Activities Related to Circadian Rhythm

Our biological clock don't work with gears and indicators but with biochemical substances that take care to keep us synchronized and our organization in homeostasis. Living organisms, from animals to plants and micro-organisms, adapted their biological functions to a 24-hour day / night cycle, i.e. that of the Earth's rotation around its axis. This rhythm is called the circadian rhythm, from the Latin phrase "circa diem" meaning "nearly a day".

Many biochemical pathways and external stimuli are involved in its regulation, with changes in brain activity, hormone production and cell regeneration. Nearly 1/3 of our genes are affected by the circadian rhythm. Consequently, we can understand that its deregulation can affect our many functions and lead to sleep disorders, cancer, hormonal disorders, infections, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, depression.

Some Activities Related to Circadian Rhythm :

SLEEP
Light is a basic external stimulus that keeps the clock of the hypothalamic brain adjusted. Our watch sets the times we have to be awake and the hours we have to sleep during the day. Adults can sleep deeply in the intervals between 02: 00-04: 00 am and 01: 00-03: 00 pm In adolescence, most young people experience a phase shift of sleep. This change makes them feel awake late at night and can not sleep before 11:00 in the evening.

FOOD
Food is a basic stimulus for synchronizing the circadian rhythm of the peripheral tissues of the body. When we get used to eating at a specific time of day, the organization is developing a status quo for that time, a series of processes are activated for better a food digestion and a more effective use of nutrients. On the other hand, lack of food at eating hours has profound implications in our behavior and physiological functions.

METABOLISM
As food controls and controlled by the circadian rhythm, the metabolism as well is directly related to it, since it has to plan energy production according to physical activities, that we have to cover during the day. Thus, it regulates lipid metabolism in the liver, oxidation of fatty acids in the muscles, insulin secretion in the pancreas and other important functions.

IMMUNE RESPONSE
Even our immune response to pathogens is more effective at the vigilance's hours, probably because our body seems to realize that the risk of infection increases when we are active.

AGING
As we grow older, our circadian rhythms break, as the levels of produced hormones change, the body temperature and our alertness decreases. This is why the elderly have difficulty sleeping in the evening and wake up early in the morning.

TRAVELING
When traveling in areas with different time zones than what we are used weoften get Jet lag. If we travel from Greece to America we will lose a few hours, but our body will not know this. So we will feel exhausted and disoriented. After some time our organic clock will adjust again, but it may take a few days.

Info source: bioximikos
photos: google