The Dr. Josh Axe Show - FIX Your Circadian Rhythm for Better Sleep, Balanced Hormones & Weight Loss

Starting point is 00:00:00 If you've been doing everything right, eating clean, exercising, but somehow you're still not feeling your best, your energy's dragging, your memory is slipping and it's frustrating because you know there's more to your potential. Well, what if the issue isn't just in your routine, but it's deep down inside your cells? You know, you're investing in the best supplements, working out regularly and sticking to a clean diet. but if your cells are stuck in what's called cell danger response, all the hard work might not be paying off as it should. Think of your cells like a house under renovation. You can bring in the highest quality materials like the best supplements in clean foods, but if the workers inside the house or are on lockdown because of a storm, nothing gets done. The materials just pile up unused. That's what happens when your cells are in CDR. They can't. fully use the good stuff you're giving them. Getting out of CDR, the cell danger response, is the key to unlocking your body's full potential. When your cells are no longer in protective

Starting point is 00:01:07 mode, they can finally use the nutrients, hormones, and energy you're working so hard to provide. That's when everything starts to click. Your energy improves, your workouts become more efficient, and you start to feel like yourself again. Go to beyond bloodwork.com. to learn how to break free from cell danger response and make the effort pay off. Welcome to Dr. Josh Axe Show. We're each and every week we dive deep into the science and principles behind how to grow in body, mind, spirit, and take your health and your life to the next level. Did you know that your body has a built-in clock that holds the secret to better sleep,

Starting point is 00:01:49 more energy, regenerating your organs, and even living a longer life? And here's the reality, most of us are not living in tune with circadian rhythms and our biological clock and it's leading to disease. I truly believe that God created us to live in tune with nature to win the sunsets, the sunrises, the seasons we experience every single year. And if you're not living in tune with those and doing very specific things at specific times, it actually will destroy your health or keep you from healing up to your full health potential. So whether you're struggling with an issue like hypothyroidism, and there's an issue related to your cortisol or your estrogen and progesterone levels or ferment testosterone, a lot of those issues today that are hormonal in nature are connected to your biological clock, your circadian rhythms. And when those circadian rhythms get off, it actually starts to impact your cellular communication,

Starting point is 00:02:45 which then impacts your hormone balance and also can dysregulate your digestive system and cause a number of problems. And so today I want to really dive into, you know, some of the most common. questions I get on a regular basis as what time of day I should do something. For instance, what time of day should I take my supplements? Should I take those with or without food? Well, I'm going to answer those. For instance, there's a better time of day to take magnesium versus B vitamins versus omega-3 fatty acids versus with meals and not on an empty stomach. So I'll go into those sort of questions today because this all is in alignment with living in tune with your circadian rhythms. And I'm going to hit this from a Christian perspective.

Starting point is 00:03:25 a traditional Chinese medicine perspective, a Western perspective in terms of functional medicine, and more today on the show. Before I dive into the content, though, make sure to subscribe to the channel and hit the link in the show notes to subscribe to my weekly wellness newsletter to get my top tips for natural healing

Starting point is 00:03:42 delivered straight into your inbox. So here is what circadian rhythm is. It's your body's 24-hour internal clock that basically regulates your sleep, your wakefulness, your energy, your motivation, your appetite, and many other processes in the body. And think of it as your body's natural schedule for keeping you in sync with the day and your night cycle. It's influenced by light and darkness and controls when you feel sleepy, energized, or hungry. It also controls your organ systems and when they are more activated or more lethargic.

Starting point is 00:04:22 And so we'll get into exactly when you should be activating or resting certain organ systems as well. And here's what scientists believe about circadian rhythms. They say this biological circadian system has evolved to help humans adapt to changes in our environment and anticipate changes in everything from radiation to temperature and food availability. without this endogenous circadian clock, humans would not be able to optimize energy expenditure and the internal physiology of the body. So what they're saying there is, is that these circadian rhythms are your body adapting to and preparing for things. And so, for instance, your body knows if you're typically lifting weights a certain time

Starting point is 00:05:12 a day. Okay. So your body will start storing energy or burning energy. in order to optimize it, knowing that you have to lift heavy weights at a certain time of day, or swim, or be on to pick up your kids from school. So your hormones will change. If you know something's coming, for instance, you know you have to be connected with other parents at, you know, when you're picking your kids up from school, or you're going to do something

Starting point is 00:05:35 on Sunday mornings where you go to church and you go deep with God, your circadian rhythms, these systems within your body are preparing you in order to do that. Now, your brain plays the largest role of any organ system in your circadian rhythms. And a specific area of your brain, it's called the supracosmatic nucleus. The SCN acts as your body's master clock. And the SCN is located in the hypothalamus and receives signals from light exposure through your eyes. And let me mention this as well. There's something called your HPA axis.

Starting point is 00:06:14 That stands for hypothalamus, pituitary adrenal. If you want to know what causes and where it really starts where cortisol is triggered to be released by your body and melatonin, it's your hypothalamus. It's this area of the brain that's most exposed or most connected to light and connected to your eyes. And so, and it starts to create or diminish the amount of hormones it secretes, which then affects every hormone in your body. and so that's the area of the brain is the hypothalamus. And there's probably not enough attention paid to your hypothalamus. The adrenal glands get the lot of attention. But the reality is most hormonal signals that are due to light and eyesight and stress go from your hypothalamus to your pituitary gland.

Starting point is 00:07:02 Then it affects your adrenals, which then starts putting out stress hormones like cortisol. And your hypothalamus in particular is very, very sensitive. to light and dark signals. So morning light exposure tells your brain it's time to wake up, triggering alertness and cortisol release. Darkness at night signals your brain to produce sleep hormones like melatonin, making you tired. So here's what happens.

Starting point is 00:07:30 If you're not living in tune with your biological clock, it absolutely destroys certain areas of your health, number one being quality sleep. If you're a person that does not sleep well, This is one of the most important episodes you'll ever listen to. And most people don't sleep well. When I interview patients and talk to people, and I ask them, hey, do you sleep well at night? I bet it's 20 to 30% of people say yes.

