“...living in our modern environments
contributes to late circadian timing
regardless of season and that a weekend
camping trip can reset our clock rapidly.”
A Camping Trip Might Help You Sleep
e all know lack of sleep can be a huge
productivity killer. When our sleep cycle is
off or we aren’t getting nearly enough Z’s,
we can feel the effects begin to take a toll on
our work performance. So how can we reset?
According to researchers reporting in Current Biology in
February 2017, a camping weekend might do the trick.
“Late circadian and sleep timing in modern society are
associated with negative performance and health outcomes such
as morning sleepiness and accidents, reduced work productivity
and school performance, substance abuse, mood disorders,
diabetes, and obesity,” says Kenneth Wright of the University of
Colorado Boulder and lead contact in the study. “Our findings
demonstrate that living in our modern environments contributes
to late circadian timing regardless of season and that a weekend
camping trip can reset our clock rapidly.”
To conduct the study, Wright and his team sent five active
people camping for a week in the chilly Colorado winter, right
around the time of the winter solstice when the days were at their
shortest — no flashlights or cell phones allowed — and watched
what would happen to their sleep and hormonal rhythms.
W
With increased time spent outdoors, people in the study
started going to bed at a more reasonable hour. Their internal
clocks, measured by the timing of when melatonin levels began
to rise in their bodies, shifted more than two and a half hours
earlier. Their sleeping patterns followed these changes in
melatonin levels and people went to sleep earlier.
The researchers didn’t stop there. They were curious whether
a camping trip in the summer would also shift the clock, and it
did. This time, they sent nine active people camping while
another five stayed at home. A weekend spent camping prevented
the typical weekend pattern of staying up late and sleeping in and
prevented individuals’ circadian clocks from being shifted even
later.
The findings show that people are responsive to seasonal
changes in daylight just as other animals are. While our modern
conveniences may leave us out of synch, our clocks can be readily
reset with light exposure.
If a person wants to go to bed at an earlier hour, then a
weekend spent camping could be just the thing, Wright says. So
pack up the gear and head into the wilderness for a weekend to
reset your clock and get your productivity back on track. n
June 2017
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