Tonight we turn the clocks back and gain an hour of sleep.
The rest of nature will stay in the same time zone and on the same circadian rhythm it’s been using for a long time. Our bodies will too. They aren’t going to jog an hour just because we told them to.
This graphic from Wikimedia Commons looks complicated but it shows why this is going to happen. Our bodies have a circadian rhythm that triggers on daylight.
Click on the image to see the original graphic — and larger print — showing our circadian rhythm at the equinox. Since we have only 10.5 hours of daylight right now in Pittsburgh, the top of the graph is probably compressed. Sunrise today is 7:51am (where the graphic says 6:00). Sunset today is 18:15 (where the graphic says 18:00).
But tomorrow morning we will be magically transported to the Rio de Janiero time zone.
Until my circadian rhythm adjusts I’m not going to be myself.
(image by Yassine Mrabet from Wikimedia Commons. Click on the image to see the original)
Interesting that this graph shows max testosterone secretion at 9 AM.
A lot of men don’t know (if they ever get their testosterone serum level tested), and even a lot of doctors don’t know that T levels are best measured in early morning. After that the readings are unreliable and variable.
From: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003707.htm
“The recommended time of day to have a blood sample taken for this test is between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m.”
So according to this graph, best T levels (read most reliable) should probably be done before 9 AM.
I particularly love the move back to standard time; I never liked anyone pushing me forward into anything; like the cows in the barn who still get milked at their own time I love being backed up to start my day, of course it means darkness comes earlier But I swear that I have always been one of those people who never adjusted to daylight savings; it was only used at a time when big mfg plants wanted more light for the workers so with wonderful light saving bulbs & electricity we really do not have to have these “adjustments” Animals have it better because they have awareness except the faithful sun that still rises & sets on its own time. So much for an old lady’s thoughts. Faith Cornell