Starting point is 00:07:57 So I thought 70 to 80% of people tell me they're not sleeping well. And I find this in particular with people with hormone imbalance mostly, whether it be menopause, low testosterone, PCOS, infertility, issues like hypothyroidism, autoimmune disease. These conditions, people tend to not sleep while depression, anxiety. And so you might even sleep, but you wake up or you don't wake up feeling rested. All of these are signs your circadian rhythm is off. And one of the things we always try and do, and I always try and do as a doctor is get to the root cause. And so oftentimes people come in and they have hypothyroidism or PCOS and they say, okay, I am not sleeping well. So maybe I need to take

Starting point is 00:08:39 melatonin or maybe I need to go and get on a medication. But the reality is this is that if we're going to go to the root cause, it typically, there's some food things we'll get into. There's some herbals, but that's typically not why you're not sleeping well. There tends to be something deeper that's interrupting your circadian rhythms, which then disrupts your sleep. Here are some signs that your circadian rhythms are good if you're sleeping well. Number two, improved energy levels during the day. Another one is balance hormones for mood. You're in a good mood. You've got good digestion, that's another big one. Optimal immune function and defense against pathogens, improve metabolism and protection

Starting point is 00:09:16 against obesity and recovery from exercise and stress. These are all signs. And they're actually one of my favorite internal markers of how your circadian rhythms are doing is using a piece of device. Like I have an aura ring that I use. And an aura ring will tell me how well I sleep at night, but it looks at something called HRV, heart rate variability. And this HRV, especially in the evenings at night and in the mornings, will tell you a lot about your circadian rhythms. And if you are living in tune, if you have a higher

Starting point is 00:09:50 HRV than normal, you tend to be more in tune with these circadian rhythms, which is affecting cellular communication, which is impacting your hormonal levels. And so that's something that's very, very helpful being able to tell what your HRV is, which is your heart rate variability. Now, studies show that people who don't sleep well and have dysfunctional circadian rhythms are at higher risk of experiencing weight gain, obesity, heart conditions, diabetes, and even cancer. God created us to sleep at night and be awake during the day. And when the sun starts to set, we should start to wind down. And when it's dark, we should start going to sleep.

Starting point is 00:10:27 When the sun comes up, we should get up with the sun. Okay, we are meant to live in tune with nature. When you look at the largest three world religions, when you look at Christianity, Judaism, and when you look at Islam, those three religions all talk about in their text, and I'm most familiar with Christianity and Judaism, but they say we come from the dust of the earth. We're made from mud. That's where God created us from. We are literally created from some of the things on the earth. And so we are meant to live in tune with Earth. There was a Bible study that I took a lecture from.

Starting point is 00:11:07 I did a theology class at Hillsdale University. And one of the things the lecture talked about was we are meant to live, if we are going to live our best life possible as humans, we need to have three deep connections with three different things. Number one, God, number two, other people, and number three of the earth. He said, if you are going to live your best life possible here on the earth, you need to be deeply and intimately connected with God, deeply and intimately connected with other people, and deeply intimately connected with living in tune with nature and earth, what God put us as stewards over. I mean, this is a big part of Genesis. When you're reading the very early part of Genesis, you're saying God put the earth in Adam's care. and we take care of the earth and the earth can take care of us in certain ways by feeding us the food

Starting point is 00:12:04 we eat, right? And a number of things and creating a better environment for us when we care for it properly. And so it's important. I think that this is probably the most overlooked part of the Bible and especially the look of Genesis in terms of what we are called to do as humans in caring for the earth. In fact, when you go and read the Old Testament especially, but we see it, this in the New Testament as well. There is a lot in the book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, especially, in terms of living in tune with nature and even regenerative agriculture. I mean, looking at letting the land rest every seven years, you know, planting certain foods and gardening. I mean, it's interesting. Even with, you know, even when you look at Jesus, it is very, when you look

Starting point is 00:12:51 at sort of the archetypal nature of when it talks about Jesus, when Mary goes to look for him at the tomb, she says, she thought he was the gardener. Isn't that interesting? Going all the way back to the Garden of Eden. And so when we read the Bible and we look at the realities and the events that took place there, we see so much in terms of us being connected to nature. And that's a big part of what living in tune with nature and your biological clock is about. And if you don't live, in tune with nature, it's going to cause disease. For example, an article published in the Journal of Biochemistry found that this internal clock affects your DNA. In fact, in this study, it says, if you don't live in tune with your biological clock, this clock disruption predisposes mammals,

Starting point is 00:13:40 including humans to cancer. And so that's one of the biggest things we see there. Now, one of the biggest things that really disrupts our living in tune with nature is technology today. Okay, it sort of moves us away from nature. So think about, I mean, when you think about nature, it's, it's grass, it's the sky, it's waterfalls, it's, it's, it's, you know, camping, right? It's being outdoors is when you're most living in tune with nature. When you are in an office, when you are in a home, when you are watching TV on your iPhone and technology, there is a separation from the earth. It really, I mean, I think that's one of the things that really technology today has really created a divide between us and nature. And one of the biggest things that

Starting point is 00:14:27 technology gives off, along with radiation, is light. And when you're looking at light at the wrong times of day, it starts to impact you very negatively. And this is probably the single biggest thing that throws off for circadian rhythms today is not having light at the proper times. Having, not getting natural light when the light is out. And having unnatural light when the sun has set. And there's a study that proves this. This was published in one of the most prestigious medical journals in the world, JAMA in their internal medicine journal. And here's what they said. Exposure to artificial light at night while sleeping is associated with a higher prevalence and increased risk of obesity in a study published on 43,000 women. It said sleeping with a

Starting point is 00:15:12 television or light on in your room was linked to a 33% increased risk of developing obesity and a 17% higher likelihood of gaining five kilograms or more over an average follow-up of five years. I mean, think about that. You're going to weigh that much more over five years just by leaving the TV on too long or watching it too late at night or having a night light on in your room. These findings suggest that reducing light exposure during sleep has a major impact on weight gain in fighting obesity. So listen, if you want to lose weight quickly, have your room as dark as possible. That's one of the biggest keys.

