Lack of sleep leads to insanity. What is the danger of lack of sleep and what should you do if you don’t get enough sleep? Leads to accidents

Can lack of sleep cause excess weight? Recent studies have shown a direct connection between the two. Failure of hormones, increased hunger, cravings for high-calorie foods to recharge and relieve stress, lack of energy for training - and excess weight as a result.

If lack of sleep with all the consequences happens rarely, there are no problems. But many people don't get enough sleep every day. We often sacrifice sleep, although it is fundamentally important for both our figure and our health. Sleep is a process of active restoration of the body, and more about this.

AND Studies have shown that people who sleep less than 6 hours a night gain almost twice as much weight over 6 years as those who sleep 7-8 hours (,,). Its deficiency is associated not only with excess weight, but also with heart disease, type 2 diabetes, depression (, , ,).

Lack of sleep and hormones

Lack of sleep affects the hormones that control hunger and satiety (, ,). Among them are ghrelin and leptin.

Ghrelin- “hunger hormone”, it signals the brain that it is time to eat. When you are sleep deprived, your body produces more ghrelin.

Leptin signals to the brain that you are full. When a person is chronically sleep-deprived, leptin levels drop, which signals the brain to increase hunger for more energy. It's no wonder that lack of sleep leads to overeating and extra pounds.

Also, lack of sleep increases the level of cortisol, which is responsible for the accumulation of visceral fat (in the abdominal area) and muscle breakdown.

Insulin sensitivity worsens (,). In the study, healthy young adults slept up to 4 hours a night for six nights in a row, and this caused symptoms of type 2 prediabetes (). Symptoms disappeared after a week of increased sleep.

(c) examine.com

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that sleep-deprived people eat, on average, 1,000 calories more (). Their number of late-night snacks increases, and they all become high-calorie. Lack of sleep led to increased appetite and cravings for fatty foods. MRI shows that fats from food reduce stress in the brain and stimulate the areas responsible for motivation, seeking, cravings and reward anticipation.

Thus, sleep deprivation leads to increased energy consumption, often at night, causing cravings for high-calorie foods and causing people to eat more calories from fat. This not only stimulates the reward centers in the brain, but also reduces impulse control and the ability to say “no” to junk food.

Even without taking into account hormones and changes in brain function, people who sleep less eat more simply by eating more meals. The less we sleep, the more time we have to eat. If you sleep 6 hours instead of 9, those extra hours of wakefulness will likely involve snacking that wouldn't happen if you were sleeping. At the level of general logic, this is obvious, but has now been proven in research.

Lack of sleep and activity level

In addition, energy consumption during the day decreases: a person who does not get enough sleep is more tired during the day, sleepy, he does not have the energy to exercise and he often skips them. And if he comes to the gym, he works out sluggishly and gets tired quickly. In the evening he cannot fall asleep until he eats something carbohydrate, and then he wakes up several times during the night to eat again. In the morning he wakes up exhausted and sleep deprived, and it turns out to be a vicious circle.

All mechanisms of excess weight gain due to lack of sleep:

- this is not luxury, but only a way to restore strength after a hard day at work.

Everyone is trying to squeeze as much material benefit out of time as possible. Theoretically we know that need more sleep But the constant busyness of some people does not allow them to relax. And there are more and more such people.

This can be blamed on the capitalist system, the desire for certain heights in life, or the basic desire to solve one’s financial problems. But we'll talk about how terrible there may be consequences from deliberate deprivation.

Change your appearance

Sounds terrible, doesn't it? However, scientists from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm have confirmed through research that lack of sleep negatively affects appearance. This may include pale skin, drooping corners of the mouth, swollen eyelids and other signs of deterioration in appearance.

The study involved ten people who were awake during 31 hours. Their photographs were then carefully examined by 40 observers. The conclusion was unanimous: all participants looked unhealthy, unhappy and tired after such a long period of insomnia.

Drunk

You won't be literally drunk if you don't get enough sleep. It was found that 17 o'clock continuous wakefulness correspond to the behavioral model of a person whose blood contains 0,05% alcohol.

Simply put, drowsiness can be similar to being drunk and can lead to decreased concentration, poor thinking, and slower reactions.

Loss of creativity

Let's say you planned to create a grandiose Internet project like Facebook or VKontakte, but at the same time you are chronically lacking sleep. Scientists say that in this case you have little chance.

