Xref: utzoo sci.bio:3261 sci.misc:4301
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!dino!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!midway!swsh
From: swsh@midway.uchicago.edu (Janet M. Swisher)
Newsgroups: sci.bio,sci.misc
Subject: Re: 25 hr day
Message-ID: <1990Jul12.170911.8491@midway.uchicago.edu>
Date: 12 Jul 90 17:09:11 GMT
References: <33843@ut-emx.UUCP> <4982@milton.u.washington.edu> <4983@milton.u.washington.edu>
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Lines: 36

In article <4983@milton.u.washington.edu> wcalvin@milton.u.washington.edu 
(William Calvin) writes:
>Also, you asked about resetting your internal clock.  Big news in that
>area is that strong sunlight at the desired hour of awakening can
>reset the internal clock in just 48-72hours.
>        My own formula is 1) avoid alcohol before and during the
>changeover; 2) don't turn the lights on if you can't sleep and
>just read (allowing melatonin to be secreted from the pineal is
>probably important as a master hormone in this area, and it
>requires darkness); and 3) get up at the desired hour and go for
>a walk (if daylight) or otherwise find very bright lighting for
>the first two hours (if an astronomer).

Once upon a time, I heard about some research on sleep-cycle shifting that was
done at Argonne National Labs.  Among their findings was that for most people,
it's easier to shift by sleeping later and later than by getting up earlier
and earlier (confirming the suspicions of all the owl-people in the world :-).
Thus they recommend that employers who rotate employees' shifts rotate day->
evening->night rather than the other direction.

They also developed the Argonne Anti-Jet Lag Diet, which can be used by anyone
shifting their sleep cycle.  However, it requires knowing three days in 
advance that you are going to make the shift.  It involves alternating "feast"
and "fast" days, making the shift on the second "fast" day.  "Feasting" means
eating lots of high-carbohydrate foods like meats and starches; "fasting"
means avoiding those foods, and sticking to things like fruits and vegetables.
You also should avoid alcohol or caffeine on the day of the switch.  Some
where in my files at home I have a wallet-sized card that summarizes the whole
thing.  If there's sufficient interest, I could find it and post the details.

I've never actually used the Anti-Jet Lag Diet, since I've never been lucky
enough to travel across many time zones at once, or unlucky enough to work
swing shifts.


Janet Swisher		swsh@midway.uchicago.edu	I speak for myself.