Fight Back Against Daylight Saving Time
Even grocery stores are getting in on the fight against daylight saving time...
Earlier this week, supermarket chain Kroger started giving away their free "Hour Back Box," filled with breakfast foods like frozen sandwiches, coffee creamer, and cold brew concentrate.
It's a clever marketing tool, but Kroger's head of marketing, Tom Duncan, says the boxes are meant to "make daylight saving a little easier, helping parents and their families jump start the day with customer-favorite, morning time foods – from a much-needed cup of coffee to a filling breakfast sandwich."
If you live in the 70-plus countries that observe daylight saving time (DST), you know the pain of changing the clocks twice a year. In the fall, it means an extra hour of sleep. But this Sunday, it means that your "regular" wake-up time is an hour earlier than normal... with the trade-off that there's an extra hour of sun at the end of the workday.
There are serious health consequences surrounding the decision to mess with our clocks twice a year. So today, I'll explain what those health problems are. I'll also share my tips for dealing with daylight saving time – without needing a box of prepackaged foods...
Changing the clocks is hard on our bodies...
A study based on Michigan hospital admissions data found a 25% increase in the number of patients admitted to hospitals suffering from heart attacks on the Monday following the spring daylight saving time switch. Heart-attack risk fell 21% on the Tuesday after going back to standard time.
Another a study at the University of Alabama at Birmingham found a 10% increase in the risk of having a heart attack in the 48 hours following the March time change. Then, after the switch back to "regular time" in November, heart-attack risk decreased by 10%.
Back in 2016, a bigger study using more than 10 years' worth of data from Finland compared the week following a daylight saving time shift with the two weeks before and after...
The overall rate of stroke was 8% higher during the first two days after the time change. More important... cancer patients were 25% more likely to have a stroke right after the time shift than other periods, and the risk of stroke was 20% higher for folks aged 65 years or older.
Generally, a few days after the time change, risks return to normal as our bodies adapt to the new daily rhythm.
But because Americans are generally already sleep-deprived, changing the clocks in the spring may amplify these effects...
According to a 2022 survey from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than a third of Americans aren't getting enough sleep, putting themselves at risk of obesity, heart disease, and other issues.
Folks in Hawaii, Virginia, and Alabama reported the worst sleep-deprived percentages, while my home state of Minnesota, as well as Colorado and Vermont, had the highest number of folks who got seven hours or more of sleep.
What's more, the age group with the highest percentage of Americans not getting enough sleep was among those between ages 45 and 64.
According to a study published in the July 2024 issue of Scientific Reports, it takes our bodies an average of eight to 12 days to get used to the end of daylight saving time in the autumn... and nine to 17 days when it begins in the spring. (Folks also typically have gentler jet lag when they're flying west to a later time zone than east into an earlier one.)
"Night owl" folks who operate best on waking and sleeping late tend to have a harder time adjusting to DST changes than the "morning larks." Naps can be a good way to cope, especially if the effects are dragging on long after the clocks change. Stick to 20-minute snoozes, tops, to avoid feeling drowsy instead of well rested upon waking.
So if you want to get through changing the clocks this week, make sure you're getting good quality sleep each night.
The best way to improve your sleep is getting the right type of light at the right time of day...
An Australian study published in October found just how harmful bright nighttime light (and a disturbed circadian rhythm) could be to our heart and metabolic health. The study used U.K. Biobank data on nearly 90,000 adults aged 62 on average who wore light sensors for one week to track light exposure between midnight and 6 a.m.
Over the roughly eight-year follow-up period, researchers observed 3,750 deaths from all causes and 798 deaths due to obesity or cardiometabolic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and heart attack.
The team found that participants with the brightest nighttime lighting exposure (especially in the hours just after midnight) had as high as a 34% increased risk of death from all causes and as high as a 46% increased risk of dying from cardiometabolic causes.
On the flip side, researchers linked brighter daylight exposure with a lower mortality risk... that is, 39% and 34% lower risks of cardiometabolic mortality and all-cause mortality, respectively.
Another recent study looked at the association between nighttime light pollution and one of the most feared diseases in old age...
Published in September, the study's researchers used maps showing light pollution in the lower 48 states and health data related to risk factors for Alzheimer's disease.
They found that the higher the light intensity, the higher the prevalence of Alzheimer's – especially for folks younger than 65. Researchers think that too much nighttime light exposure can affect certain genes responsible for early-onset Alzheimer's.
So do what I do... In the early evening, turn off any bright, white overhead lights and turn on a lamp using a warmer-colored, lower-intensity light.
I also like smart LED bulbs that you can program with your smartphone to automatically dim and warm in color with the sunset or before your bedtime.
As for soaking in enough daylight, you'll almost always find me going for a midday walk outside, rain or shine.
I usually go for about 20 to 30 minutes after lunch. Try to make it a daily habit, especially if you happen to be cooped up in an office for most of your day. Even when it's overcast, your retinas are still taking in natural light to keep your circadian rhythm regular.
By protecting your eyes from excessive artificial light at night and taking in plenty of natural light during the day, you'll safeguard your body's clock and your health for years to come.
Getting around eight hours of sleep a night helps reduce stress, makes you three times less likely to catch a cold, helps you maintain a healthy weight, and reduces your risk of diseases like cancer and diabetes.
As for me, I'd like to stop messing with the clocks twice a year and simply shift permanently to daylight time... I love having a little bit of extra sun at the end of the day when I leave the office.
Share your favorite sleep tips with us – we'd love to hear them – at feedback@healthandwealthbulletin.com. For more on sleep, check out our Retirement Millionaire issue here. (Or get a trial subscription here.)
What We're Reading...
- Did you miss it? Here are our five ways to get a better night's sleep.
- Something different: The "avocado toast" generation has a terrifying new role.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
March 6, 2025