The basis was research conducted on military personnel. They didn't sleep two days, after which people have significantly The ability to think creatively and come up with something new has decreased. The study was published by the British Journal of Psychology in 1987.

Increased blood pressure

There is growing evidence that sleep deprivation leads to significant increased blood pressure, and, consequently, to a deterioration in well-being.

Moreover, in hypertensive patients, non-compliance with sleep norms can provoke a sharp rise in blood pressure.

Decreased intellectual abilities

Not only do they decrease due to lack of sleep intellectual abilities, In addition, memory deterioration is also observed, which can negatively affect the quality of life in general and professional activity in particular.

Increased risk of disease

During sleep, the immune system produces cytokine proteins, which then “fight” with various types of viruses. The number of cytokine proteins increases when your body needs protection from bacteria.

By depriving ourselves of sleep, we become more prone to illness and viral attacks, because the level of cytokines falls.

Premature aging

You can spend a lot of money on magical beauty products and treatments to stop the body's aging process, but this will not help if you are deprived normal sleep.

The stress a person experiences due to lack of sleep increases the production of a hormone called cortisol

This hormone increases sebum secretion and promotes skin aging. This is why sleep plays a key role in the process skin regeneration. While you sleep, cortisol levels return to normal and give cells time to regenerate.

According to the results of a study in which women from 30 to 49 years old who did not have enough sleep took part, skin tissue age twice as fast wrinkles and other pathologies appear.

Excess weight

A person who does not have adequate sleep tends to be overweight which is confirmed by numerous studies. These tests showed that people who sleep less than four hours a day, are likely to suffer from obesity 73%.

And hormones are to blame again. Hunger in our brain is controlled by ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin sends a signal to the brain when the body requires reinforcement. A leptin, on the contrary, when produced in fatty tissues, it reduces appetite and causes a feeling of satiety.

When you are tired, the level of ghrelin in the blood increases, and the level of leptin decreases.

Freezing

Sleep deprivation slows down metabolism(metabolism), which in turn reduces body temperature. As a result, the person quickly freezes.

Mental disorders

According to statistics, patients with sleep disorders in four times greater risk of developing a wide range of mental disorders than people who have normal rest.

How many hours do you sleep on average? There are studies showing that just a week of sleep less than 6 hours a day leads to irreversible changes in 700 genes. This is alarming news considering that more and more people are spending barely more than 6 hours in bed. Even one night of poor sleep will affect your health and overall condition. How? But look.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU CAN'T SLEEP

Katya Young, functionalist doctor, endocrinologist, blog author explains @wow.so.young.

Avoid carbs for dinner– it doesn’t matter whether simple or complex. After them, there is a chance that at 2-3 o’clock in the morning your blood sugar will drop, cortisol will be released in response, and an instant awakening will occur. Then you won’t be able to fall asleep until 5 am.
Costs cut carbs throughout the day and definitely don’t eat them before bed.
Protein, which contains a lot of the amino acid leucine, stimulates the production of mTor, which also invigorates. Therefore often can’t sleep after eating options like eggs or chicken.
Ideally (after a proper breakfast and lunch) eat vegetables with butter for dinner. For example, grilled vegetables with pesto sauce or nicoise salad. Fish can also increase mTor, everything is individual, you need to see how the body reacts.
Not to accept B vitamins for the night.
Take magnesium– citrate or glycinate. Many people drink it in the morning, but it can be divided into two doses - 200 mg in the morning and 200 mg in the evening.
Magnesium is good to use not only in tablet form, but also in sprays. You buy magnesium salt, dilute it with water and splash it like thermal water.
Plus a bath with magnesium flakes - lie down for 15-20 minutes before going to bed or take a foot bath.
If possible, conditions should be created so that produced its own melatonin. To do this, the bedroom must be pitch dark, you need to go to bed before 23 dark, and do not use gadgets 1-2 hours before bedtime.
Lifehack. To help produce your own melatonin, you need to take 5 htp tryptophan at 17.00 and eat it with one dried fruit or several nuts. At this point, tryptophan goes directly to the brain to be converted into melatonin in the evening.
If the dark conditions cannot be met, then half an hour before bedtime - melatonin tablet(it works well in small doses, 1 mg is the maximum) or sublingual spray.

