Sleep experts say that the time change comes as a jolt to our internal clocks, and it can take as long as two weeks for our bodies to adjust. Recent European studies show that Daylight Savings Time essentially disrupts our body’s natural tracking of dawn. This disruption affects our moods, our ability to get things done and our ability to concentrate.

If our bodies could adjust naturally then the change would not be so disruptive. Unfortunately, there are many aspects of our lives that depend on unnatural signals (odd work schedules that keep us working late at night or doing shift work, pre-dawn wakeup calls, drugs to keep us either asleep or awake). Unlike our cavemen ancestors, who let the sun dictate their day-night cycles and define the hours of rest and work, we let the demands of everyday life decide when we eat, sleep and work.

According to Dr. Victoria Sudelescu, a sleep expert with the University of Cincinnati Sleep Center, the “spring forward” clock change in March is more difficult to adjust to than the “fall back “change. To adjust to the change she recommends at least eight hours of sleep in order to stay healthy and alert during the day.

Yours in good health,