Permanent Daylight Saving Time Would Be Awful for Our Circadian Rhythm
“Spring forward, fall back” could be no more, as Daylight Saving Time in the US could be made permanent. The issue resurfaced, as Americans say they are tired of moving the clocks twice a year and that we should just pick one. But did the government pick the wrong one?
The US has a long and complicated history with Daylight Saving Time — or what might be known better as “spring forward” time.Â
First enacted in 1918 during WWI as “wartime,” the measure was supposed to provide more daylight during working hours. Meanwhile, according to Michael Downing, author of “Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Savings Time,” the US Chamber of Commerce also liked it, as workers with more daylight after work were likely to stop, shop, and spend money on their way home.
It was repealed only to be brought back again during WWII, so there would be more daylight during working hours.
After World War II, there was a chaotic period where states picked whichever time standard they wanted, until 1966 when the “Uniform Time Act” made six months of Standard Time and six months of Daylight Saving Time.
This brings us to today, where people have different opinions on Daylight Saving Time, but most Americans want the clock change gone. A 2019 AP poll showed that 71 percent of Americans would like to quit changing the clocks twice per year versus 28 percent who want to keep it the way it is.
Now, the US Senate just passed a measure that would again make Daylight Saving Time permanent. Some people like sunlight later in the evening, especially during the summer.
But many, including medical professionals and safety experts, argue that “springing forward” can be hazardous to your health.
Beth Ann Malow, a professor of neurology and pediatrics at Vanderbilt University writes, in ScienceAlert, “[m]oving the clocks forward is not just an inconvenience. It is a shock to the human body and nature.”
She and her co-authors reviewed data that linked Daylight Saving Time to increased strokes, heart attacks, and sleep deprivation in teenagers. She explains that falling back to Standard Time is, “relatively benign.” But by artificially moving time forward it messes with our internal circadian rhythm — our internal, natural clock. Sunlight also wakes us up and improves alertness in the morning.
“Exposure to light later into the evening delays the brain's release of melatonin, the hormone that promotes drowsiness. This can interfere with sleep and cause us to sleep less overall, and the effect can last even after most people adjust to losing an hour of sleep at the start of daylight saving time,” Malow said.
If this isn’t enough evidence against Daylight Saving Time, then we should be reminded that the US tried this in the 1970s and it failed.
In 1974, President Richard Nixon signed into law permanent daylight savings time. At first, it was widely popular, but that dropped precipitously after Americans had to deal with month after month of pitch-black mornings. It was reversed just 16 months later.
Now after everything we have learned and know after 100 years of this experiment. Will we go with natural Circadian Standard Time or Daylight Saving Time?
The Senate approved the “Sunshine Protection Act” unanimously. The measure will move to the house of representatives where it’s future is uncertain.
Trouble Sleeping? Here Are 5 Ways to Reset Your Circadian Rhythm
Getting the proper amount of sleep can be a challenge, especially for those who travel often. Our circadian rhythms are a very complex balance between our internal clocks and the rotation of the Earth. The exact function of this hypersensitive, natural mechanism hasn’t been fully understood until recently and hopefully it can help shed some light on the issues that plague the sleep-deprived.
What is a Circadian Rhythm?
Last year, a team of scientists was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine for their work discovering the precise behavior of the proteins and genetic functions that regulate our sleep and waking patterns. The research of Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael Young uncovered a protein that accumulates at night and degrades throughout the day, signaling the secretion of certain hormones, such as melatonin which helps us fall asleep, and cortisol that helps us wake up. They made this discovery by studying fruit flies and found that every multicellular organism shares this same function to regulate a cyclical sleep/wake cycle.
Our circadian rhythms vary from person to person, meaning those who claim to be night owls and like to sleep in aren’t lazy, but are actually subject to a different circadian rhythm than those who rise early. Some scientists are calling the grogginess these people face, when forced to submit to society’s business hours, “social jet lag.”
The majority of us ascribe to a similar rhythm, based on the rising and setting of the sun, but even if you have an average rhythm, that cycle gets easily thrown off by a number of factors. In fact, most of us have an internal rhythm that is longer than the 24-hour cycle our society runs on, meaning our bodies must regulate our circadian rhythm on a daily basis to maintain that schedule.
