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Researchers have found an unexpected solution to fix irregular sleep patterns— camping during winter.
A team of researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder tested the effect of exposure to only natural light on a person’s sleep schedule. To do this, the team sent five participants on a camping trip where they were not allowed to use flashlights or gadgets. They had only natural light such as sunlight, moonlight, and campfire light.
The participants went camping during winter, which had more hours of darkness than hours of light. Kenneth Wright, the lead author of the study, explained that more hours of darkness expands the body clock’s “biological night,” causing people to sleep longer. This effect is caused by the sleep hormone called melatonin.
Melatonin production is primarily regulated by light. Normally, melatonin levels rise at night and fall in the morning because of sunlight. However, because technology exposes people to too much artificial light, the cycle of melatonin release is disturbed. Consequently, the body thinks that it has to keep working at night, rather than sleep.
Results of the study showed that being exposed to only natural light will reset a person’s sleep schedule by normalizing the schedule of melatonin release. Without artificial light coming from lightbulbs and gadgets, the participants’ body clock became in sync with the sunset and the sunrise. As a result, their sleep schedules shifted two hours earlier.
However, Wright also suggested alternatives for people who cannot go camping to reset their body clocks. He said that walking under the sun, sitting near windows, and dimming the lights at night will also help normalize melatonin levels.