This is why sleep experts think we should abolish Daylight Saving Time

While it takes only a few days for most Canadians to adjust to the change between daylight savings time and standard time, sleep experts say the biweekly time travel harms sleep and has a negative impact on the body’s internal clock.

“The internal body clock essentially aligns itself with the solar clock — the external light-dark environment,” said Dr. Michael Mak, a psychiatrist and sleep medicine expert at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health.

“Any mismatch between your internal body clock and the external light-dark cycle causes significant health problems.”

Instead of switching back and forth between Daylight Savings Time (DST) and Standard Time (ST), Mak and others who study circadian rhythms Say we should set our clocks permanently to standard time because it’s better suited to the body’s natural rhythms and better for our health.

Moving forward is more harmful than falling backward.

Rebecca Robillard, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa who directs clinical sleep research at the school’s Institute of Mental Health Research (IMHR), says the evidence suggests the spring change to DST is more harmful than an hour increase in the fall.

“In many cases we are losing an hour of sleep,” he said. diet Host Dr. Brian Goldman.

“This is important because a lot of the population is already sleep-deprived,” says Robillard, who is also co-director of the University of Ottawa’s Sleep Lab.

The change in DST has been linked to an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and digestive system problems, as well as childbirth and pregnancy issues. according to research.

Countries far from the equator that experience large variations in daylight hours throughout the year adopt DST as a way to take advantage of longer daylight hours during spring and summer.

As a result, Robillard says, Canadians actually sleep a little worse during DST because we stay up later to take advantage of both the warmer weather and longer evenings.

“You would expect that we would also wake up a little later so that we could function, but because of work and family responsibilities and all that, our social pressures cut our sleep short,” she said.

Experts say follow standard time

Both BC And Ontario has passed legislation to permanently adopt DST, eliminating the problems associated with the twice-yearly switch. In both cases those efforts depended on neighboring states and provinces agreeing to do the same.

“The first time I talked to politicians about this, one of the things that came up was the alignment with the (New York Stock Exchange),” Robillard said.

But she says there is a consensus among sleep researchers in Canada that it would be better to stick to a standard schedule instead.

“This is the natural profile of sun exposure that we should be getting,” said Robillard, co-chair of the Canadian Sleep Research Consortium.

“Permanent DST would be an artificial, crooked way of circumventing our clocks that might be fun socially, but wouldn’t be biologically established.”

York University professor Patricia Lakin-Thomas, who runs the school’s Clock Lab, says adopting permanent DST could also cause problems during the fall and winter.

“The problem with DST in a place like Toronto is that if we were on DST year-round, you wouldn’t see the sunrise until 9 a.m. in the middle of winter,” he said.

Saskatchewan is sole province It does not follow DST, although there are some communities bordering Alberta that change their clocks. A report submitted The Canadian Sleep Society argued that Saskatchewan residents would be “severely impacted by winter DST.”

A Liberal MP earlier this OctoberA private member’s bill was introduced to abolish DST in Canada.

This bill probably will not be passed in Parliament quickly.

Prime your body, then stick to a regular schedule

In the meantime, experts say the best way to get ahead of the time change is to adjust your schedule by 15 minutes a few days before the clocks shift.

Robillard says that staying active as well as trying to maintain a regular sleep and eating schedule will help ease the transition between daylight savings and standard time.

“However, be careful not to do (exercise) too close to bedtime… because then you may need to activate your system a little more and that sends mixed signals to your biological clock that it may be time to wake up and be active.”

Robillard cautions that sleep cannot be trusted.

“You can’t sleep earlier and make up for the loss of sleep.”