While many aspects of sleep remain a mystery (including exactly why we sleep) a body or research is beginning to accumulate to show that not sleeping enough or being awake in the wee hours of the night upsets the body’s internal clock, throwing a host of basic bodily functions out of sync.
Our internal body clock is regulated by lightness and darkness. Our bodies were not made to be working by fluorescent lights or watching the lights of a TV at 3:00 A.M. and that was Before Midnight Madness and Late Show with David Letterman came along.
‘Health, wealthy, and wise’
Ben Franklin probably had the right idea: “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” Going to bed and getting up at the same time everyday – even on weekends- goes a long way toward keeping body rhythms regulated.
The circadian rhythm dips and rises at different times of the day. The strongest sleep drives generally occur between 2:00 and 4:00 A.M. and in the afternoon between 1:00 and 3:00 P.M., although there is some variation depending on whether you are a morning or evening person. The sleepiness experienced during these dips is less intense if we have had sufficient sleep, and more intense when we are sleep deprived.
As a helpful resource, I have lots of articles on healthy ingredients and recipes that you can implement into your daily life.
If you’d like to dig deeper into my journey of discovering God’s plan for health and wellness, check out my book, Made For Paradise: God’s Original Plan for Healthy Eating, Physical Activity, and Rest.