AFTER ONE NIGHT WITHOUT SLEEP YOU...

feel hungrier than usual and are prone to overeating. Research has linked lack of sleep to the desire to eat larger portions and high-calorie carbohydrate foods. Lack of sleep also makes you choose unhealthy foods at the store.

you are more likely to get into an accident.Sleeping six hours or less triples the risk of drowsiness while driving, according to the National Sleep Foundation's data. Also, just one night of poor sleep can affect drivers' ability to hand-eye coordination, according to research from Manchester Metropolitan University (UK). In general, lack of sleep can make you more clumsy, whether you're driving or not.

you don't look your best.Sleeping Beauty is not fiction. A small study published in the journal SLEEP found that sleep-deprived people were rated as unattractive and sad. Another study conducted at the Royal Institute of Medicine (Stockholm, Sweden) found that tired people were rated as less attractive. And over time, the problem only gets worse: scientists associate chronic lack of sleep with accelerated skin aging.

susceptible to colds.Good rest is one of the building blocks of our immune system. Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, USA) found that sleeping less than seven hours triples the risk of catching a cold. There is an explanation for this: during sleep, our immune system releases proteins called cytokines. When we have infection, inflammation or stress, we need more cytokines. A shorter period of sleep leads to a decrease in the production of these proteins. Lack of rest also affects the number of antibodies and cells capable of fighting infection.

you lose brain tissue.The small study was published in the journal SLEEP. According to the results, just one night of lack of sleep leads to the loss of brain tissue: what was discovered after measuring the level of brain molecules in the blood of 15 people. The number of these molecules usually increases after brain injury.

has difficulty with emotions.A 2007 study from the University of California and Harvard Medical School used MRI to show the brain's emotional centers were more than 60% inactive after sleep deprivation. “Without sleep, the brain reverts to more primitive patterns of behavior that don't require emotional context,” explains Matthew Walker, director of the Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. “Emotionally you are out of the game.”

less focused and have difficulty with memory.An exhausted brain cannot concentrate on anything and becomes more forgetful. It's no wonder you keep rescheduling your alarm after not getting enough rest. According to researchers from Harvard, sleep directly affects the ability to concentrate and absorb information.

AFTER A LONG LACK OF SLEEP...

the risk of stroke increases fourfold.A study presented at SLEEP 2012 found that sleeping less than five to six hours a day increases the risk of stroke, especially among middle-aged and older adults. “People who slept less than six hours had a fourfold risk of stroke compared with people of the same weight who slept seven to eight hours,” says researcher Megan Ruiter from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, US.

the risk of obesity increases.It's not just a one-time lack of sleep that causes you to consume more calories. Many studies have found a link between chronic sleep deprivation and an increased risk of obesity over time. For example, a 2012 study from Penn State found that sleeping less than six hours a night affected levels of the hormones ghrelin and leptin. Another 2012 study published in the American Journal of Human Biology found that low sleep was associated with changes in appetite regulation that led to overeating. And another study from the University of Pennsylvania found that those deprived of adequate sleep for five nights in a row gained about two pounds, possibly due to late-night snacking.

the risk of certain types of cancer increases.A study of 1,240 colonoscopy patients found that getting less than 6 hours of sleep increased the risk of developing colorectal adenomas, which can eventually become cancerous, by 50%. Another 2012 study found a possible link between sleep and aggressive breast cancer. Scientists also suggested a correlation between apnea and an increased risk of cancer of any kind.

the risk of diabetes increases.A 2013 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that too little (and too much!) sleep is associated with a variety of chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes. Studies that have identified a link between lack of sleep and hormonal changes that lead to obesity have found that insufficient sleep time is associated with decreased insulin sensitivity, a risk factor for diabetes.

the risk of heart disease increases.Chronic lack of sleep has been linked to high blood pressure, atherosclerosis (clogging of the arteries with cholesterol), heart failure and heart attacks, reports Harvard Health Publications. A 2011 study from Warwick Medical School found that lack of sleep is associated with the risk of heart attacks, as well as other cardiovascular problems and stroke. “If you sleep less than six hours a night, you are 48% more likely to die from heart disease and 15% more likely to die from a stroke,” lead researcher Francesco Capuccio said in findings published in the European Heart Journal. “The tendency to sleep late and wake up early is a ticking time bomb for our health, so it’s important to act now to reduce your risk of developing these life-threatening diseases.”

sperm count decreases.A study of 953 young Danish men found that those respondents whose sleep was disturbed had a 29% lower sperm count.

the risk of death increases.The SLEEP journal studied 1,741 men and women who slept less than six hours over a period of 10 to 14 years. The study found a significant increase in the risk of death, even after adjusting for diabetes, hypertension and other factors.

