The passage to summer time makes us sleep 1 hour less and keeps us away from our natural watch/sleep cycle.
Each year, in March, we go to summer time so we sleep an hour less. In other words, at 2 a.m., it is finally 3 a.m. We “lose” an hour of sleep …
What consequences on the body, health?
The body is regulated on a so -called “nycthemeral” pace. A biological rhythm that corresponds to a 24 -hour cycle, composed of a day and a night period. During these 24 hours, different hormones are secreted in the body. “”Especially melatonin (sleep hormone) whose secretion is maximum when falling asleep, generally between 10 and 11 p.m., and which will run out during the night so that the body can wake up gradually in the morning. Then, another hormone takes over, it is cortisol which, conversely, is secreted when we wake upexplains Dr. Catherine Lamblin, sleep doctor at the Lille Louvière private hospital and member of the scientific committee of the Ramsay Santé Foundation. But when we arbitrarily change the hour, as is the case when we spend summer time, the hormones will take a few days to stall on this new rhythm. “
Fatigue after the change of summer time: this is normal
The transition to summer time is often more problematic than the transition to winter time. And this, for several reasons. On the one hand, it is less easy to absorb than the passage to winter time, since it deprives us of an hour of sleep. On the other hand, “When going to summer time, we shift in the opposite direction and we move away from the solar time and therefore from our natural sleep/sleep cycle“, Details our interlocutor. In addition, we ask our organization to wedge itself on a different schedule so it will not be synchronous for a few days.”Melatonin is generally secreted in darkness, when we perceive less and less daylight. When we pass in summer time, we perceive the night later, our melatonin will be secreted later and we will want to sleep later at night. In addition, we are going to be less easier to get up in the morningsays Dr. Lamblin. It is generally 3-4 days to completely collect a change of time“Note that people” evening “will be more annoyed during the passage at summer time and will have more difficulty getting up in the morning. On the other hand, the passage to summer time will be done without too much trouble for the Type-Tiles.
The ideal is to anticipate this passage at summer time. Here are 5 tips:
► Two to three days before the time change, it is advisable to go to bed slightly earlier than usual – around about twenty minutes – in order to get off gradually and adapt to the new day/night cycle.
► Do not arrive at the time change with too much sleep debt. “To adapt easily to the new time, the body should not be in lack of sleep“Insists the specialist.
► Similarly, avoid having hours to raise and sleep too irregular. Concretely, you have to try to go to bed every night at the same time, including the weekend. If you shift by watching very late and making oily morning on weekends, you may cause a break in pace on the chronobiological level and gradually deregulate your organic clock.
► It is not recommended to go to bed late at the evening of the time change so as not to dig into the sleep deficit more. “”Already that we deprive our body of an hour of sleep that day, we should not accumulate fatigue either. You can set an hour to sleep around 23 hours for example“, She continues.
► It is advisable to do a little physical activity on Saturday and Sunday mornings of the hour change weekend to “tire” a little more his body and encourage him to go to bed earlier at night.
What advice to quickly relieve yourself?
► Listen to yourself. The day after the time change, “It is better to listen to our body and lie down when we feel fatigue, even if it is not always easy with professional or family constraints“, Acknowledges Dr. Lamblin. It is also advisable to go to bed slightly earlier the week following the time change to help the organism to better regulate itself.
► Exhale the screens as little as possible before bedtime: “The blue light emitted by the screens prevents melatonin secretion“, She explains. Above all, an eye that absorbs blue light just before sleeping sends false brain information that thinks that it is still in” full day “. Result: the falling asleep is delayed, the sleep time is shorter and the quality of sleep is altered.
► Do not shift your evening meal, even if you are not hungry. Better to be light dinner at the usual time than jumping a meal.
► Exhale in daylight in the morning and lunch during your lunch break to store sunshine: “This allows you to stay awake in the afternoon, to stimulate yourself and to be generally more fit until the end of the day“, Indicates the expert. On the other hand, we avoid staying outside for too long after 18 hours, because an overflow of light at the end of the day can delay the desire to go to bed and thus harm rest. For a restful sleep, you also have to minimize all the lighting sources (screens, light indicators of electronic devices, urban lighting, night light …) which can interrupt or fragment sleep.
Thank you to Dr Catherine Lamblin, sleep doctor at the La Louvière private hospital in Lille and member of the scientific committee of the Ramsay Santé Foundation.
