The time change affects people a lot, here's what happens to physical and mental health

The time change greatly affects mental and physical health, especially for those who love to sleep in the morning, and for them the adjustment period can last for weeks.

Circadian rhythms regulate many physiological processes in plants, animals, and even bacteria, highlighting the extraordinary sensitivity of life to changes in environmental conditions.

Your internal biological clock is controlled by a small area of ​​your brain called the hypothalamus. It regulates hormone release, body temperature, and metabolism. So if your circadian rhythm is out of whack, those things will be out of whack, too.

Most people need three to seven days to adjust to daylight saving time (DST).

Research suggests that diet also plays a role. People who eat high-fat diets seem to experience prolonged circadian misalignment after the spring time change.

A 2008 study of rodents found that those on high-fat diets adapted 20% slower to a six-hour change in light compared to those on low-fat diets. Scientists don't fully understand why diet and circadian rhythms are linked.

We know that exposure to light is also important for adapting to the time change.

One hypothesis suggests that a high-fat diet reduces circadian sensitivity to light.

Researchers have wondered whether the link between a high-fat diet and circadian sensitivity could be because late-night eating is linked to weight gain.

But a 2024 study found no significant differences in meal timing between diet groups, suggesting that it is the food itself, not the time it is eaten, that is the key factor.

Exposure to natural light is one of the most important factors in helping the body adjust to a new time. The more sunlight a person gets in the morning, the faster their circadian rhythm is reset.

Research suggests that adaptation is more difficult in spring than in autumn, with increased awakenings during sleep (10-30 minutes longer), greater sleep fragmentation (between 5-20%), and poorer sleep quality after the spring transition.

The spring time change appears to pose a slightly increased risk for those with life-threatening health conditions. Research has linked the daylight saving time (DST) transition to changes in mortality rates during the first eight weeks after the transition, particularly related to cardiovascular complications.

A 2024 study that analyzed 14 million deaths in the U.S. from 2015 to 2019 found a slight increase in all deaths after the spring transition, but a decrease in mortality after the fall transition.

The study also found an increasing trend in dementia-related mortality, with a 5% increase in deaths peaking in the fifth week after the spring transition. In addition, a slight increase in cancer-related mortality was observed in the first week after the start of DST.

Spring DST may seem like a simple one-hour shift, but for many, it's much more than that.