Text: Sasha Kuznetsova
Design.

Those who believe that by saving on sleep they gain time to live are deeply mistaken.

Adequate sleep is the key to good health, and therefore a high quality of life. People who do not get enough sleep regularly are more likely than others to suffer from depression, chronic diseases, and problems with excess weight and skin.

But these are not all the negative consequences of poor sleep.

Modern man has so much to do that he often disrupts his sleep schedule. This can lead not only to feeling tired and unwell, but also to more serious health problems. Night sleep is especially important for a person. If neglected for a long time, the body loses its defenses, and the risk of developing many chronic diseases increases.

Inadequate sleep can worsen not only physical, but also mental health: depression, nervousness, feelings of irritation and aggression appear. Lack of sleep affects your appearance and beauty: eyes swell, dark circles appear, skin becomes dull and becomes more prone to dryness and disease.

The amount of sleep a person needs varies and depends on genetic, gender, age and physiological factors. But on average, it will take about 7-9 hours to get a good night's sleep and rest. If for a number of reasons your sleep pattern is regularly disrupted, then efforts must be made to restore it as quickly as possible, otherwise this may result in dangerous consequences for health.

Deterioration of memory and brain function

Surely many have noticed that after a sleepless night it is much more difficult to concentrate and get the brain to work. Proper sleep plays an important role in the development of cognitive thinking, promotes learning and increases memory capabilities. Lack of sleep, on the contrary, leads to deterioration in vigilance and concentration, and slows down decision-making. Poor sleep negatively affects both short-term and long-term memory. The ability to learn also decreases, which is why proper sleep is especially important for schoolchildren and students.

Increases the risk of cardiovascular disease

Good rest and sleep are essential for heart health. Research in 2000 showed that prolonged lack of sleep can increase blood pressure and reduce the activity of the sympathetic nervous system. People who sleep less than six hours have a greater risk of developing coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis and stroke compared to those who sleep seven to eight hours a night.

Lack of sleep may not have the best effect on the immune system, which protects the body from infections and viruses. When a person gets enough sleep, the immune system releases substances that protect the body from infections. When sleep patterns are disrupted, the production of cytokines decreases, which impairs immunity, making the body vulnerable to various viral and bacterial diseases.

Causes depression

Poor sleep over a long period of time leads to changes in the production of neurotransmitters in brain tissue, which is one of the reasons for the development of depression. Sometimes depression itself prevents a person from sleeping. Insomnia is one of the first signs of depression. According to recent studies, more than 90% of people who experience depression, anxiety and nervousness suffer from poor sleep.

Bad for your figure

A regular sleep schedule helps maintain a good appetite and diet. When a person sleeps little, his body produces more of the hunger hormone ghrelin and reduces the production of leptin, which suppresses appetite. Thus, lack of sleep reduces appetite control and energy metabolism, which contributes to weight gain. In addition, there are many people who, with the help of food, try to overcome sleep or restore strength after sleepless nights, which does not have the best effect on their figure.

Just one night of poor sleep can cause puffy eyes, dark circles under the eyes, and a yellowish or gray tint to the skin. It’s easy to imagine how much damage regular sleep disruption can cause to your skin. First of all, the skin loses its elasticity and healthy tone. Chronic lack of sleep leads to excessive feelings of stress and anxiety, which cause the body to produce more cortisol. This hormone destroys the protein in the skin that is responsible for its elasticity and smoothness.

Skin that loses its elasticity is more susceptible to problems such as dark circles around the eyes, dryness, wrinkles, dullness, etc. In addition, insufficient sleep reduces the skin's ability to recover from sun exposure. Therefore, the path to her beauty and health lies, first of all, through good sleep.

Shortens life

Like breathing, sleep is one of the basic human needs. It is almost impossible to remain without sleep for a long time. And those who don't get enough sleep regularly have higher rates of premature mortality than those who keep a good sleep schedule. According to research results, rats that were not allowed to sleep died after 20-30 days. In 2007, research showed that not enough sleep is just as bad for your health and life as too much sleep.

