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Doctor Offers Tips to Ease Daylight Saving Time Transition
Confirmed
In Short: By following these tips, individuals can better prepare for the end of daylight saving time and minimize the disruption to their sleep and health.
Dr. John La Puma, a California physician and expert in nature-based medicine, advises adjusting bedtime and meal times gradually to prepare for the end of daylight saving time.
According to La Puma, moving bedtime and meals by 15 minutes each day can help ease the transition. For instance, someone who usually goes to bed at 10 p.m. should aim for 10:15 p.m. on the first day, and continue this pattern until the time change.
La Puma also recommends choosing a relaxing bedtime ritual, such as working in a paper workbook, sipping chamomile tea, taking a bath, or using aromatherapy, to promote a consistent sleep schedule.
The National Institutes of Health advises that anyone experiencing persistent trouble falling or staying asleep, frequent daytime fatigue, or sleep loss that interferes with daily activities should contact a healthcare provider.
Dr. Mike Varshavski, a family medicine physician, suggests starting to adjust your nighttime routine by 10 to 20 minutes a few days before the transition to standard time.
Experts note that the March transition, when clocks “spring forward” and people lose an hour of sleep, is particularly rough, with an increase in heart attacks and strokes in the days following the time change.
However, gaining an hour of sleep, especially in a sleep-deprived society, is not problematic for the heart and may even be cardioprotective by lowering fight-or-flight activation, blood pressure, and overall physiologic stress.
Sleep doctors and researchers advise making use of the full extra hour, as research indicates that people only make use of about 60% of that extra time, averaging around 36 minutes of extra sleep.
Experts recommend keeping alcohol moderate, finishing drinking a few hours before bed, and avoiding caffeine after early afternoon.
According to Sam Nicolino, CEO and founder of sound machine maker Adaptive Sound Technologies, sleep tends to get a little lighter after a time change, so small noises can wake you up more easily.
Nicolino advises going to bed at your usual time by the clock when the clocks fall back, and by Sunday, your circadian rhythm should already be close to a new time.
Experts emphasize the importance of consistent wake-up times, suggesting to pick one wake-up time and keep it every day, weekdays and weekends.
What this adds
The advice provided by experts aims to help individuals adjust to the end of daylight saving time more smoothly, reducing the impact on their sleep and overall health.
What's confirmed
- Dr. John La Puma, a California physician and expert in nature-based medicine, advises adjusting bedtime and meal times gradually to prepare for the end of daylight saving time.
- According to La Puma, moving bedtime and meals by 15 minutes each day can help ease the transition. For instance, someone who usually goes to bed at 10 p.m. should aim for 10:15 p.m. on the first day, and continue this pattern until the time change.
- La Puma also recommends choosing a relaxing bedtime ritual, such as working in a paper workbook, sipping chamomile tea, taking a bath, or using aromatherapy, to promote a consistent sleep schedule.
- The National Institutes of Health advises that anyone experiencing persistent trouble falling or staying asleep, frequent daytime fatigue, or sleep loss that interferes with daily activities should contact a healthcare provider.
- Dr. Mike Varshavski, a family medicine physician, suggests starting to adjust your nighttime routine by 10 to 20 minutes a few days before the transition to standard time.
- Experts note that the March transition, when clocks “spring forward” and people lose an hour of sleep, is particularly rough, with an increase in heart attacks and strokes in the days following the time change.
- However, gaining an hour of sleep, especially in a sleep-deprived society, is not problematic for the heart and may even be cardioprotective by lowering fight-or-flight activation, blood pressure, and overall physiologic stress.
- Sleep doctors and researchers advise making use of the full extra hour, as research indicates that people only make use of about 60% of that extra time, averaging around 36 minutes of extra sleep.
- Experts recommend keeping alcohol moderate, finishing drinking a few hours before bed, and avoiding caffeine after early afternoon.
- According to Sam Nicolino, CEO and founder of sound machine maker Adaptive Sound Technologies, sleep tends to get a little lighter after a time change, so small noises can wake you up more easily.
- Nicolino advises going to bed at your usual time by the clock when the clocks fall back, and by Sunday, your circadian rhythm should already be close to a new time.
- Experts emphasize the importance of consistent wake-up times, suggesting to pick one wake-up time and keep it every day, weekdays and weekends.
What's still developing
- While some research has suggested that the fall time change could have some cardiovascular benefits, the abrupt loss of evening sunlight can suppress serotonin and melatonin production, which can lead to a depressed mood, according to Dr. John La Puma, a California physician and expert in nature-based medicine.
- "Late-day daylight is different than morning daylight. Late-day daylight tells your body the day is running long, and it shifts later," he said.
- "So, for about a week, you wake up an hour early. You get hungry early. You feel sleepy early. It gets dark by five. Afternoon light goes away. You get months of short days. … You need coffee just to feel human. It's not great."
- Maura Hohman is Assistant Managing Editor for TODAY.com and has been covering health and wellness since 2015.
- Doctors are clear about what to do with that bonus 60 minutes.
- Well, according to sleep doctors and psychologists, that "extra hour" can have a sneaky way of turning into a 5 a.m. wake-up call or a 7 p.m. energy crash, with all the grogginess of jet lag fatigue and none of the travel fun to make it worthwhile.
- Which is why I asked seven sleep doctors and researchers how to make the switch more painless; believe it or not, nearly all of them advised the same sleep plan to prepare for daylight saving time ending.
- "outside or near a window — not just lights on in the home."
- Patel, a sleep medicine specialist and founder of The Insomnia and Sleep Institute of Arizona.