Starting point is 00:15:52 Have your room pitch black if you want to lose weight. And part of that is balancing your circadian rhythms. When those hormones are balanced, that helps you lose weight. I can tell you from taking care of tens of thousands of patients that one of the biggest factors that keeps women and men from losing weight and reaching the ideal weight is poor sleep at night. Because what happens is it starts to throw off hormones, especially your hunger hormones like ghrelin and leptin. And so then you crave food constantly. And then you end up snacking and overeating. And then also your metabolism just isn't its ideal place. And your body can't heal and

Starting point is 00:16:28 regenerate. That's another issue. Your circadian rhythms control when your body temperature, your metabolism and your hormones rise and fall throughout the entire day. And one of those examples, of course, the most prominent example is melatonin. That is your sleep hormone. It's produced by your pineal gland at night in response to darkness and signals your, your body that it's time to sleep. And so many of you know that, listen, if you, if you, any, any sleep issue at all, whether it takes you a long time to fall asleep at night, you don't get deep sleep at night, or you just wake up not feeling rested, you wake up too early, all of those are melatonin issues that are first caused by circadian rhythm disruption. Number two is cortisol and this

Starting point is 00:17:12 hormone is connected to your levels of stress and your wakefulness. This should peak. in the early morning hours to help you wake up and feel alert. And then your levels should gradually decrease throughout the day, but can stay high if you're chronically stressed. And chronic stress disrupts circadian rhythms by elevating cortisol, which of course delays

Starting point is 00:17:32 your sleep onset or getting deep sleep at night. Now, a few other hormones that are impacted. Another one is serotonin. This is your good mood hormone. It's a precursor to melatonin as well, and it's boosted by morning sunlight exposure It helps regulate mood and it's converted to melatonin in the evenings. So there is a very, very close connection to depression and not sleeping well.

Starting point is 00:18:00 Number four is insulin. This is your blood sugar hormone. It's tied to eating patterns. It's influenced by the time of day and linked to metabolic health. This is another one influenced by circadian rhythms. Number five's growth hormone. This is released during deep sleep and it's critical for cell repair and regeneration. So growth hormone, so if you're trying to regenerate your organs, which by the way, every seven years, 70% of your body is new.

Starting point is 00:18:26 So every seven years, most of your body is new. You have, and some organs are almost completely new. Your thyroid's almost completely new. Your liver, a lot of your reproductive organs, your gut lining, your blood cells. These are new, and some of these are new every few days or every few months. And growth hormone helps you create and regenerate new and healthy tissue. And this is how you reverse diabetes. It's how you reverse hypothyroidism.

Starting point is 00:18:50 It's how you reverse heart issues like high cholesterol. Because your body is continually regenerating and healing and repairing itself. However, if your circadian rhythms are off, that's going to affect growth hormone. So now you can't heal and repair as well. Now, of course, this starts to reduce as we age. You probably notice when you were in high school or in your 20s, you got injured. And then, you know, the next week you were fine. And then you feel like now that you're in your,

Starting point is 00:19:16 30s, or especially 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond, you get an injury and it never gets better and just continues to plague you for years to come. You re-injure it. That's because your growth hormone starts to decrease over time. Now, there's ways to improve that with certain things like peptide therapy and herbals and a number of other things. But all that being said, that's one big thing that's impacted when your circadian rhythms are off. You literally don't heal as well because your body doesn't produce healing hormones. Your circadian rhythms depend consistently on your habits. So we all know that Aristotle is associated with the saying, which he didn't say this exactly,

Starting point is 00:19:57 but said something close to this. Like we become our habits and our habits become us, or we are what we repeatedly do. So excellence, therefore, is due to your habits. And so if you truly want to heal yourself, and you want to promote longevity, live the longest time possible, or be active in your 90s, then you've got to balance your circadian rhythms. So a healthy circadian rhythm depends on consistent habits like daily light exposure at the right times, exercise, balance meals, and intentional evening routines.

Starting point is 00:20:30 These will help your body heal and they'll help you start to align with nature in these circadian rhythms. I'm going to get into how to do that here in a moment. Now, I do want to talk about, again, this overexposure to our body, artificial light. Blue light from screens at night keeps the brain alert and it delays melatonin production because it disrupts your circadian rhythms. Your eyes are that connection to your hypothalamus and your brain. And so when you are looking at a device that's giving off blue light, that's telling you that the sun is up in the middle of the day. It's telling you it's noon. So your body is not going to start getting prepared to sleep at night. This, of course,

Starting point is 00:21:07 disrupts your sleep, often contributing to daytime fatigue and hormonal imbalance. because you either don't get enough REM sleep or deep sleep at night so both your brain and your body end up tired. Now, here's a quote from the sleep foundation. They say from streetlights to office lighting to cell phones, artificial light is a constant part of modern life and has a dramatic effect on sleep, influencing circadian rhythms, melatonin production, and your sleep cycles. And these inconsistent sleep patterns are often also due to work.

Starting point is 00:21:39 stressful work demands, late night scrolling, 24-7 connectivity. Many people no longer sleep on a consistent schedule. Most people aren't getting that at least seven to eight to ten hours of sleep per night. Or many people don't also wake up with the sunrise. Again, our sleep cycle is off. And lack of natural sunlight exposure is another big thing. Most people spend their days indoors in artificial lighting, which confuses your body's internal clock.

Starting point is 00:22:06 Many don't get enough sunlight exposure during the day. and darkness close to bedtime. And so here's part of what happens. Think about what's happening in your brain. God created you to live in tune with the sun rising and falling. And so your hormones, like cortisol and melatonin and many of your other hormones, they should be doing exactly what the sun is doing. Okay?

