Author: admin

And how much control do we actually have?

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The is about a ~6 minute read

YOU CAN DO IT! 

Let’s look at the sun again

yes, I love her a lot!

The sun is much older, bigger and more powerful than you are and it has its very own rhythm (which, by the way, rotates slower than the earth but its surface moves faster). 

Well, for us it seems that the sun comes up every morning and goes down every evening, right?
Actually the sun coming and going is because we are spinning too!
Sounds weird?
You think you don’t have a natural rhythm which you follow?
And what, if I tell you that, through studying living creatures on this planet, we found out that: 

“Most animals, plants, even fungi have a natural rhythm, it is a cycle each one follows. There are only very few microbes and deep-sea organisms which don’t follow a typical rhythm.”

Up to today we humans, as a species discovered many things through observing ourselves, other living organisms and the world around us. We understood that almost all living creatures follow internal biological rhythms, and that the way ‘we humans spin’ is shaped by interactions between our brain, biology, and the environment we are located in.

MAKE SURE TO understand:

The rhythm we (all) follow is as old as we, as a species, are and is primary coordinated by: Star-light! Not just any starlight, it is governed by (in my opinion the coolest star out there): our Sun! **

“Let’s all understand light and how to use it to our advantages!“

Therefor, LET’s understand this INNER rhythm: 

The rhythm inside you is controlled by a clock, and the clock is located in your Brian. Scientist also say: The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), located in your hypothalamus.

But we say:  ‘Circadian rhythm’ and ‘circadian clock’.
Named after the Latin ‘circa’ = ‘around’, and ‘dies’ = ‘day’, so it is your 24 hour rhythm. 

The presence or absence of light…

…is the main signal for this circadian clock. 2. Because of this clock your Brian knows what ‘time’ it is. 3. This process happens through your eyes. (More about this in a later Post, soon!)
For now, in short:
There are photoreceptors in your eyes which are NOT used for vision, but: They are body clock sensors which read the light in the atmosphere and tell it to your brain.

Maybe imagine it like a weather report: 

Let’s say you now try to trick your system / you don’t follow the way your body was designed. It would be like leaving the house without a Jacket even tho the weather reporter tells you its really rainy. Or, not wearing a hat in the hottest sunshine!

Just pick any of the following: 

• You don’t sleep at night.
• You expose yourself to light when it is night. 
• You miss out to get light during sun hours.

If your inner rhythm does not ‘spinn’ well, parts of your system (Mh, how to say it properly?) …can really get fucked!

So the key take away here, is only to know, that:
Through your behaviours you are in the position to either mess with your inner system or to help, protect and support it.

My advise? “Just start your day in the morning and finish it in the evening”

You can read more about: How to control the circadian rhythm and which systems it affects’, in a coming post soon!

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Here is a little sneak peek of:

‘Systems which are coordinated and synchronised by your circadian clock.’

– Affective Neuroscience
– Mesocorticolimbic Dopaminergic System
– Endocrine System
– Cardiovascular Physiology
– Metabolism
– Immune System
– Cellular Homeostasis
– Musculoskeletal Physiology
– Gastrointestinal Physiology
– Sensory Neurophysiology
– Thermoregulatory Physiology
– Renal Homeostasis
– Reproductive Endocrinology
– Peripheral Circadian Oscillators

Don’t worry I will do my best to explain all those in the most simplest and shortest way…
xo, W.

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A Quick Bonus knowledge:

RHYTMNS

The Circadian rhythm is not the only rhythm we defined but we have decided to categorize 4 different rhythms.

Ultradian rhythm: Biological cycles shorter than 24 hours, repeat multiple times a day. Regulates: Sleep (REM and non-REM), breathing, heart rate, hunger, and alertness.

Circadian rhythm:  Operates on a ~ 24-hour cycle, events that happen once every 24 hours. Regulates:  Hormone releases (like cortisol and melatonin), sleep–wake cycle, metabolism and temperatures.

Infradian rhythm: Biological cycles that last longer than 24 hours but still many times within a year.  Regulates: Menstrual cycles and seasonal changes and affects in physiology and behaviour.

Annual Rhythm: Biological cycle that repeat once per year. Regulates: Seasonal migration or breeding patterns in animals, plants blooming, or mood changes in humans. 

Even tho they all go by themselves they somehow interfere and work together. Remember, everything has its own rhythm and still works together.

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Research References: 

(01) Bloch, G., Barnes, B. M., Gerkema, M. P., & Helm, B. (2013). Animal activity around the clock with no overt circadian rhythms: Patterns, mechanisms and adaptive value. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 280(1765), 20130019. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.0019 PMC

(2) Czeisler, C. A., & Gooley, J. J. (2007). Sleep and circadian rhythms in humans. Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology, 72, 579–597.

(3) Moore, R. Y. (1997). Circadian rhythms: Basic neurobiology and clinical applications. Annual Review of Medicine, 48, 253–266.

(4) Hattar, S., Lucas, R. J., Mrosovsky, N., et al. (2003). Melanopsin and rod–cone photoreceptive systems… Nature, 424, 76–81.https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01761

(5) Bedrosian, T. A., & Nelson, R. J. (2017). Timing of light exposure affects mood and brain circuits. Translational Psychiatry, 7, e1017.