Leads to accidents

Serious accidents on roads and at work are often associated with inconvenient sleep schedules and fatigue of those involved in the incidents. Driver drowsiness and fatigue can lead to car accidents and accidents. Lack of sleep impairs coordination, weakens memory and the ability to retain information, and slows reaction and decision making. All these factors have a negative impact on the ability to drive any vehicle or control mechanized production, which increases the risk of accidents. For those who work 24 hours a day, it is necessary to periodically take breaks to sleep for at least 15-20 minutes. This will restore strength and protect you from inattention.

Reduces libido

Due to poor sleep, you lose interest in sex. A person becomes tense and irritated, which negatively affects the sex life of both men and women. People suffering from sleep apnea (sudden stoppage of breathing while sleeping) tend to have lower testosterone levels, which leads to a drop in libido.

Lack of sleep is a ticking time bomb. Lack of sleep is especially problematic for decision-making in the face of uncertainty and unexpected change.

Losing sleep is bad for your health , and research continues to uncover the exact reason why your body suffers when it's deprived of enough quality sleep. Many are at risk, including those who struggle with insomnia and people who work long, irregular hours or at night.

Emergency medical personnel often fall into the latter category, and research presented at the 2016 Radiological Society of North America annual meeting found what consequences this can have for the heart.

What happens to the body when there is a lack of sleep

Researchers at the University of Bonn in Germany took x-rays of radiologists' hearts before and after a 24-hour shift during which they had only about three hours of sleep. Significant cardiac strain, a precursor to heart problems, has been noted after lack of sleep.

Other concerning changes were also noted, including increased blood pressure, heart rate, and thyroid hormones , which indicates a stress reaction.

What happens to your heart when you don't get enough sleep?

People who sleep less than seven hours a night have an increased risk of heart disease , and this is true regardless of other factors that affect heart health, such as age, weight, smoking and exercise.

According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF):

“One study that looked at 3,000 adults over the age of 45 found that those who slept less than six hours a night were twice as likely to have a stroke or heart attack than people who slept six or more hours. up to eight hours a day.

It's not entirely clear why less sleep is detrimental to heart health, but researchers understand that insufficient sleep causes disruptions in underlying health and biological processes such as glucose metabolism, blood pressure and inflammation."

However, it is no coincidence that people who struggle with sleep apnea, which causes constant awakenings at night, often have heart problems.

Women with sleep apnea tend to have higher levels of the protein troponin T, which is a marker of heart damage, and are more likely to have an enlarged heart, a risk factor for heart disease.

“…[W]ithout long, deep periods of rest,” NSF notes, “certain chemicals are activated that prevent the body from achieving long periods when heart rate and blood pressure are reduced.”

It may also increase the risk of high blood pressure and heart problems.

However, the danger is not limited to people with sleep disorders such as apnea. Sleep disturbances due to insomnia, poor sleep habits or work schedules can also put your heart health at risk.

One recent study found that even in children, shorter sleep duration is associated with increased arterial stiffness, a risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

Skimping on sleep can quadruple your risk of car accidents.

When you don't get enough sleep, your problem-solving skills weaken and your reaction time slows. Also observed long periods of lack of concentration and decreased response accuracy , which are especially problematic while driving.

In a report published by the American Automobile Association (AAA) Foundation for Highway Safety, The researchers compared drowsy driving to driving with a blood alcohol concentration over the legal limit.

Lack of sleep, even just one or two hours, nearly doubled the risk of being involved in a car accident the next day.. If sleep deprivation increased and participants slept only four or five hours a night, the risk of a car crash quadrupled.

According to the AAA Foundation for Highway Safety:

"Early research from the AAA Foundation for Highway Safety found that 7% of all crashes, 13 [percent] of crashes that result in hospitalization, and 21 [percent] of fatal crashes are attributed to driver drowsiness."

Lack of sleep is a ticking time bomb

Lack of sleep has played a role in many catastrophic events , including Chernobyl, the Three Mile Island accident, the Challenger explosion and much more.

This is not surprising since it is known to cause response blunting, but the researchers also found that Lack of sleep is particularly problematic for decision-making under conditions of uncertainty and unexpected change. They concluded:

"Blunted reactions to feedback in sleep-deprived situations account for the inability to adapt to uncertainty and changes in contingencies. Thus, an error may be registered, but with reduced effect due to a decrease in the affective valence of the feedback or because the feedback is not related with choice cognitively.

This has important implications for understanding and managing cognitive impairment caused by sleep loss in emergency response, disaster management, warfare, and other dynamic real-world settings with uncertain outcomes and imperfect information."