Starting point is 00:22:28 I mean, think about how what happens. The sun goes up and then it starts to come down. Like there's an arc happening. That's what your cortisol should be doing. There should be this arc happening throughout the, the morning throughout the day and your body is listening to the sun and your cortisol is going in line perfectly with the way sun should go up and down. But that's not what's happening. What happens is, you know, you have the same, when you're indoors all day and you have that

Starting point is 00:22:53 exact same light exposure all day, your brain is like stuck at noon all day. And so your cortisol is just high all day or it's at a certain level and it doesn't have that arc that it should have and that throws off your body. I mean, if anyone has ever looked at, you know, hormonal charts that should align with women's health, for instance. You know for women that estrogen and progesterone, they fluctuate during the day. And not only the day, they fluctuate during the month on a monthly cycle. Okay. And so it should be different for different times of day, different days, different months.

Starting point is 00:23:31 I mean, we're seeing constant fluctuations there. But what we're doing, it's like your body is stuck keeping. these things from fluctuating as much as they should, which is making you sick. A 2024 study found that the timing of sunlight exposure predicted next night sleep quality in adults, specifically morning sunlight exposure relative to no sunlight predicted better sleep quality. I can tell you myself, the more time I spend outdoors, the better I sleep. And it'll be the same for you. If you want to know the single greatest factor that will positively or negatively,

Starting point is 00:24:07 impact your sleep cycle, it's how much time you spend outside. That's the biggest thing. You know, I'm thinking back in the summer and my family, we love to water ski. And anytime we went out on the boat, wakeboarding or wake surfing or just out boating around, and we were out there all day, I came back that night and the next night and I slept like an absolute rock. I mean, I will get the absolute best sleep if I'm camping or if I'm outdoors all day doing something. I sleep so on. And I challenge you to do this yourself. Try and spend on the weekends all day outdoors as much as you can every moment and see how well you sleep that night, especially if you're active outside. If you're active outside, when an exercise during the day and you are outside first thing in the morning and get

Starting point is 00:24:50 quite a bit of time outside, you'll notice your sleep very well. And this, if you want to heal your hormones, if you want to reverse hypothyroidism, if you want to boost your testosterone men, if you want to support fertility, reverse PCOS, improve menopause symptoms, heal any hormonal condition. One of the single greatest things you can do is spend more time outside and spend less time on devices. Now, of course, there are other things that are impairing our hormones. And one of those is poor diet. Consuming sugar, excess refined carbohydrates, caffeine, seed oils, and alcohol can mess with our circadian rhythms. And another big one is not getting enough movement exercise during the day also disrupts our circadian rhythms. Now,

Starting point is 00:25:34 From a Christian perspective, let's look at the Bible. I've already talked about it a little bit. God created the world to operate in cycles of work and rest, right? Genesis 114, let there be light to mark seasons, days, and years. We know the Jewish calendar is full of different celebrations and seasons that typically are connected to agriculture in the earth. We know in Christianity it can be connected. That way, we have holidays in America like Thanksgiving that's connected to harvest.

Starting point is 00:26:03 and so there are absolutely these connections in, again, the book of Genesis with light and dark and night and day in terms of marking, you know, talking about work and rest. Ignoring these rhythms often leads to burnout and disconnection from our purpose in life. Aligning with God's design for rest and work can improve not only physical health, but also your emotional and spiritual well-being as well. I can tell you when I am the closest to God, it tends to be when I'm spending the most time outside as well. And here's what I mean. You know, in the spring especially, I will start to, I love it when things start to get green.

Starting point is 00:26:44 And I'll go on, do a lot of hiking then. And there's something about when I spend time hiking and going on walks at our park or in nature that I just, I feel closer to God. I feel more connected to him because there is a silence. there is a there is a just a a piece that happens when I'm in nature. And I'm also just odd and wow, knowing that God designed nature. I mean, anytime I'm on a lake or Chelsea and I recently were in Park City up on a mountain there and we were snow skiing together. And we just sort of sat there together and we're like, wow, God did this. He created this. Look at these mountains. They're incredible. Look at the snow, snowy peaks. It's amazing. And so there's something about being connected to the

Starting point is 00:27:27 earth, but we need to align with God's design for rest and work, which can improve, as we talked about, both your emotional and your spiritual well-being as well. And we see these biblical rhythms in play in the Bible, including daily prayer at set times, a Sabbath rest, morning gratitude. You know, Lamentations 3, 22 through 23 says this, His mercies are new every morning. And so we see these rhythms and connections with the earth all throughout the Bible. And one question I have for you is, are you living in tune with nature? Are you living in tune with the seasons that God created us to live in tune with? And part of this is us creating healthy habits, for instance, getting out first thing in the morning and realizing God's mercies and being grateful for those. Right? We saw Jesus

Starting point is 00:28:20 just getting away and spending time with prayer first thing in the morning. And of course, he was doing it. I was your outside. It says him walking off by himself to pray. Hey, everyone, Dr. Josh Axe here. Listen, if you're struggling with restless nights and daily stress, I have a revolutionary solution for you. I'm talking about the Soulex system,

Starting point is 00:28:41 which has been expertly designed to transform the way you sleep and manage stress. Developed by experts in sleep technology, SoulTech system sinks with your nervous system rhythms, enhancing deep sleep and helping you wake up refreshed and recharged. Deep or delta sleep is our most important stage of sleep. Unfortunately, Delta sleep declined sharply as we age, impacting physical performance, recovery, and healing, which in turn leads to an increased incidence of disease, not good. Using advanced frequency technology, improving delta sleep can now, be restored with the Soul Tech system. And when it comes to stress, the Soul Tech system helps you

Starting point is 00:29:24 relax and maintain focus throughout the day. Say goodbye to sleepless nights and hello to stress-free living with SoulTech Health. Discover how better sleep and less stress can lead to better days. Visit www.souletechhealth.com to learn more and save $100 off your purchase using the code acts that's AXC for $100 off your purchase. Experience the difference for yourself with a 60-day risk-free trial. Soul Tech Health, rest, recover, and rejuvenate. And we also see this in the Bible in the book of Ecclesiastes 3-1-8, where Solomon, the wisest man at the time that had ever lived, he says this, to everything there is a season, a time to every purpose under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant,

Starting point is 00:30:14 and a time to pluck up. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to break down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to cast away stones and a time to gather those stones together. A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to get and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to cast away. A time to rend and repair and a time to sew. A time to keep silent. and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time of war and a time of peace. And so he talks about there are, there's a different time for different things. There's a different time that are different seasons. And so it's important to think about this in the frame of work of your life. It's in time to think about this in creating different habits in terms of there's a time to weep. And a time to more, there's a time to sleep, right? There's a time to sleep and rest.

