How Daily Biorhythms Influence Our Life

• Recent research has discovered that our body responds to our bio rhythm in many ways and that many of our cells actually seem to work on a timer.
• Disturbances to these biorhythms can be dangerous to your health.

You may have heard about daily biorhythms on the Internet or elsewhere, but you may not have realized the important role they play in our lives and in our health. Recent research has discovered that our body responds to our bio rhythm in many ways and that many of our cells actually seem to work on a timer. Understanding this connection can help improve our health and metabolism.

What are Biorhythms?

First, we need to distinguish between two types of biorhythms. On the one hand, you’ll find talks about biorhythms that have no scientific basis. The idea, for example, that your moods or your behavior are governed by some type of cycle has not been supported by any research so there’s no point in getting a free biorhythm calculator to determine your unique cycle.

Instead, we’re talking about the type of biorhythms that are found in all animal species. In humans, these rhythms are sometimes known as circadian rhythms. These rhythms are changes in the body that are based on what has been referred to as a biological clock. For example, people tend to get sleepy at a certain point of the day. People also have a need to eat at certain points of the day. Part of what controls our circadian rhythms is our exposure to light. Researchers have discovered that by removing light cues they can disrupt the rhythms of subjects fairly easily. And, of course, anyone who has traveled internationally knows that jet lag can have a horrible impact on our circadian rhythms.

Besides simply being annoying, disturbances to these biorhythms can be dangerous to your health. Heart disease, depression, and even cancer have been linked to these disruptions in past studies. Now research is also showing that these rhythms do more than determine when we want to go to bed. They control a great deal of our body’s functions, including metabolism.

The Research

In July 2008, researchers at the University of California at Irvine discovered a connection between two proteins: one has been named CLOCK and the other SIRT1. The CLOCK protein is responsible for maintaining the circadian rhythms discussed above. The SIRT1 protein, however, is responsible for controlling the energy used by the cells in the body. What the research has shown is that these rhythms control about 15% of all of our body’s genes.

SIRT1 and CLOCK have formed an epigenome. As an epigenome, they use environmental factors to tell the DNA within the cells how to respond. When our circadian rhythm is being adhered to, the environmental factors and this rhythm are in harmony so the cells respond in a normal fashion. However, if the environmental factors are different, our cells can behave in different ways, too. This could be why changes in sleep patterns can have such drastic impacts on the rest of our health and well-being, including prompting increased hunger, slowed metabolism, and weight gain.

The bottom line is that good health requires sticking close to your circadian rhythms and that includes not eating right before you go to sleep.

The information supplied in this article is not to be considered as medical advice and is for educational purposes only.