17 tips to improve your sleep! …and everything else you always wanted to know about biorhythms.

Table of contents

There is almost nothing in the body that does not significantly depend on the biorhythm. It regulates energy and hormone balance, metabolism, the immune system, stress resilience, physical performance, and so much more.  That is why it is so important to take this into account if we want to be healthy and happy. In fact, in my osteopathic practice, especially with chronic complaints and chronic pain, the regulation of biorhythms and sleep is indispensable.

What actually has the strongest influence on our biorhythm?

Light has the greatest influence on the biorhythm. Temperature also has an influence. If it is very warm, you cannot sleep, so heat leads to a delay. The factor of food or the time of the evening meal is less significant. However, we do not sleep as well if we eat late. Strong social activities with many stimuli in the evening can also contribute to a delay. (But honestly, a nice party once in a while certainly has other health-promoting effects.) Overall, delaying is much easier than advancing. We all know this. We are happy to let the night get longer in the evening. However, it is much more difficult to try to find sleep when we decide to go to bed earlier. This is also the reason why the journey from Germany to the USA is much easier for us to cope with than vice versa. This influence is even so strong that in NFL, NHL, and NBA games, teams from the West of the USA traveling East to play against teams from the East of the USA show twice as many successes as vice versa (Roy, Forest, 2018).  

The system of biological rhythms

Biological rhythms, like any oscillation, require a polarity in the organism between whose poles the back and forth of the oscillation can take place. This basic polarity is found, for example, in the autonomic nervous system in the form of the antagonists sympathetic and parasympathetic, which represent readiness for performance and readiness for recovery, respectively. The daily rhythm, mentioned as a basic unit of biological temporality by the natural physician Hufeland, actually represents a large oscillation between the sympathetically emphasized day and the vagally emphasized night. Within the framework of this oscillation, practically all physiological and even some anatomical parameters are changed with varying degrees of amplitude. Examples of physiological parameters are heart rate, body temperature, all body hormones, parameters of the immune system, as well as those of digestion. Anatomically, for example, body height and joint circumference as well as joint mobility change. Every morning at about 6:00 AM, we are at our tallest and joint swelling is most pronounced, which entails a simultaneous reduction in joint mobility and an increase in any joint complaints. In the evening at 8:00 PM, we are at our smallest. Contrary to intuition, this cyclic change in size is not, or not only, due to the strain on our skeleton from our body weight during the day. It can also be observed when test subjects are allowed to stand for 60 minutes and lie for 60 minutes in a 2-hour rhythm and the measurement is then carried out over 24 hours. Lifestyles that run counter to the natural order in the relationship between internal rhythm biology and external zeitgebers—here sunlight is particularly essential—represent a predisposition for diseases, while a rhythm-appropriate lifestyle provides the basis for health.

Here is some really cool and very practically relevant information for your health regarding biorhythms

• Artificial light, especially in the evening with a high proportion of blue light, is a significant risk factor for disease, as it disrupts the biorhythms of many people.
• Chronically ill people often seem to show shifts in their daily rhythms (Kanikowska et al. 2015; Moore-Ede et al. 1983; Luce 1970). For example, changes in sleep cycles impair the immune system (Bollinger et al. 2010).  
• For individuals, such as athletes in relation to sleep-wake behavior, jet lag during international competitions, the timing of food intake, training routines, and types of movement, etc., circadian considerations play a major role (Drust et al. 2005; Hammouda et al.). 2013). Thus, differences in time-dependent peak performance can be attributed to internal physiological mechanisms and circadian influences (Facer-Childs Brandstaetter 2015). 

• Daily recurring disturbances can affect performance, health, and well-being (Horne Moseley 2011; Roenneberg et al. 2013; Samuels 2009).
• According to new findings, chronotypes such as the so-called late ‘owl’ phenotype or the so-called early ‘lark’ phenotype do not exist. What does exist are people with different sensitivities to blue light. People who react more sensitively to blue light find it harder to fall asleep when exposed to blue light in the evening—and accordingly become so-called ‘owls’ (Swaminathan et al 2017, Chellappa et al 2012, Cajochen et al 2006). This is truly a great insight, because you can actually change it if you are one of those who really get going in the evening and can’t get out of bed in the morning, but your job requires you to show up for work smiling at 8 AM. Because if you belong to the so-called owls—like I do—you just have to be more careful than the so-called ‘lark type’ to avoid blue light in the evening. For instance, two days of sleeping in nature or in natural light are enough for even the so-called ‘owls’ to show normal sleep behavior again, i.e., falling asleep earlier (Wright et al 2013). So, every now and then, get the sleeping bag out of the attic and enjoy a few days in nature—it’s also quite healthy in other ways, see the article: Forest and Health

• And did you know that one hour of tablet use with blue light in the evening reduces the amount of melatonin by about 50% (Wood et al 2013). Do as I do and download a night filter (also works with computers and cell phones); everything will appear a bit reddish, but I can assure you, you will really fall asleep more easily. And maybe sometimes it works without it (— well, for me unfortunately rarely).
• As early as 2002, it was shown that in test participants who were vaccinated against the flu in a state of sleep deprivation, the antibody titer afterwards was only half as high as in the control group (Spiegel et al 2002). Therefore, sleep well before the COVID-19 vaccination. It might also be interesting that osteopathy can improve the vaccination response (Jackson et al 1998).
• Excessive alcohol consumption in the evening disturbs sleep, because melatonin also acts as an alcohol detoxifier in the body. Why do you sleep anyway? Because glial cells in the brain ‘steal’ all available energy and the brain then has no more energy available. The result is that the brain is virtually shut down, a kind of comatose sleep that is not restful. If a lot of alcohol is consumed regularly, there is a possibility that the pineal gland shrinks, which leads to a chronic melatonin deficiency. (If only I hadn’t written that, now I probably have to stick to it myself. But hey, it’s about excessive alcohol consumption—a glass of red wine every now and then is OK)

17 tips to sustainably improve sleep

First of all, light is by far the most important influencing factor for sleep. Consequently, intensive light stimuli in the morning and blue light filters in the evening, alongside melatonin intake, represent the essential approaches to sleep regulation.  

1. Light therapy in the morning (sunlight or daylight lamps with at least 10,000 lux): 20 to 30 minutes; this can also be used in the winter months if you are tired in the morning.
2. In the evening, you should not expose yourself to blue light. You can, for example, use blue light filters on your computer and cell phone or blue light blocking glasses (Sasseville et al 2006). Furthermore, lamps emitting blue light should not be used in the evening if possible. Blue light is even capable of suppressing melatonin production through closed eyes (Figueiro et al 2013). The illuminance (lux) does not matter; it is actually about the blue light component. A candle has no blue light.
3. Develop a sleep routine, i.e., go to bed at the same time whenever possible, or if it happens to be later, it is usually better to get up at the same time anyway.
4. Sleep outdoors more often, e.g., in the garden or in the forest. This helps because light exerts the strongest influence on sleep. It is surprising, however, that sleeping in nature normalizes the sleep rhythm after just two days (Stothard et al 2017, Wright et al 2013, Swaminathan et al 2017). Even more astonishing is that this has a lasting effect and can continue for weeks.
5. Take 3-5 mg of melatonin about 30 minutes before going to bed. Possible mechanism of action: Melatonin cannot cross the blood-brain barrier, but when it reaches the intestine, melatonin production there decreases, so that tryptophan can be used more strongly in the brain as a building block for melatonin. Melatonin also acts as an antioxidant and protects the structure and function of organelles. Apart from that, it also stimulates several antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase, and inhibits pro-oxidative nitric oxide synthase (Reiter et al 2002). Long-term intake of melatonin is nevertheless controversial, at least in Germany, as the effects of permanent intake have not yet been clarified.
6. A hot shower can be taken before going to bed.
7. Biorhythms can also be influenced by exercise, although the effect is not large. With a normotonic biorhythm, exercise does not interfere. With a disturbed rhythm, exercise can help regulate the biorhythm. During exercise, body temperature rises, then it drops again.  
8. The bedroom temperature should ideally be around 16 to 18°C. If it is too cold, this promotes muscle tension. If it is too warm, one sweats. Also ensure good ventilation, as fresh air promotes sleep.  Optimal indoor humidity would be 50 to 60%. At the beginning, it should even be slightly lower, as it increases during sleep. Also, choose a comfortable mattress for sleeping.  
9. Perform only calming activities two hours before sleeping, such as listening to soothing music or reading relaxing books, and avoid exposure to activating social activities in the evening.
10. Eat only a small meal in the evening if possible.
11. Consume foods containing tryptophan in the evening: tuna, pumpkin seeds, spirulina, cashew nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, amaranth, egg, buckwheat
12. Vitamin B12 (reduces light-induced disruption of melatonin), B3, B6 (support serotonin secretion), B9 (folic acid) 
13. Sleep-promoting herbal tea: Humulus lupulus (hops), Valeriana officinalis (valerian), Melissa officinalis (lemon balm), Lavandula angustifolia (lavender), Passiflora incarnata (passion flower), Hypericum perforatum (St. John’s wort), e.g., Phyto-beridin or Neurapas
14. Avoid excessive alcohol consumption
15. Avoid coffee, black and green tea, chocolate, and tobacco from the afternoon onwards. 
16. To get children to bed after a vacation before the first day of school: give a very hot shower and a one-time dose of melatonin.
17.  Jet lag prevention: a) when flying from West to East: take an evening flight if possible and take 2 to 3 mg of melatonin when boarding the plane, and try to sleep after a meal with a sleep mask, possibly with a sleeping aid such as Zolpidem 10 mg. b) when flying from East to West: take a morning flight if possible, eat only a small meal to avoid getting tired, drink plenty of fluids but no alcohol, watch movies or perform other activities, stay awake. After arrival, go out into the sun without sunglasses. Have a meal at about 8 PM and take 2 to 3 mg of melatonin before going to bed for the next one to three nights.  