Starting point is 00:31:10 And there's a time to be up and active and working hard, right? So we want to live in tune with nature. Now I want to dive in. We talked with the biblical perspective. Now I want to talk about the ancient health perspective that was viewed predominantly in ancient Asian medicine, like Chinese medicine, also to a degree Ayurvedic medicine. And here's what they created. It's something called the body clock. And in TCM, they believe that sort of your energy.

Starting point is 00:31:34 Now, they called this chi, which essentially is very tied to our ATP and our hormone production. and we would see this as cellular energy today is really the way that we would communicate this in Western medicine. But they found it sort of goes up and down and it changes at different times. And actually this energy you have is actually more activated in certain organs at different time of the day. For instance, each organ has a specific two-hour window or organ system to which its energy is the strongest, allowing it to best perform its functions. And when this natural flow of energy is disrupted by irregular sleep, stress, or poor lifestyle habits, it creates imbalances that affect our physical, our emotional,

Starting point is 00:32:21 our spiritual health. So here's the reality. You have energy in your body. Think about a battery. And that energy moves from one organ system to another throughout the day in terms of which one is most charged up and active. And this should align with your lifestyle and your habits and what you're doing daily to optimize your health. Now, if you're watching here on YouTube, you can actually see this graphic

Starting point is 00:32:41 here of this TCM clock. And you'll see here certain organ systems are more activated at different times a day. For instance, when you wake up in the morning, typically it should be between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. That's when your large intestine is the most active. Okay. So waking up and doing things to support healthy bowel movements, things like meditation, your large intestine is connected to your immune system and having structure throughout the day. And so it's very important that that time, you know, when you first wake up in the morning, that you have a structure and habits in place because that's going to impact the rest of your day. Now, after that, that's connected at 7 to 9 a.m. is the time of your stomach. This is when you should be having breakfast. It supports

Starting point is 00:33:25 concentration. It's great to go on a walk and do things. This is when your body is better at digesting carbohydrates is first thing in the morning. And then you move from 9 to 11 a.m., which is the time of your pancreas or spleen in Chinese medicine. And this really is connected to when you should be thinking, visualizing, reading, doing those things where you're not necessarily connecting with others as much, but you're doing things to where you are being creative. Okay, so creative thinking, clear thinking, deep thinking,

Starting point is 00:33:57 doing those sort of things, writing. So doing the things that take the most mental energy. And then from 11 a.m. to 1, that is connected to the heart channel. And that is blood circulation, high energy, eating lunch. During that time, it's when you should be engaging in deep meaningful conversations with your coworkers or with your family. So this is around lunchtime, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. And then 1 to 3, this is the time of the small intestine. This is the time where the most nutrient absorption takes place.

Starting point is 00:34:29 Now, this is oftentimes where you have a little dip in energy for a period of time, but this is when you're doing more casual work. You might be in meetings, those sort of things, from one to three. And then three to five is connected to your bladder, but also your adrenal glands. And so is the next one I'll get into, and that's your kidney. But this is a time where your energy is restored. So three to five, you're getting a lot of work done. You're kind of finishing the workday strong.

Starting point is 00:34:58 You're working, you're studying. and that's from three to five. And then from five to seven, this is around dinner. This is when you're restoring nutrients. It's around supper. It's also the time of adrenals. Maybe you're playing and active with kids. And then 7 to 9 p.m., this is known as your paracardium time,

Starting point is 00:35:16 but this is most connected to connecting with family. It could be everything from playing with your kids or if your spouse and you are on a date night or something like that, it's also intercourse. it's um it's it's it's can it's it's oxytocin release it's hugging it's highfiving it's playing games it's deep connection with family and family dinners it's also you know self love caring for yourself uh so so self so self care so that happens from self seven to nine and then at nine p.m typically is about the ideal time where you should be going to sleep this is when your hormones really start getting balanced especially your thyroid is the most important

Starting point is 00:35:58 in time for thyroid healing is 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. And by the way, how many people with hypothyroidism are going to bed at 9 p.m.? Probably not a lot. But that is when your thyroid is healing and regenerating the most is 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. And at the very least, you should be doing something incredibly relaxing and being in bed by 10. But 9 to 11 is that time. And then 11 to 1 a.m. is when your gall bladder is cleansing. And your blood is repairing itself and one to three is when your liver is cleansing and detoxifying your body and your organ system. And then 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. is when you have more of that. It's connected more to your REM sleep. That's your lungs. That's when your lungs are detoxifying and getting into that deep state of sleep. So you can see here in Chinese medicine, I mean, they really laid out

Starting point is 00:36:50 incredible clock in terms of even the habits you should be having, the things you should be focusing on at different types of day that are optimized. And I can tell you for myself, when I'm the most creative and I'm the best writer, is that 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the morning, waking up in the morning, in the morning time before lunch is when I get my best work done that's creative. And if I try and do creative activities at the end of the day, let's say 4 o'clock or 5 o'clock, my brain is kind of done. Now, I can do meetings at that time. I can do other, like answer emails, run errands, do those sort of activities, but if I'm trying to be highly creative, for me, that's much better done for, you know, in the morning before lunch. And that's the way that we were created and designed.

