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A trip to the countryside will help normalize your biorhythm
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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It turns out to be very easy to forget about the lethargy and drowsiness that have become the norm of our everyday life. A week-long vacation in nature without a phone or laptop can improve the functioning of the biological clock.
The level of the hormone melatonin, which influences the sleep and wakefulness phase, increases several hours before sleep, which is felt as mild drowsiness. Before waking up, the amount of the hormone decreases accordingly. The hormone can be compared to an internal alarm clock. What factors influence the production of melatonin?
Scientists agree that the daily rhythm depends on illumination. The human body has a "built-in function" that detects the period of sunrise and sunset, adjusting all organs properly. Since the discovery of electricity, humanity has long lived by its own laws - artificial light, television, computers and other devices disrupt the natural biorhythm.
On the one hand, this allows you not to feel sleepy almost all night, but on the other hand, it gives you a feeling of complete exhaustion for the whole day. The most interesting thing is that sleepiness occurs during periods when enough time was allocated to sleep.
The reason for such an unexpected sleepy state is a failure in the regulation of melatonin, which does not decrease upon awakening. Scientists from the University of Colorado (USA, Boulder) thought about the possibility of normalizing hormone fluctuations. The studies were conducted on eight volunteers using sensors that recorded the amount and type of lighting, as well as the change between sleep and wakefulness, around the clock. The first week of the experiment was no different from the usual rhythm of life of volunteers who spend a lot of time under artificial lighting. The first stage was completed by taking saliva for analysis in order to determine the quantitative content of melatonin.
The second part of the study took the volunteers into the wild, where they lived in tents for a week. They were deprived of all electronic devices and artificial light. After that, the subjects' melatonin levels were again checked.
Nature normalized the human biorhythm: the content of the hormone melatonin increased two hours before sunset, and before sunrise it naturally decreased. The most noticeable changes occurred with people who considered themselves "owls". Such subjects in the bosom of nature turned into "larks". There was no trace left of daytime lethargy and drowsiness.
All subjects were physically and mentally healthy people who had no problems with sleep, so the results of the experiment are indicative for most of us. If you can't get enough sleep, feel exhausted and tired, then the solution is to go out into nature or limit contact with electronic devices at night. A full eight-hour sleep will not save you from yawning during the day if you spend time in front of the TV or computer monitor before going to bed.
Scientists also plan to test people with sleep disorders. It is appropriate to pay attention to the level of social activity, lifestyle, and physical fitness of the experiment participants. Since these factors can affect biorhythms.
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