How To Align Your Circadian Biology

The days are getting longer thanks to the sun sticking around more. It's good news for your body’s internal clock.

You see...your body runs on a roughly 24-hour cycle, governing everything from sleep to hormones to metabolism (there are meaningful differences between males and females of course). 

This is what's known as circadian biology. Or your circadian rhythm.

While it's not the only biological rhythm in your body (women have an infradian rhythm, which governs cycles longer than 24 hours like the menstrual cycle), it is one that is important to your health.  

HOW DOES YOUR CIRCADIAN BIOLOGY STAY IN RHYTHM?

To answer this question, we first have to understand the first principles of circadian biology.

Your Internal Clock Is Always Ticking: Your body doesn’t just react to light—it has a built-in timekeeper. Even if you sat in total darkness for days, your clock would still run. It’d drift a little, but the rhythm would persist.

Light Is The Master Regulator: Your eyes have special photoreceptors that send signals straight to the brain’s clock. Morning sunlight tells your body "wake up, time to go." Evening light does the opposite—or at least, it should.

Timing Is Everything: Sleep, digestion, body temperature, and hormone release all run on predictable cycles. Mess with the timing and you throw everything off.

Your Clock Evolves For Survival: We evolved to wake with the sun, eat when food it's available and sleep when it’s dark. But modern life? It fights this at every turn.

So what are the best strategies to try to support your circadian biology instead of wrecking it?

THE PLAYBOOK

Here is our playbook to improve circadian biology.

Get Light (When It Counts)

Get outside within 30-60 minutes of waking. Ideally around sunrise but if that scares you just get out in the early light. Just 5-10 minutes of natural light (even on cloudy days) signals your body to start the day right. No sunglasses because we want your eyes to get near-infrared light and red light, which preconditions your body for your day. 

In the evening, dim the lights 2-3 hours before bed. Screens? Either cut them or use blue blockers. Artificial light delays melatonin, tricking your brain into thinking it’s still daytime.   

Lock In A Sleep Schedule

A sleep routine is just as important as sleep duration. Go to bed at the same time every night. Even weekends. 

Regardless of whether you are an early bird or night owl.

When your bedtime shifts a lot, metabolic chaos follows. 

Time Your Meals Wisely

Aim to eat in a 10-12 hour window (e.g., 8 AM to 8 PM). If you are more experienced with time-restricted eating, then aim for a smaller window. 

Stop eating at least 3 hours before going to bed. And no late-night snacking.

Move Your Body

Plan your workouts for the morning to reinforce wakefulness and metabolic health. If you can only workout in the evening, leave enough space between the workout and bedtime.

Manage Your Habits

With caffeine, stop drinking it by noon. Anything beyond that and it will negatively affect your sleep.

With alcohol, it is important to understand that it disrupts REM sleep.

Lastly, social media and bedtime should never be combined. Late-night doomscrolling floods your system with unearned dopamine and cortisol—not ideal for sleep.

Cool Your Sleep Environment

Best to keep it dark, quiet, and cool (60-67°F). Your body naturally cools at night. Help it with a colder room, blackout curtains or a sleep mask. Elevating your body temp prior to sleep with hot therapy (e.g. sauna, steam, tub) also aids sleep.

BOTTOM LINE 

Your circadian rhythm is a predictable system, not a random mystery.

Small, consistent tweaks—morning light, fixed wake-up times, meal timing—go further than drastic overhauls.

You don’t have to be perfect. Just aim to be aligned more often than not. Your sleep, energy, and metabolism will thank you.

Now—what’s the one change you can commit to this week?