Starting point is 00:37:35 And so you can see here, these different organ systems have more energy and connection at certain times. Now, another thing you'll notice by the way I want to mention is that if you wake up at a certain time during the night or have trouble sleeping, that is going to be connected, that organ system. So, for instance, if you have a hard, time falling asleep at night, that's connected to your heart and your thyroid. Okay. And so you might have an issue of the heart. You might have an issue with your metabolism, like you're overeating. It's actually called your triple burner. So you may be overeating at night, too many carbohydrates. It might be that you weren't active enough during the day. It might be like you didn't get

Starting point is 00:38:15 enough sunlight, but there's a number of things that kind of show that, hey, that's why you're having trouble falling asleep. And then if you wake up around midnight, that's more of a gallbladder issue. or if you wake up between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m., that's a liver issue. By the way, this is connected to emotions. Your liver gallbladder is connected to things like unforgiveness, frustration. If you feel like you're stuck in your life and you're not moving forward or growing, that'll wake you up at night. If you're frustrated about something, that'll wake you up at night. Or the time of your lung or large intestine, if you're waking up around 3 a.m. or you just wake up at 5 a.m. every morning and you know you need another hour of sleep, that's connected to your lung channel. And that is connected to if something's

Starting point is 00:38:54 happened in the past and you haven't let go of it. Maybe there was physical abuse in your past. Maybe you were verbally abused in the past. Maybe you went through a divorce recently or you lost a loved one or you had this thing you wanted to do. Maybe you lost a lot of money in the stock market. But you have a sense of loss and you haven't been able to fully heal and move on from it. That'll cause you to wake up during that time. So if you want to know what's going on, oftentimes you're waking up at a certain time. I mean, look at the clock. If you keep waking up every night at 2.30 a.m. or 2 a.m. Ask yourself, have I forgiven everyone in my life? Am I frustrated about something or resentful towards somebody and I know I need to work on that? Your biological clock

Starting point is 00:39:38 will tell you that. It's pretty incredible. If you consistently miss key organ repair times, like staying awake past midnight, the body struggles to heal. So for instance, again, as I mentioned, if you don't go to bed early, your thyroid and your adrenal glands will have a hard time healing. If you are waking up in the middle of the night and then going and having a snack, it'll be very hard for your liver to heal and you'll store toxins and end up with a toxic illness likely. If you're waking up early in the morning and you have autoimmune disease or a chronic infection like Lyme, that's going to be a problem. And so you want to see, okay, what time am I waking up and then going and working on that emotion to start to repair it

Starting point is 00:40:21 And of course, this is important for your circadian rhythms as well. So in order to live in tune with your circadian rhythms, here are a few action items. Number one, aim to be fully asleep by 10 p.m. And that means you should be in bed at around 9 p.m. ideally. This is ideal for repair cycles. Now, listen, if the best you can do is 10 p.m. and getting in bed by then, you know, that's okay as well. But staying up to 11 or midnight absolutely destroys your hormonal health

Starting point is 00:40:50 and disrupt your circadian rhythms. Now, when you wake up in the morning, one of the best things to do in order to support your digestive flow is start your morning with good hydration. Have a warm glass of tea, such as ginger herbal tea or chrysanthemum. If you have a lot of heat in your body, you know, then you want to do chrysanthemum. If you know that you have something like hypothyroid

Starting point is 00:41:11 and your body temperature is low, then you want something like ginger. But do a little bit of ginger or chrysanthemum with some lemon juice, warm water, like a warm tea. to get your digestive system moving and taking a walk outside first thing in the morning. And then eating according to your biological clock, your carbohydrates are best consumed in the morning. And then your largest meal of the day should be lunch. And then your, so really you should have a moderate meal in the morning, moderate to small.

Starting point is 00:41:45 You should have a large meal at lunch, if you're going to do a larger meal. and then you should do a moderate to small at dinner. But eating a big, big breakfast or big dinner is an ideal according to these principles of traditional Chinese medicine. And so again, you want to, and by the way, the way it should work as well, you should have more carbs in the morning and very low carb at night, where you should have lower fat in the morning and more fat at night for most people. Now, listen, there are some dietary specifications for personalized nutrition for people. So, for instance, I've got a friend right now who's dealing with brain cancer. we want him on a ketogenic diet. And so he's eating, he's not doing carbs hardly at all.

Starting point is 00:42:21 So again, there are specific times where you should modify your diet and your macronutrients and those sort of things. But it's important to understand it. By the way, the best time of day to consume most supplements is at breakfast or lunch. It's when your digestive system is the strongest. You've been fasting. And so that tends to be the best time. Typically, I do most of my supplements first thing in the morning. morning or or now I will say this I do my more fat soluble supplements like my omega

Starting point is 00:42:53 3 and my magnesium and my vitamin D I tend to do those at night but most my herbals most my supplements in the morning like if I'm doing my my adaptogens or my anti-inflammatory herbals most of those in there in the morning and then if I do herbals for sleep like chamomile or passion flour or again some of those nutrients that are more fat soluble like the omega-3s the magnesium in the D, I tend to do those more in the evening because you're going to optimize more of the absorption there based on when those organ systems are the strongest. Now, hitting on this again, because it's that important, morning light and evening dimness are keys to regular cortisol

Starting point is 00:43:34 and melatonian production for these sleep wake cycles. And according to a study at Stanford Lifestyle Medicine, they said, light is considered the major stimulus that helps our body understand when to do certain activities like sleeping and waking. This means when we are exposed to light, especially bright light like sunlight, this has a big impact on our sleep and wake patterns. A study published in the sleep medicine journal found that exposure to one and a half hours of bright morning light for five days, improve sleep efficiency, reduced sleep fragmentation, and shortened time in bed compared to regular office light. So the reality is, if you get outside first thing in the you sleep better every single time. And the participants in the study also experience falling asleep

Starting point is 00:44:21 faster, sleeping deeper, and also felt less sleepy the next day. Another study published in the scientific reports found that 72% of your sleep quality and mental focus can be predicted by how you interact with light. Think about that. 72% of your quality of sleep is due to your light exposure. I mean, so almost, I mean, listen, diet's important. Other things are important, but nothing is as important as your light exposure. Spending more time outdoors during the day improves mood by 33% advances your natural sleep wake cycles and boost your energy production. Using gadgets within one hour of your bedtime delay sleep and reduces your sleep quality by 13%

Starting point is 00:45:05 and disrupts your memory and focus by 20%. So here are some facts about the morning. and some things you specifically need to do. First thing to know is morning light around sunrise to 10 a.m. contains blue and red spectrum light that signals the brain to wake up by releasing cortisol. Morning sunlight on your face and eyes for 10 to 20 minutes helps set your circadian rhythms. So if it's very bright out and it's the middle of summer and you wake up, you tend to only need that 10 minutes.

