In the night between Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 March daylight saving time returns: at 2 o’clock we will have to move the hands forward by 60 minutes, thus “losing” a very precious hour of sleep. It is a small and momentary “sacrifice” to gain longer days and prolonged natural light, although some are quite worried about the time taken from night rest and are already thinking of some tricks to cushion it. But is summer time really bad for us or is it just a suggestion?
In this article
Summer time is back: you sleep worse
In fact it is a mini jet lag, so there’s a little bit of a twist but it’s not that big of a deal because it’s only about an hour after all. However, it can happen that you find it difficult to fall asleep and that you wake up several times during the night: as one highlighted studio Published on Neuroscience LettersIndeed, daylight saving time affects circadian rhythmi.e. the biological clock that regulates some physiological processes based on external factors (such as light and temperature).
After moving the hands of the clock forward, the sun rises and sets later: this causes this “inner” rhythm to get stuck and not understand when rest and wakefulness are needed. This alteration also affects the melatonin production, which is a substance that is synthesized by the body during the dark hours and which helps us sleep better. The result? Sleep is disturbed and a general sense of tiredness is felt during the day.
Sleep disturbances with time changes: who is most at risk
There are categories of people more sensitive to this type of change. It’s about the children and of the elderly people, which are more related to “time stamps”, i.e. the daily appointments that mark the day, such as meals and sleep. The little ones used to going to sleep “late”, approximately after 10 pm, are even more affected by it and show some disturbances.
What ailments they feel
With the arrival of daylight saving time the child may be irritable, nervous, hyperactive and may have problems paying attention and concentrating. Mums and dads need to know that these disturbances are usually not perceived the day following the time change, but the following day. On Monday, when school and extracurricular activities resume, the little ones will be more tired and stressed. For this reason, we could help them live this change with serenity by making them go to bed a little earlier and bringing dinner forward by at least half an hour.
Adults are less focused on work
Less sleep also means less concentration. According to one studio of 2012, published on Journal of Applied Psychologydaylight saving time would also have a negative impact on the following Monday’s working day.
Back from the time change, we go back to the office with lots of sleep and little desire to work, so much so that the so-called “cyber-idleness”, i.e. the tendency to surf on social networks and entertainment sites, is considerably increasing. According to the research, conducted by a team of American and Singaporean scholars analyzing the data on searches provided by Google, it emerged that Americans make 3% more “clicks” on sites unrelated to work activities (such as Facebook, YouTube) compared to other Mondays of the month.
Daylight saving time: how to combat the negative effects
Getting ready two or three days in advance could be a solution, but basically it’s just about going to sleep an hour earlier. There are, however, small tricks that can be implemented to suffer less from the time change.
Little tricks
In the morning following the time change and in the following days, you can try to expose yourself to light and live in the open air, because this will facilitate the readaptation. The people who “suffer” most from summer time are the so-called owls, i.e. those who are used to going to bed very late, and those who suffer from insomnia: for them, but in general for everyone, it can be useful anticipate the wake-up time already on the weekendin order to “work out” to wake up early on Monday.
What are sleep-friendly foods?
In the days preceding the time change, the diet must be as light as possible, balanced, without adding too much protein and fat, to promote digestion and good sleep. The “positive” foods for falling asleep, which help reduce insomnia and the disorders associated with it, are pasta, rice, bread, barley, lettuce, onion, pumpkin and cabbage. If we include these ingredients in our evening diet we are more likely to rest well and continuously. Also pasta, rice, barley and bread are rich in tryptophanan amino acid that promotes the synthesis of serotonin, the brain neuromediator important for well-being, good mood, relaxation and quality sleep.
And what about the “enemy” foods of sleep?
All those foods that activate the wakefulness centers should be avoided, such as chocolate, cocoa, tea and coffee. Furthermore, if we suffer from rest-related disorders, we also try to stay away from those foods that contain excess sodium, such as chips, pretzels, dishes in which stock cubes are used and canned foods.
After how long do we recover
In reality, since it is a mini jet lag, the recovery times are very short. The readjustment usually occurs without problems within three to four days.
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