5 Science-Backed Tips to Survive Daylight Savings
From tuning your natural sleep patterns to what to consider when choosing a melatonin supplement
Daylight saving time will start at 2AM on Sunday, March 12, and we’re all about to lose an hour of sleep. That doesn’t mean it has to be unbearable though. Here’s a look at what science says are the best ways to make the adjustment pleasant:
1. Step out into natural light
As daylight savings approaches, spend more time getting natural exposure to light and dark. Unlike our sudden time change, nature’s light patterns change gradually. Tuning into this will get your body’s hormones geared in so your sleep cycles match the time change. This could mean spending more time outside or keeping your curtains open when you’re at home.
2. Make small adjustments to your bedtime
Going into a time change blind-sighted, and napping or just being really sleepy the next day will only disrupt your sleep more. Instead, slowly introduce earlier sleep times during the month before. Try moving your sleep earlier by five minutes every day until you get to an hour. These changes are small enough to comfortably adjust your biology over time.
3. Help your electronics help you
Time your own electronic use to the natural patterns of light outside. This means maybe using a light that’s timed to turn on at the natural morning hours if your curtains are normally closed. Then at night, limit using computer and phone screens because the blue light that they emit disturbs our body’s mechanism of regulating sleep.
4. Program your body to feel tired
Practice habits during the day to get yourself relaxed and tired, so you can sleep earlier. This means exercising, preferably outdoors, skipping caffeine after noon, and eating dinner earlier. Our body’s sleep and wake cycles are matched to what and when we eat. For example, a glass of milk before bed can help increase your natural melatonin levels, which will make you sleepy, and walnuts with its magnesium can help with relaxation.
5. Give your melatonin levels a friendly nudge
Melatonin is a natural hormone that we make when the lights dim and darkness begins. It’s most famously known as the “sleep hormone” because it’s the main hormone that regulates sleepiness. As we get older, we make less and less, and our own melatonin cycles get disrupted if we’re changing sleep times like when we’re jet-lagged or dealing with daylight savings. So, if you’re still feeling wide awake an hour or so before you want to sleep, you may want to consider taking a melatonin supplement to give your sleepiness a extra boost.
We’ve learned from testing 30 popular brands that choosing a quality product can be tricky though. Supplements aren’t well-regulated, so you could find yourself taking much more or less than you’d expect from the packaging label. The products we tested had as little as 1% of the label claim, and others had as much as 50% more. That’s a big problem. Taking too much is actually counterproductive to sleep. Contaminants are also an issue for supplements.
The takeaway is: you want to be informed when you shop for supplements. Check with your doctor and find out what’s really inside a product before taking anything. All of our melatonin testing reports and reviews are free on Labdoor.com.