Starting point is 00:45:36 If it's the winter or a time where the sun isn't as strong, you typically need 20 minutes of morning light. But what I try and do in the morning is go for a 20 minute walk. Kind of set my watch, go 20 minutes walk first thing in the morning, and that resets my body. So the other morning here in Nashville was six degrees out. It was very cold. I still went outside, one because my dog had to go out still. But I went out there for 10 minutes. And now listen, if it's sleeting and freezing rain and you have a cold, okay, don't go out that day. But every day you possibly can bundle up, put on a hat, do everything you can to go for a walk before 10 a.m. Get outside for 20 minutes. 20 minutes is that magical number. 20 minutes outside in the morning. Now listen, there are benefits as well, and you

Starting point is 00:46:20 should try and get outside for another 10 minutes in the middle of the day. The brightest light of the day, of course, helps stimulate vitamin D production between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. And a 10 minute outdoor break during lunch can help maintain alertness. What I try and do every day is right after lunch is going a 20-minute walk. So this is a great way to get your vitamin D levels up, which of course is also very important for circadian rhythms. And then evening light. Now, evening light is the least important, but actually still does have some effect on your sleep. Higher red light spectrum signals help your body produce melatonin and prepare your body for sleep. You want to, here's the thing. You want to get red light at night. You want to avoid blue light. This is why you read those

Starting point is 00:47:04 orange or red sunglasses is those block blue light in help with the red light. Avoid blue light heavy activities like TV scrolling on social media or gaming or use blue light blocker glasses or apps on your devices that block the blue light. Now the best thing to do is listen to an audio book or actually read a book in the light you have is one of those warmer light bulbs. It's more amber or yellow. is a better option, those whiter blue lights that you're going to have. But the best option, and at the very least, try an hour before bed to stop looking at the devices

Starting point is 00:47:43 or if you're going to watch it, then again, blue blocker sunglasses are helpful. Now, remember, when you wake up in the morning, and ideally between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. Now, if it goes to 8 a.m., that can be fine as well for some people. But generally, what you want to do during that time is you want to do everything you can to support your lung channel, which is really tied to, there should be structure. So you wake up in the morning and you have a very solid structure. You brush your teeth. You get your hair ready.

Starting point is 00:48:10 You have breakfast. You get grateful. Again, there's a very specific routine. And I have a very specific daily rhythm that I follow. And I'll share mine. Okay, I wake up and the first thing I do is I just have a conversation with God, even if it's for one minute. God, thank you for this day.

Starting point is 00:48:23 This is the day you have made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. The first thing getting grateful, I'll roll out of bed and I will then go to the bathroom. I will brush my teeth. I'll sort of get ready for the morning. And then I'll go downstairs. And then I will spend some time getting grateful,

Starting point is 00:48:39 just telling God everything I'm grateful for. And then I will spend some time reading my Bible and then spending some time in prayer. And then I'll make myself typically some of superfood smoothie. And about that time, Chelsea's coming out and the girls are awake. And I spend about 30 minutes connecting with the family. And then I'll leave and I'll go work out. and then I will go and I will, and then I'll do my most creative things early in the morning in terms of my work. And that's sort of my routine before noon.

Starting point is 00:49:11 And so if you can create something very similar there where you are doing these things in the morning, it is going to be so great. You know, Psalms 143 says this, let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love. So starting your morning out like that with spiritual growth, with connection to God, with prayer, is the single, best way to start your day and nourish your body that way. And then starting off with some really nutrient-dense foods, of course, is great as well. And then movement, whether it's exercise or just a walk, is of course very, very healing to your body. There are studies that show that morning or early afternoon exercise actually enhances your body's natural rhythms while late-night exercise may delay it. A review in the sports medicine and health sciences journal found

Starting point is 00:49:55 that exercising in the morning or afternoon is the best for improving your circadian rhythms and metabolic functions, although exercise closer to bed does have benefits, such as improving muscle mass, it's not as ideal for balancing out your circadian rhythms. And here's what I recommend at breakfast. Number one, go high protein, 30 to 50 grams of protein. You can do protein powder. I tend to do a blend of a collagen or a bone broth based protein along with a plant-based protein. And then I will add in something like fruit and coconut milk and super food powders. That's what I tend to do in the morning. So I'm getting loads of nutrients, loads of protein, some good electrolytes and fruit and antioxidants there, and then some good fat, a little fat and coconut milk. Now, I don't do a lot of coconut milk.

Starting point is 00:50:39 I just do a little bit in there, but that's sort of what I do in the morning. And here's some protein-packed options for you, if you're wanting to know what's a great breakfast. Scrambled eggs with greens and avocado could be a organic A2 Greek yogurt or sheet milk yogurt with chia seeds, flax seeds, berry, and a little manuka honey. You can do a smoothie as I, as I'm a little. You can do a smoothie as I mentioned with the protein powder I talked about. But the big thing is you want to avoid processed sugar, pastries, refined grains in the morning and do good carbohydrates and a lot of protein their first thing in the morning. And then for lunch, as I mentioned, more high protein, 30 to 50 grams of protein, doing some good carbs. It could be millet or kinoa or sourdough bread with something like wild caught salmon or

Starting point is 00:51:26 chicken and and then right afterwards go for a walk and and also i do want to mention this if you're going to do caffeine do it in the morning and try and keep it under 100 milligrams a day okay so do coffee you can do it first thing mid-morning but doing it in the afternoon anytime afternoon will impact your sleep cycle negatively so know that then in the evening you want to do again 30 to 50 grams of protein healthy fats and vegetables okay that's ideal for supporting your sleep cycles. Now I do want to mention here that there is a time in a season for fasting or intermittent fasting. There's a study published in the endocrine review journal they found that restrictive eating, so restricting yourself to around a 10-hour

Starting point is 00:52:10 window, such as 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. helps regulate your internal clock, supports metabolism and weight management, improves sleep quality, and can reduce nighttime waking. Late-night eating has also been linked to an increase in cortisol levels, lower heart rate variability levels, which is not good, which interferes with melatonin production. So this is a form of fasting where it's not, you know, that eight or six or four hour window, but really if you can push back when you eat to around 8 a.m. and then eat an early dinner around 5 p.m., that's been shown to really support your biological clock as well. You're still getting three meals a day, but you aren't having much of a gap in between those meals.

