after- noon naps or scrolling through Instagram in bed) won't reap the
same benefits, says Teofilo L. Lee-Chiong, Jr., M.D., a sleep expert and pro- fessor of medi- cine at the University of Denver. "In fact, many people don’t—or can’t— take advantage of the extra hour due to the body’s circadian clock, and may wake up earlier than usual," Lee- Chiong says.
If you're one of those people, you can blame
the suprachias-
matic nucleus (SCN), which acts as our central clock and regu- lates our body temperature, digestion, hor- mone release, and sleep-wake cycles. The SCN is programmed to work around day- light, so when we try and artificially override it, we're not always suc- cessful.
Falling back also coincides with winter's shorter days, which can lead to an uptick in the number of
people who suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD), Andersen says. "Research has shown that people with SAD feel better
after exposure to bright light and greatly benefit from sunlight in the morning," Lee-Chiong says. "So during the fall and winter months, when we get less exposure to sunlight, it can be helpful for people with SAD to counteract the effects of lost sunlight with
bright artificial light therapy."
Springing Forward
We're big fans of sleep (us and the rest of the world), so we've always struggled to see the benefits of losing an hour in early March. But the added sun- light does have its perks. "If there are more daylight hours, people are more likely to be out and moving around more, so their fitness levels may actually be enhanced," Andersen says.
The switch, how- ever, comes at a cost. Studies have shown that losing an hour of sleep makes peo- ple tired and stressed out, which leads to a 24 percent increase in the number of heart attacks the Monday after Daylight Savings Time starts. And with more tired people, there are more car acci- dents on the road and decreased concentration and productivity at the office—a phenomeon aptly
named "cyber- loafing."
The Takeaway
As with most things, Daylight Saving Time comes with bene- fits and draw- backs. Falling back can mean an extra hour of blissful sleep—if you can actually get the shut-eye. But it also means saying hello to darkness, our old friend, which can cut down our Vitamin D levels and usher in the season of SAD.
Come spring, los- ing an hour is hard on every- one. With one less hour of sleep, your body has less time to deal with stress and all of its implications. But with more day- light hours comes more time for physical activity and its health benefits (again, if you take advan- tage of it).
In general, it's not easy to hit reset on your circadian rhythm—or your microwave (but that's slightly less important).
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine