Circadian Rythm. The body's natural clock

Recently, a friend of mine asked me the reason why a person does not feel hungry whenever he wakes up in the morning. Infact, one could even delay breakfast for as long as one wants and would still find the strength to carry out his normal morning activities without feeling hungry or tired.

This is because at around 4am while you are still asleep, a hormone ( chemical messenger in the blood ) is instructed by the brain to breakdown the glycogen and fat stored in your body cells into glucose which is then released into the blood.

As we all know, glucose is the primary source of energy in the body. Hence in the morning, the glucose levels in the blood is elevated than what it was the previous night.

By the way, another chemical messenger known as cortisone is released when you wake in the morning. This is the hormone that motivates you to go for your goals. It tells you:

" Hey bilqees, it's a brand new day and it's time to go exercise, take your bath, and go out and make more money."

So wether you take breakfast or not, the body have already take care of that for you. The body ain't stupid.

In addition, this is how you lose weight by regulating the sugar levels in your blood and live healthy. Well, contrary to popular belief, breakfast is not the most important meal of the day. Only eat when you are hungry and not out of habit.

All this processes are made possible by a phenomenon known as the circadian Rythm. It is made up of a group of cells located in the hypothalamus, found on the forehead. The circadian Rythm is responsible for the regulation and timing of the various activities and functions of the body. Hence it is also called the body's internal clock.

A major influence of this biological clock is on sleep. Daylight exposure causes this "clock" in the brain to relay impulses that stimulates alertness. This helps us to remain awake and working. Also when night falls, this clock causes the production of another chemical messenger called melatonin which prefers sleeps and causes you to remain asleep throughout the night.

That's the reason why you would always leave all activities when it's bedtime. Except in a situations when there is an excitement at higher areas of your brain which could be caused by worry, anxiety, depression etc. In that case, one might not be able to sleep since this clock would be turned off or overwhelmed.

Someone who's unable to sleep because he have alot in his mind would definitely be looking fatigued, dull and demotivated during the day. He might not have the appetite for food. His body system is not operating optimally since the circadian Rythm has been messed up. Also, when he eventually sleeps, he would sleep for longer periods and also struggle to wake up.

The reason why babies sleep so much during the first weeks and months is because they haven't developed the circadian Rythm yet. As they grow up, their body system and metabolism develops too. They also begin to adapt to the day and night changes gradually and the foundation of circadian Rythm or biological clock is laid.

On a lighter note, children could sleep for longer hours during the day and night is due the fact that they have no worries troubling their brains. They niether have money or relationship problems 😆.... Their only worry is food and they don't have to think too much about it before it is given to them.

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Thanks for reading 😁♥️