(6) Scheer, F. A. J. L., Hilton, M. F., Mantzoros, C. S., & Shea, S. A. (2009). Adverse metabolic and cardiovascular consequences of circadian misalignment. PNAS, 106(11), 4453–4458.

(07) Mistlberger, R. E., & Skene, D. J. (2004). Social influences on mammalian circadian rhythms. Biological Reviews, 79(3), 533–556.

and what role plays light in it?

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Well my love, it might sound wired but LIGHT is the primary reason for why we sleep. Light stimulates us, light makes us awake and the absense of light makes us sleepy.

Yes, you see this right, in these days it can be very confusing for our bodys to understand which it actually is day or night because we are able to suddenlyt make it day, due to indoor and artificail lighting. (We will learn all about this another time)

First only understand that our bodies are regualtet by what happens outside of them and looking at a 24hour cylce, there is a lot of darkness and, this is when we are meant to sleep. It is nothing I just came up with, it is how we are designed and in the end we can not do more than excepting it. Still, I am going to explain it a bit more, only the essence, the, what I assume are the ‘key impartance things’, because as far as I can see, we all grave answers. 

Stay with me. You will be proud in the end! 

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The following part is only a 4~5 minute read

YOU CAN DO IT! 

It’s actually very easy, Look: 

You know the sun, dont you? This massive big luminous star* of hot gas in the universe. The most powerful source of energy we know and without we would not exist. 

I think understanding the complexity of our solar system can help to understand the systems inside of us humans as well. 

Sounds stupid?

Let’s do a little thought experiment. 

Are you up? 

Begins here:

1. Imagine the universe. All the planets and stars in the solar system! 
2. Then imagine a human body. All the things it carrys inside of it! 

Good. NEXT: 

Great, now you melt both of the systems together! What do you see?

Your body becomes your universe, your brain becomes your own sun and all your organs become your planets now. It is a little bit cool, don’t you think? 

Well, the experiment is ending here and to clarify: I do not mean to say the planets have to do anything with the systems your human body carries. I simply wanted to help you visualise (and I choose the universe because I love it). It is to help, not to say you are the universe or anything more! …

Ok, look here are 5 points. Now: Please make sure you get them all correct:  

1. The universe and all the creatures in it (eg: us humans) developed without us interfering. We DID NOT take part of any of its inventions.
2. Every human is able to have an impact on (not the solar but.. ) its own System. Which means that, you are right now are in the position to control the universe inside of you.
3. No one is able to see nor understand our human system by only looking at a human body.  If you want to see inside a human you need a tool. Same as you need a tool to see to see all the planets and stars of the solar system.
4. Any changes in the Sun’s heat, speed, or rotation would profoundly impact the entire solar system and dynamics across all planets and have very catastrophic impacts for the life we are living. If you now replace the sun with a brain (as we just did in the experiment), the effects can be similarly catastrophic, on the individual itself, its dynamics, and other people in its environment.
5. We as humans do not have an impact on the suns speed nor can we control any of the planets in our solar system or even bigger universe.

AND NOW, back to the beginning: 

Why do we have to sleep?

Do you feel you can answer this question now? Or are you more like: “Well, what? Are you saying we have to sleep because we are just made like this? And your answer is simply: Because we are designed for it?

Yes. Either you take and accept it or: If you are not satisfied by the answer, don’t worry, there is a lot more to know! You can continue reading about it very soon!

PLEASE/ LAST NOTE:

There is no need to do anything crazy with the information you are getting here!

No need to change who you are or your life. I simply want you to be aware about some things, and I am certain that, a little bit more knowledge can be very beneficial for this world. 

“Understand your own system before going any further. Many people live a whole life without realizing how they function. I see a problem there, and I’d Iove to fix that”.

People studied many things and are still doing it, so that, by now, we only need to learn and understand about it. Yes it is still a bit of work but, at least you don’t need to figure it out all by yourself and, another good thing is, I am ging to help you. So you only read, and ask if something is unclear to you. 

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Research References: 

Foster, R. G., & Kreitzman, L. (2014). The rhythms of life: What your body clock means to you! Experimental Physiology, 99(4), 599–606. https://doi.org/10.1113/expphysiol.2012.071118.

Cajochen, C., Zeitzer, J. M., Czeisler, C. A., & Dijk, D. J. (2000). Dose-response relationship for light intensity and ocular and electroencephalographic correlates of human alertness. Behavioural Brain Research, 115(1), 75–83.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-4328(00)00236-9

Panda, S. (2016). Circadian physiology of metabolism. Science, 354(6315), 1008–1015.https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah4967

Roenneberg, T., & Merrow, M. (2016). The circadian clock and human health. Current Biology, 26(10), R432–R443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.04.011

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*Yes the sun is considered a star, a giant, luminous ball of hot gas what generates its own light and heat through nuclear fusion. It is a massive, 4.6 billion-year-old hot ball of plasma, primarily composed of hydrogen and helium, held together by its own gravit, serving as the center of our solar system.