What I’m about to introduce in this article is crucial from a practical lifestyle POV.
As you’ve seen from my content, I’m a big believer in circadian biology and think this one of the most helpful sub-topics within the realm - zeitgebers.
A zeitgeber refers to an external cue or trigger that helps regulate an organism's biological rhythm, such as the sleep-wake cycle.
If you live like the average person today, your lifestyle is in complete misalignment with these triggers, causing central and peripheral cellular clocks to get out of synch.
The following six cues are the strongest ones which either reinforce or disrupt your circadian rhythm depending on the time you expose yourself to them.
Zeitgeber #1: Light
This is one area I’ve discussed at length.
Light is the first and most fundamental cue to our biology on a quantum level.
The differentiation between natural full spectrum sunlight and artificial light is the most important one here, hence following a lot of what I’ve recommended in the past is going to help you on your health journey immensely.
BRIGHTER DAYS, DARKER NIGHTS
That’s the mantra you should follow.
Maximizing sunlight during the day and religiously blocking artificial light at night.
One of the best ways to make use of natural light is by getting as much of it onto your bare skin and bare eyes as soon as you wake up, regardless of the weather.
Living against this rule of thumb by never getting any natural light and constantly being bathed in artificial light from morning to night is what causes disruption in your circadian system.
Zeitgeber #2: Food (Meal Timing)
Food is a second powerful circadian trigger.
Most people within the health space are following an intermittent fasting approach where they don’t eat throughout the morning. This works, but it has an upper limit because it goes against circadian biology.
Furthermore, people who tend to follow an IF protocol also tend to eat larger meals in the evening and even into the night. This is problematic because larger meals (or any food for that matter) causes chronic symptoms over time.
Most notably, it’s one of the best way to create blood sugar dysregulation, acid reflux, excess fat gain, precisely because your body didn’t evolve to eat late into the night.
Eating a high protein meal within the first 30-60 minutes of waking is a game changer and one of the most effective ways to sync your circadian clocks.
Your body is most primed for food during breakfast and lunch, but you obviously have to make sure it’s nutrient dense stuff.
Zeitgeber #3: Sleep (Sleep Timing)
Sleep is the third circadian trigger and it happens to be the only time your body truly gets to recover physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
There’s a reason why evolution kept it in the human script.
This trigger largely consists of sleep timing. It’s imperative that you go to bed at the right time (anywhere between 8-10 PM) so that you get the most circadian friendly results.
Most people neglect sleep timing by chronically going to bed late.
After all, the modern environment makes it easy to do because of technology use and social gatherings which makes it ever so important to maintain discipline and consistency in this realm.
Zeitgeber #4: Exercise
Exercise is the fourth circadian trigger.
When you train is just as important as how you train because of this reason.
From what I’ve seen training around 5-7 PM is the most circadian friendly, although I don’t know how true this is compared to other times.
I prefer to train either in the morning or afternoon because I’m able to do so under sunlight which further facilitates muscle growth, fat loss, performance, and recovery.
Training too late is a common phenomenon in modern day society, especially with the advent of artificially blue lit gyms which are open late into the night. This is, by far, one of the worst things you could do for your circadian rhythm and overall health for a number of reasons.
Zeitgeber #5: Temperature
Temperature is the fifth circadian trigger.
This is one I haven’t learned about as much in depth compared to the other ones, yet it makes sense when you think about it from the sleep perspective.
Our body temp runs higher during the day and progressively lowering towards the evening where it actually coincides with melatonin release.
A cool/cold bedroom environment facilitates deeper sleep because your core body temperature must drop in order for you to achieve more rest.
Cold thermogenesis is also a powerful health modality because it contributes to health in many ways, most notably by enhancing the function of mitochondria.
Experience temperature extremes from cold thermogenesis to sauna use.
Zeitgeber #6: Grounding
Grounding is a sixth circadian trigger.
Being connected to the Earth is especially important because we’re electrical beings first before we are chemical ones. We have evidence to show that being connected to the DC global circuit can maintain your circadian rhythm, INDEPENDENT of sunlight.
Most people don’t know that, but it makes sense considering the fact that we have something called The Living Matrix within our bodies which is a system specifically designed to transport free mobile electrons to any part of the body on demand.
Zeitgeber #7: Social/Routine
Social zeitgeber theory refers to the timing of our daily routines that act as zeitgebers by cueing our body clocks: getting out of bed, our first social interaction, the start of work or school, going to bed.
There’s a reason why the pandemic was so damaging to the population, especially when you consider the lockdowns.
No routine means circadian clock disruption.
It’s especially important to stick with a routine from morning to night during times of high stress because of the impact it has on circadian biology.
Maintain your social interactions at the same time every day as much as you can as well whether that come in the form of going for a morning walk with your friend or closing the evening out with a family discussion.
As far as I’ve seen, these are the only zeitgebers out there.
Knowing this, you have the tools to improve your lifestyle so that you’re better aligned with circadian biology. If you follow through with these practical action steps, your health will improve dramatically.
You might be wondering, what are the consequences of living out of alignment with these circadian triggers?
Nearly all modern chronic disease stems from unhealthy habits in relation to these triggers that create havoc in our system.
When you disrupt the central circadian clock, you cause dysfunction in endogenous melatonin production which creates a host of consequences. Furthermore, you cause dysfunction in the digestive tract receptors, leading to gut issues if done chronically.
The same applies with the peripheral circadian clocks.
Any chronic ailment is on the table once you mess around with this stuff.
Much love,
Zaid