Protect Your Heart and Sleep Better By Following Your Body Clock

I was astonished the other day to hear that you are six times more likely to have a heart attack between 8 and 10am than at any other time.

The reason is that at that time your blood pressure is at its highest, your veins and arteries are at their least flexible and your blood is at its thickest.

Because of these three factors it is a bad time to exercise or exert yourself as your blood pressure may rise even more whereas later in the day, between 4 and 6pm exercise can reduce it by as much as 10%.

Blimey, so I was right, meditation really is the best way to start the day :)

Each part of the body has a clock (which can be seen rhythmically pulsing!) and, as one would expect, light plays a big part in some functions.

Sleeping Better

As we age sleep patterns become more erratic and this has now been put down to lower levels of light being received due to thickening of the lens with age.

Extra and brighter lights inside, or more time spent outside, can immediately remedy this and who knows, maybe that's the reason that a good daily walk encourages sound sleep.

There's also an interesting way to regulate being a lark or an owl. If you want to be able to stay awake later you need to get all your light in the afternoon and wear sunglasses in the morning. Conversely if you want to start being able to get up earlier get as much light as possible in the morning and wear sunglasses in the afternoon. Not quite sure how practical that would be but is worth playing around with.

More Body Clock Highlights

Between 10am and midday you really are thinking at your best as nice amounts of cortisol are being released so it's a good idea to reserve this time for your best work.

At 2pm you are three times more likely to nod off than at 6pm so this is not a good time to be driving and if you are on a long journey be aware of this and take time out, have a coffee, or a quick nap around that time.

Two other points that were interesting were about the absorption of alcohol and food.

The same amount of alcohol consumed lunchtime will have almost double the effect as that drunk later in the day, so bear that in mind.

Also, our insulin decreases as the day wears on so a large meal eaten late in the day really isn't a good idea as the body struggles to metabolise it leaving the blood sugars higher than is optimum. Consistently high blood sugars are not good for the kidneys, eyes and nerves as diabetics know all to well. So a largish breakfast and lunch and a light dinner is healthiest.

A fascinating subject and interesting to see how a few small changes to your routine can protect your health and increase feelings of well being.