What are Zeitgebers and why are they so important to health?

With a crazy March, we missed Sleep Awareness week!

But given it’s something we do every day, it’s never too late to talk sleep.

Not only did Covid19 take the spotlight of Sleep Awareness Week last month, it has also put a major dent in the routine of many. Routines involving work, socialising, exercising and yes, sleeping.

You may, or may not, be surprised to learn that these form most of the pillars of health.

With potentially less time demands, extra distractions, not to mention the extra stress about the current situation and having to negotiate new boundaries at home, sleep quality is at risk.

The Importance of Quality Sleep

Quality sleep is so important that The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has actually declared insufficient sleep a “public health problem.” 

Sleep is the period our bodies have dedicated for restoration and healing. Quality sleep is not only believed to be protective for physical health, but it is also related to improved problem solving skills as well as empathy! Not to mention making sure you wake up on the right side of the bed.

Poor sleep is associated with numerous health conditions including higher risks of heart disease, obesity and cancer.

Obviously, sleep deficiency is a major cause of acute physical and cognitive fatigue, which explains why it has been implicated in many workplace and motor vehicle accidents.

Ok, enough preaching. Sleep is important.

Some Biology 🤓

Sleep is regulated by two things, the natural balance of needing sleep after being awake, and our Circadian Rhythm.

Our Circadian Rhythm is the body’s natural 24 hour-ish cycle of, everything. It drives our unconscious processes such as ther sleep-wake cycle, timings of hormone release, eating behaviours, digestion and body temperature, just to mention a few.

There are numerous biological clocks throughout our body, and a “master clock” in our brain. These clocks have their own time keeping techniques, independent of environmental cues. However, they also respond to such cues and are especially sensitive to light. Other than light, there are other Zeitgebers that affect our clocks as social and behavioural influences.

Zeitgeber An environmental time cue which acts to synchronise the circadian rhythm.
(Also a German word translating to “time-giver.”)        

Routine Disruption and Solution

With the recent changes to our daily routine most of us have undergone recently, our usual Zeitgebers are a bit all over the place.

We’ll publish our Supercharge Your Sleep article soon, but meanwhile, assuming your sleep was decent prior to any routine changes, try to get back to your old routine.

What has changed? No commute?
We’re still allowed to go outside to exercise, so exercise on a pretend commute.

Less exercise?
Schedule a home or outdoor workout at the time you did a few weeks ago.

Less sunshine?
Set an alarm to get the sun when you used to, although any time will help here.

Less social time?
Book a video coffee/lunch date or after work drinks meet up.

More screen time?
Blue light from TV, computer and mobile screens (as well as LED and Fluorescent light bulbs) suppresses the release of melatonin, our sleep hormone. With social activities as well as procrastination activities on screens our exposure to blue light may have increased since the social isolation lockdowns.

Find some activities outside of screens and look into purchasing some blue light blocking glasses.

If you want some more tips, check out our quiz: 

~ Biara Webster
B(Exercise Sci & Nutrition). M(Clinical Ex Phys, Rehab)