Starting point is 00:52:54 You know, when it comes to the evenings, as we talked about this biological clock, this is the time of the paracardium, which is really, again, it's about connection. It's connecting to your spouse. It's connecting to your kids. It's connecting to your friends. It's connecting to your family. It's connecting to God. It's all about connection. And so I would encourage you to right before you go to bed at night.

Starting point is 00:53:18 Okay. Listen, if you want to watch a TV show, that's good now. Okay, watch that between, you know, let's say you do dinner at five or even six. You finish up at seven. Watch a show from seven to eight o'clock, okay? Watch an hour. But going for that three-hour marathon on Netflix is not going to be healthy for you and not going to optimize your circadian rhythm. So I would say from 8 to 9 or 830 to 9, take at least 30 minutes and start to read a spiritual growth book.

Starting point is 00:53:44 Listen to a spiritual audio book. Or maybe just take five total minutes and read the Psalms. Like Psalms 4 through 8 says this, in peace I will lie down and sleep. For you alone, God, make me dwell in safety. Creating that safety, that comfort, that connection to God, connecting with the others and loved ones, that is a great thing to do in the evening to nourish those organ systems. So in the evening, you want to create calming rituals.

Starting point is 00:54:14 Maybe it's just doing a general stretch. Maybe it's doing a breathing routine. Maybe it's just having a warm glass of herbal tea like chamomile or lemon balm or passion flour and just listening to that book or having that connection or that conversation, but doing that is highly beneficial. And there are studies that show that this sort of integrative practices of things like even meditation as well help combat insomnia and support these circadian rhythms. Now, the other thing you want to do before sleep is get your room dark and cold.

Starting point is 00:54:45 Between 60 and 67 degrees, studies show that this improves deep sleep and REM sleep both. So your room should be dark. Remember, pitch black, get this blackout curtains, everything you can do there, and cold, and go to bed as early as possible. There's also some things you can do to support your circadian rhythms like magnesium, whether it be glistenate or threonate or a spryelina-bound magnesium. These calm your nervous system and support deep sleep, typically in doses between 200 and 400 milligrams, one hour before bed. Now, listen, in most cases, I don't recommend melatonin unless you're trying to be. traveling. If you're traveling or could have jet lag, that's where I like melatonin. If you're sick and you can't breathe out of your nose and you know you're going to sleep bad that night,

Starting point is 00:55:30 then those are the nights I recommend to take melatonin. I don't recommend it on a regular basis because it has a negative reverse feedback loop where your body will stop producing it on its own if you take it more than a few nights in a row. A few other things I really like. Elthianine is an amino acid that promotes calmness by the body. Gabba is another supplement you can take. And then taking regular adaptogens like Ashwaganda and Rishi mushroom, those two adaptogens in particular, lower cortisol levels and help your body better manage stress so you can get better sleep. And there's even other supplements like glycine, which is amino acid doing three grams, help sleep inositol, 5HTP are good.

Starting point is 00:56:10 And then the herbals. I really like a passion flower because it does boost Gabba. Valerian root can be great. Also a skull cap. and magnolia and jujube days. There's a lot. Listen, there's a lot of herbals there. You can do a sleep tea or just take some chamomails.

Starting point is 00:56:28 Probably the easiest one that can really promote health and promote a deeper night sleep. So remember this. It's so important that we live in tune with God, with others, and with nature. And if not, you'll end up being sick. Listen, when you're eating fake food that's not real, you're sick. when you're eating things that come from nature, an apple right off the tree, you're healthier for it. In the very same way, we need to live in tune with the sun when it rises and when it sets.

Starting point is 00:56:57 We need to live in tune with nature and do everything we can to really create our habits and align with nature, everything from what we're eating at what meals to the specific habits we're having at different times of the day. So I want to encourage you to look at this biological TCM clock, look at your daily habits, and try and align your habits and your sleep with nature. Now, one thing I didn't get into much here, and I will cover on future episodes, is grounding, really being connected to the earth, even with your bare feet. There are great benefits there as well, but really wanted to focus on circadian rhythms today. I've covered grounding before.

Starting point is 00:57:32 You could look up Dr. Axe grounding or Dr. Axe earthing and watch episodes on that as well. But what I encourage you to create healthy habits that are going to help you heal and live in tune with their circadian rhythms? because these circadian rhythms that then impact your hypothalamus, your pituitary, then your adrenals, it's going to affect every hormone in your body. Estrogen, progestrone, testosterone, cortisol, insulin, thyroid hormones, they're all impacted by your circadian rhythms. It's the biggest thing that probably impacts them.

Starting point is 00:58:02 So you want to make sure that you're doing things to heal your hormones via optimizing your circadian cycles. Hey, I hope you've enjoyed this episode. Remember every week I'm diving deep into how to heal physically, mentally, and spiritually. Again, this week we dove into these circadian rhythms, and most people don't know the reality on how we're supposed to live in tune with the nature God created

Starting point is 00:58:24 and how we can optimize our lives that way and actually heal that way as well. Hey, if you haven't subscribed, make sure to subscribe. By the way, thank you all you subscribers out there who are on mission with me to change the health of this planet. Also, thanks for the likes. Thanks for sharing this, and I can't wait to see you on the next episode.

The Dr. Josh Axe Show - FIX Your Circadian Rhythm for Better Sleep, Balanced Hormones & Weight Loss

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