Our modern lifestyles mean that most of us don’t live our lives in sync with our circadian rhythms, which puts our health and well-being at risk. Eating and sleeping at the right time are important tools to help us align our circadian rhythms and reduce our risk of chronic disease.

In this episode, circadian rhythm expert Prof. Satchin Panda will tell us how light and food act as master regulators of our body clock, how aligning our lifestyles with our body clock can improve our health, mood and energy levels and how to do this in practice.

Satchin is a world-leading expert in the field of circadian rhythm research. He’s associate professor at the prestigious SALK institute, he’s recipient of the Dana Foundation Award in brain and immune system imaging and he’s also the author of two best-selling books, The Circadian Code and The Circadian Diabetes Code.

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Timecodes:

00:00 Introduction

01:00 Quickfire questions

03:02 What are circadian rhythms?

03:48 How do we know about circadian rhythms?

04:44 Are all body parts on a 24 hour clock?

06:40 How the body enters sleep mode

09:25 What happens during sleep?

12:08 Why you’re not sleeping enough

13:30 The surprising impact of daylight savings time

17:00 Circadian rhythms aren’t just about light

19:55 The dangers of shift work

21:20 Should you go to bed at sunset?

25:40 Why should stop snacking at night

26:10 Satchin’s famous mice study

33:00 The best eating window for health

37:27 Does intermittent fasting promote better food choices?

40:40 Should you drink black coffee when you wake up?

Satchin’s books:

Books by our ZOE Scientists:

Studies referenced in today’s episode:

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Episode transcripts are available here.

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