We hear the term circadian rhythm thrown around a lot (even by me) and yet most people don’t really know what it is or value it.

When I was younger I used to work swing shift (3pm to 12am) and I would get home around 1:00am or 1:30am (depending on traffic and how late I had to stay at work).

By that time I was exposed to massive amounts of blue light and nnEMF radiation from working in a data center all day. It was on the 13th floor so being that high off the surface of the earth, I was losing electrons at a massive rate.

These four things (blue light, nnEMF, elevation, and going to bed late) really messed up my sleep for a long time. It took years to change my circadian rhythm and get to sleep earlier each night. Now I’m exhausted around 8:30pm and generally I’m in bed before 10pm already asleep.

Back when I was working the swing shift in the data center I’d get home at 1am and I would be wired. I wasn’t tired at all. Since I wasn’t tired, I’d get something to eat (I don’t recommend eating after sunset now), watch something on TV, take a shower and try to wind down.

I didn’t know why I wasn’t tired. I just figured I was a night owl and my sleep “chronotype” was set and that’s who I was.

Little did I know I was doing all the wrong things that wreck your circadian rhythm.

I’ve normalized my daily rhythm so much so that if I tried to go back to working the swing shift working under blue lights, I couldn’t do it. I’m so sensitive to EMF exposure and lighting (which you should be if you’re healthy) that I consider it a poison. If you ate poison, you’d notice it immediately.

Let’s dive into what your circadian rhythm actually is and how it works.

What is Your Circadian Rhythm?

Unfortunately people don’t understand what a circadian rhythm is and how to care for it. Since it’s not visible, they treat it with little to no care at all. This makes me sad because your circadian rhythm is one of the most important aspects of your health and longevity.

Your circadian rhythm according to the National Cancer Institute is…

The natural cycle of physical, mental, and behavior changes that the body goes through in a 24-hour cycle. Circadian rhythms are mostly affected by light and darkness and are controlled by a small area in the middle of the brain. They can affect sleep, body temperature, hormones, appetite, and other body functions. Abnormal circadian rhythms may be linked to obesity, diabetes, depression, bipolar disorder, seasonal affective disorder, and sleep disorders such as insomnia. Circadian rhythm is sometimes called the “body’s clock.”

What’s missing from this definition is the bidirectional relationship between circadian rhythms and sleep, body temperature, hormones, appetite and other body functions. Yes these things if altered can negatively impact circadian rhythms but the opposite is also true.

Your circadian rhythm if altered can also negatively impact these bodily functions.

I like to think of your circadian rhythm as an organ or gland like your eyes or liver. How would you like it if your eyes were removed? Not being able to see would be horrible.

How about removing your liver? Your liver has over 500 physiological functions. Some people say it’s the most important organ in your body.

The problem with your circadian rhythm is that it’s not something you can scan or look at with a test.

Since this is the case many people don’t really think their circadian rhythm is that improtant.

Humans are diurnal creatures. That means we live according to daily day and night cycles.

These cycles are critical for our health. Every organ goes through a cleansing and detoxification phase once per day. On the opposite side of the day roughly 12 hours apart, that same organ goes through a tissue building and regrowth phase (called “the shunt”).

Every gland and organ, must cleanse itself and rebuild tissue that’s been damaged. This happens at opposite times of the day according to chronobiotic principles.

The same is true with each individual cell in our bodies.

The question is how does each cell know what time of day it is in order to carry out these functions?

It turns out the mitochondria in each cells communicates via “extremely low frequency” light emissions to the suprachiasmatic nucleus located in the hypothalamus in the brain. Sometimes people call them biphotonic emissions or weak electric fields.

Our body actually emits light inside through synaptic communication of biophotons. It’s pretty crazy to think how that even works.

Each cell is in constant communication to the SCN to regulate their internal clock timing.

If you have a broken circadian rhythm, you’re going to be sick, have no energy and you’re going to sleep very poorly. If you measured with an Oura Ring or Whoop Band your sleep score would be in the 20s most likely.

How To Reset Your Circadian Rhythm

As I mentioned my circadian rhythm was completely wrecked when I was working swing shift. Some of my symptoms were waking up at 11am each morning but only getting maybe 4 or 5 hours of interrupted sleep. I was exhausted all the time. My energy was always low. I got sick every Fall and Winter because my immune system was shot.

I couldn’t put on any muscle because even though I was working out, I wasn’t getting enough deep sleep to recover and build muscle.

I felt like I had zero drive or motivation to do anything other than try to “get through the day“.

Since your circadian rhythm is primarily influenced by light dark cycles, light is going to be the primary way your set your diurnal rhythms.

How do you do that? The first thing you do upon waking is AVOID looking at ANY man made light device. That could be your phone, a flashlight, a lightbulb, laptop, TV or iPad.

Before any light hits your eyes, make sure the first light you look at is the sun. Watching the sunrise is THE most important thing you can do to positively influence the daily setting of your circadian rhythm.

After you stand on the ground with your bare feet, looking in the direction of the sun for 5 to 10 minutes (longer is better) during sunrise, then go inside and start your day.

When you’re inside and working under LED or fluorescent lighting, you’re going to want to cover your skin from this toxic blue light as much as possible.

Why?

