Under the pressure of daily haste is not only our consciousness, the body suffers even at the cellular level. Is it possible to win the endless race, and if so, at what cost? What happens to the human body, which is forced to constantly rush?
Talking about biorhythms has long become a commonplace, which does not prevent almost every one of us from living in a protracted conflict with our own body. “There are two types of biological clocks in our bodies,” explains neuropsychologist Marc Schwob*. – The former work according to natural rhythms, determining the cycles of hormone production, cell renewal and organ functioning. The latter (located in the cerebral cortex) allow us to align our time with social cues, whether it’s the wake-up call or the start of a business meeting.” It is the second “clock” that affects our lives more than the length of the day or temperature fluctuations. Therefore, we often live faster than nature intended, in order to keep up with the pace of modern life. But our body can’t keep up with us.
“Our biorhythms have been formed over the centuries – as a reaction to the natural change of winter and summer, day and night” Alexander Kaplan, psychophysiologist
Psychophysiologist Alexander Kaplan is categorical: “From the point of view of physiology, living contrary to natural rhythms is definitely harmful. Biorhythms of living organisms have been formed for millions of years as an adaptive response to external changes – the change of winter and summer, day and night. And a colossal shift in our way of life has taken place in the last half century. We simply do not have the physiological resources to ensure a normal existence in this mode. The result is obesity, hypertension, nervous disorders, diabetes. Doctors see the reasons for these and other problems in desynchronization with our natural rhythm. Moreover, the Center for Cancer Research in Lyon (France) in 2007 recognized night work as a potentially carcinogenic factor**.
Julius Caesar’s heirs
Limiting information saturation also affects our well-being. There are no barriers left: a phone call can catch us driving, shopping or having sex. Radio, television, the Internet bring down the flow of new information, and at work you have to simultaneously answer letters, participate in a meeting and study important documents. As a result, we are unable to relax because we are afraid of losing our vigilance. “Our alert system, which should activate in situations where you need to run away or defend yourself, is active almost constantly,” says Mark Schwob. “And stress hormones – cortisol, catecholamines, including adrenaline – are produced not when we urgently need them, but all the time.” Their excess in the body manifests itself as severe fatigue, inability to concentrate, fears, trembling, sweating of the hands. Is the fee too high? Moreover, our possibilities are far from unlimited – we need relaxation every 90 minutes.
“To be successful, you need to focus on something,” explains Alexander Kaplan. – The area of our concentration is sometimes called the “searchlight” of consciousness. And due to evolutionary reasons, the value of its “light field” is very small: this allows us to optimally use our resources. The rest is a matter of individual characteristics, genetics and, to a certain extent, training. Everyone has a central area of attention and a few peripheral ones. Julius Caesar, as you know, could read, write and talk at the same time. And perhaps by using peripheral attention, he could write or read better than many of those who were focused only on this. But by his own standards, he was probably best at one single case: the one that fell into the central sphere of attention.
Three ways to hit the beat
1. Give yourself time to wake up The body needs to smoothly exit the phase of REM sleep, during which the regeneration of nerve pathways and the “repair” of cells occur. “The stressful wake-up call is best replaced with lighting that mimics sunrise,” recommends Mark Schwob. “Morning light signals an increase in cortisol production, which helps to cope with the tasks of the coming day.”
2. Balance your diet Digestive biorhythms are answered by an “English” breakfast (cereals, dairy products, proteins). It raises carbohydrate levels after nocturnal hypoglycemia and creates an energy reserve for daytime activities. “Dinner should be simple: lean meats and vegetables to keep up with insulin and digestive juice cycles,” advises Mark Schwob. The dinner menu should be the same. A few magnesium-rich walnuts, hazelnuts, or almonds will signal the brain to start producing melatonin and get ready for bed.”
3. Try to rest during the day “Ideally, you need to add 30-40 minutes of daytime sleep to night sleep, at about 15-16 hours,” says Alexander Kaplan. – Then the body will cope with any load. But due to many reasons, we cannot afford daytime sleep, and often do not get enough sleep at night. What to do in this case? It helps a lot, sitting in a chair, close your eyes and relax for at least 10-15 minutes during the day – in the same period between 15 and 16 hours. You may not sleep, but the brain has time to record the passage of all sleep cycles and recover.” Another rule is not to neglect sleep until midnight, which experts consider to be of especially high quality – provided that we sleep in darkness and silence.
Laws of evolution
Of course, few people today need to get up at five in the morning and go to the field, and our activity has long ceased to depend on the duration of daylight hours. But life sometimes depends on the ability to drive a car, answering an urgent call … Alas, these arguments have little effect on nature. “Evolution is a slow process,” says Alexander Kaplan. “And no matter how much we convince ourselves that life has changed, which means that we must change, there is no hope that a person will be able to match the new rhythm of life.” So, what is left for us to save on sleep and pour coffee and energy drinks into ourselves in vain attempts to do everything that evolution has not prepared us for? “This is a dangerous path,” warns Alexander Kaplan. “Sleep is extremely important for the functioning of the body. And psychostimulants, which include caffeine, do not add strength, but only make you work hard. Probably, if you need to quickly finish an important matter, coffee will help. But after such stresses, you need to rest for two days so that the body recovers.
Looking for a way out
Artificial adaptation to the new pace of life can help. Modern diagnostics allows you to determine the internal rhythms of a person. And if you distribute the load, relax and even eat in accordance with them, then you can do much more. There are also ways of pharmacological adaptation. “Fatigue is created by several factors,” Alexander Kaplan explains. “The most important of these are hormonal changes and insufficient oxygen supply to the brain, so you can use drugs that improve brain blood supply and oxygen absorption.”
But there is another way – to live more naturally. Do not put off until the holidays the opportunity to run, play volleyball or chess, or even just walk in the evenings. Make love more often, laugh, calmly look into the distance. All these wonderful activities are also good because they stimulate the production of endorphins and neutralize stress hormones. “This way of life, practiced for a week, and preferably two, will help synchronize our natural and social clocks,” says Mark Schwob. Of course, ideally, it is better to compare them every day. But this is only possible if we first manage to reduce the speed …
*Author of the book Rythmes du corps, Odile Jacob, 2007.
** Study published on the Centre’s website www.iarc.fr.