Further aids to falling asleep:

• Anuloma viloma (alternate nostril breathing) for harmonization and calming: inhale through the left nostril for about 5-10 counts while closing the right nostril with the thumb of the right hand. Then exhale through the right nostril for 5-10 counts, this time closing the left nostril with the ring finger and little finger of the right hand. Then inhale through the right nostril (ring finger and little finger continue to close the left nostril) and exhale through the left nostril again, for which the thumb of the right hand closes the right nostril. Repeat this cycle for 5 to 10 minutes.  

1. Important: Inhalation and exhalation should be felt as very pleasant. There should never be a feeling of shortness of breath. The inhalation and exhalation time should be of equal length and can be shortened or lengthened according to your own capacity.  
2. After some practice, you can also try to lengthen the exhalation, e.g., inhale for 5 counts and exhale for 10 counts. 
3. Pay particular attention to a relaxed mouth, jaw, eye, and abdominal region.

• Another breathing and visualization exercise consists of visualizing a bright light at the pelvic floor or at the lower end of the spine in an upright, relaxed posture. During inhalation, pull the light up along the spine to the pineal gland.  

The area of the pineal gland can be localized by imagining a line from the forehead to about the middle of the back of the head and a second line from the top of one auricle to the top of the other auricle. The intersection of both lines marks approximately the region of the pineal gland. During exhalation, the light is held at the top in the pineal gland. With the next inhalation, this light is pulled up again. In the course of the exercise, you will have the impression that the light in the area of the pineal gland becomes brighter and brighter. Repeat this exercise for about 5 to 10 minutes. You can also gently tense the pelvic floor while pulling the light up. The tongue can be placed loosely against the palate.

• Trataka: Constant gazing at a candle flame located at eye level at a distance of about 35 cm, for 5 to 10 minutes. An upright and relaxed posture and calm breathing are important. The tongue can be placed loosely against the palate. After the candle has been blown out, sit with closed eyes until the light impression of the flame fades.   
• Avoid electromagnetic interference fields during sleep (Lerchl et al 2007); see also the article Tips for Reducing Electrosmog

Most of the information is also contained in my book “Craniosacral Osteopathy” 7th ed. from Thieme Verlag 2019 as well as in the “Guide to Visceral Osteopathy” from Elsevier 2020.  Good luck with a good night’s sleep!

Literature

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