There are photoreceptors called “opsins” on your skin that detect the light environment you’re in. If the light is man made it’s going to have too much blue wavelength relative to yellow, orange and red wavelengths. It’s also going to be devoid of UVA, UVB and IR (infrared) spectrums of light. This kind of light causes skin cancer and other forms of cancer. It can even cause blindness.

So modern lighting causes modern diseases and it negatively alters your daily circadian rhthm.

The light you’re exposed to when inside should match exactly the same wavelenght, frequency, color temperature and Kelvin as what’s being emitted from the sun at that exact time. Since man made light bulbs cannot do this, I recommend opening windows to get full spectrum sunlight into your home or office.

If you cannot do that, the next best option is to invest in some circadian light bulbs that are a little closer to what nature intended.

If you’re looking at a screen, I would use special software to  protect your eyes from this blue light. On top of that, I also wear yellow glasses during the day, and then when the sun sets I switch to orange glasses.

The other piece that’s really important is that around 8:00pm I’ll take a melatonin capsule (make sure you’re taking it right in order for it to work!) and then switch my orange glasses to my red glasses as I’m going through my nighttime sleep routine to get ready for bed.

Another way to reset your circadian rhythm is to avoid eating after sunset. This helps increase the time you’re doing intermittent fasting. A couple books that discuss this are The Daylight Diet and Yes, No, Maybe Chronobiotic Nutrition.

Circling back to the light/dark night/day cycles is to get sunlight during the day. You don’t have to lay in the sun or even be in the sun for a long duration of time.

I work from home with twin boys six years old and they’re always around. The way this looks for me is to go outside for 1 to 2 minutes throuought the day.

I’ll do an hour or two of work, then go out to our backyard and stand barefoot on the grass for a couple minutes at a time. I’ll check our fruit trees, pet the dogs and look in the direction of the sun. I never look directly at the sun (this is called sungazing which I only do upon sunrise and at sunset) during the mid day.

By doing this I’m grounding to the earth receiving free electrons and discharging built up static voltage in the body. I’m also receiving photons of light from the sun and resetting my circadian rhythm. As an added bonus, I’m also producing melatonin in my pineal gland by doing this.

Generally I’ll do this 4 or 5 times per day. I also do my weekly workouts grounded in the sun. Right now I workout 3 times per week for an hour or so.

I like it because it gives me time to listen to podcasts, get grounded, receive sunlight and get exercise all at the same time.

Win/win/win/win 🙂

Another way you reset your circadian rhythm is to  avoid rubber sole shoes, sunglasses (when applicable), contact lenses and clothes. You don’t have to get a sunburn or be out for a long time. A few minutes at a time will help attune you to nature’s daily 24 hour cycles.

When evening comes, embrace the darkness. Avoid lights as much as possible.

If you follow what I’m saying for 30 days in a row, you’ll be a changed human.

Normal Cortisol Cycles

Normal cortisol levels produced by your adrenal glands will rise around 6am in response to ambient lighting and circadian timing. This is normal and as a result melatonin starts being reduced. This circadian timing switch is controlled primarily by light.

If your cortisol levels are not aligned to their proper light dark cycles, then they could be spiking at 4am instead of 7am. If this happens, you’ll wake up possibly have trouble falling back asleep.

Here’s an example of somebody who has a broken circadian rhythm.

How To Normalize Cortisol

The question is how do we normalize the secretion of cortisol levels in the body. Cortisol is helpful but must be timed to specific diurnal patterns in order to work properly. You can take cortisol in supplement form which I generally don’t recommend unless you read the book called Safe Uses of Cortisol first.

The primary way to regulate cortisol is through stress regulation and proper light management.

With that said there are some supplements that can help as well.

• B Vitamins and Ashwagandha:
  • A daily dose of 100 mg of a B-vitamin complex and 250 mg to 500 mg of ashwagandha can help “control” cortisol levels. Control meaning regulating the intensity of cortisol spikes.
• DHEA:
  • DHEA is another hormone produced by the adrenals that counters some of the negative effects of cortisol. When cortisol is elevated, DHEA is many times suppressed, and supplemental DHEA helps restore balance. Just remember, DHEA must be delivered transdermal (on the skin) and not under the tongue for it to be effective.
• Vitamin C and Pantothenic Acid:
  • More vitamin C, in the form of sodium ascorbate—at least 1 gram three times a day, and 1 gram of pantothenic acid twice a day.
• Adaptogens:
  • Adaptogens are just plant extracts that increase resistance to the adverse effects of stress by targeting adrenal hormones. Popular adaptogens include:
    • Ashwagandha: Reduces cortisol levels when taken daily.
    • Rhodiola: Boosts adrenal function and improves the body’s resistance to stress.
    • Panax Ginseng: Helpful for both overactive and underactive adrenals.
• Cordyceps Sinensis:
  • Supports DHEA production. Typical dose: 2,400 mg of a standardized water and ethanol extract of Cordyceps sinensis strain Cs-4.

Conclusion

Your circadian rhythm and cortisol levels go hand in hand and are both controlled and regulated primarily by the same thing, exposure to correct lighting. In general, if it’s a man made light, it’s going to affect your sleep and health due to how it alters your circadian rhythm.

Avoid man made light as much as possible and embrace the light from God, the sun.

Questions:

1. What time do you wake up each morning?
2. Have you tried the tips mentioned here to regulate cortisol?

Comment below!