For example, when the Chernobyl reactor failed in 1986, the engineers involved in the disaster worked 13 hours or more before the crisis. Likewise, the space shuttle Challenger exploded after its launch in January 1986, killing all seven people on board.

Managers involved in the launch received only two hours of sleep before arriving at work at 1 a.m., and the Presidential Commission on the accident noted:

"NASA employees' willingness to work overtime, while admirable, raises serious questions when it compromises the quality of work, especially when critical management decisions are at stake."

Even a “small” lack of sleep is harmful

It's surprising that only small changes in your sleep can make a big difference in your brain, body, and behavior. As the AAA report noted, even one hour less sleep increases the risk of a car accident the next day.

This is also evidenced by Daylight Saving Time (DST), the practice of moving clocks forward one hour during the summer months and moving them back in the winter.

Research presented at the annual scientific sessions of the American College of Cardiology found that The risk of a heart attack on the Monday after Daylight Saving Time (when one hour of sleep is lost) increases by 25 percent compared to other Mondays. .

At the end of summer, when clocks are set back one hour to give people an extra hour of sleep, the risk of a heart attack drops by 21 percent.

Additionally, a neurologist at the University of Washington told CBS News that moving clocks forward one hour correlates with a significant increase in traffic accidents and heart attacks over the next two to three days.

Research also shows that daylight saving time leads to an increase in workplace injuries (frequency and severity) as well as delays in reaction time that impact productivity.

Trying to work without sleep - how to work drunk

You probably won't attempt to work or drive after drinking too much. However, almost everyone has tried to get things done after not getting enough sleep. What's alarming is that research continues to show that these are essentially the same conditions.

For example, one study from the University of Michigan (U-M) found that even six hours of sleep at night is too little and can make you functionally weakened, as if drunk. U-M mathematician and study author Olivia Walch said:

“It doesn't take very many days of sleep deprivation for you to become functionally drunk... Researchers have found that excessive fatigue can have this effect.

The scary thing is that people think they perform tasks much better than they actually do. Your productivity decreases, but your perception of productivity remains the same."

In February 2016, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 1 in 3 adults do not get enough sleep.

In this case, "adequate" sleep was defined as seven or more hours per night, but many adults may need closer to eight hours per night (and therefore lack of sleep may affect even more than one in three adults).

In addition to harming the heart and increasing the risk of serious accident or injury , researchers found that when participants reduce their sleep from 7.5 to 6.5 hours a day , are observed increased activity in genes associated with inflammation, immune excitability, diabetes, cancer risk and stress.

Interrupted or reduced sleep may also:

Increase the risk of developing cancer

Harm your brain by stopping the production of new neurons. Lack of sleep can increase corticosterone (stress hormone) levels, causing your hippocampus to create fewer new brain cells

Promote a pre-diabetic insulin-resistant state that makes you feel hungry even though you've already eaten, which can lead to weight gain

Promote premature aging by interfering with the production of growth hormone normally released by the pituitary gland during deep sleep (and during certain types of exercise, such as intense interval training)

Increase the risk of death from any cause

Do this now to sleep better today

If you're having trouble sleeping, it's time to take steps to get a better night's rest. Perhaps the most important natural "trick" for improving sleep is making sure you get adequate exposure to bright light during the day and no blue light at night.

In the morning, bright sunlight signals your body that it is time to wake up. At night, when the sun goes down, the darkness should signal to your body that it is time to sleep. Ideally, to help your circadian system reset itself, get at least 10-15 minutes of natural light exposure in the morning.

This will send a message to your internal clock that the day has begun, making it less likely to get confused by weaker light signals throughout the day.

Then, around solar noon, get another “dose” of sunlight for at least 30 minutes . Even better - a full hour or more. If your schedule is such that you need to get up and get to work before sunrise, try to get at least half an hour of bright sunlight during the day.

In the evening, as the sun begins to set, wear amber glasses that block blue light. You can also dim artificial lights (whether LEDs, incandescent or compact fluorescent light bulbs) and turn off electronic devices to reduce exposure to light, which can inhibit melatonin production.

Better yet, replace LED bulbs with incandescent or low-voltage halogen bulbs . After sunset, you can also turn on a low-energy lamp with yellow, orange or red light if you need some illumination.

A salt lamp lit with a 5-watt lamp is the ideal solution that will not interfere with your melatonin production. A candle will also work.