The app- My circadian Clock

Detta kan läsas på svenska här

Today, the day after Russia tried to invade Ukraine, I downloaded an app called My circadian clock. By taking a photo of what I eat or drink during each day and night for two weeks and noting when and what I eat, and by noting my exercise activities during the same period, this app will map my circadian rhythm for these activities and it will tell me how my biological clock works.

 

It is about how humans but also animals and plants have adapted to how light changes during the day and night. At the equator, day and night have the same duration, but up in the north and in the south it is more complicated. There you can have midnight sun in the summer and the winters can be very dark. In the 19th century, this biological system was attacked by the electric light, and nowadays most of us do not have the habits of our ancestors. We do not get up when the sun rises and we do not go to bed at sunset. This has damaged our biological master clock, the circadian rhythm and there is a lot of science about the consequences. Especially some professionals like shiftworkers have major problems. They are not the only ones - for example in Europe, the population spends between 80 and 90 percent of their time indoors.

 

Anyway, with the app I take a snapshot of the food I eat, record time and what I eat. I also record my exercises in the same way. It is possible to register when you sleep, but I do not because I think it would be difficult. After two weeks I get a result and by looking at it I can make my biological clock better. Wow, this is really exciting.

 

This is a study and I plan to continue with the app. An exciting result from the same researcher Dr. Panda at the Salk Institute Calif. is that it is more important to limit eating to the circadian cycle by eating for a certain period of time up to twelve hours. In the study, two groups ate the same amount of food but one group did so for a certain period of time and the other did so at any time during the day and night. When the study was over, the group that ate at a certain time had lost weight and other parameters were also better.