Great, on March 27 the clocks go forward one hour and that means nice longer summer evenings. Not so great, say sleep experts. Because longer light in the evening means less sleep. Whether you are for or against daylight saving time: no one likes (suddenly) sleeping an hour less. That is why we have three tips to make it less of a problem - and where you can learn something at the same time. The first tip will come into effect next Wednesday.
First of all: how did it all go again? We were supposed to stop changing the clocks twice a year in Europe, weren't we?
That's true, partly. In 2018, the European Commission proposed abolishing summer time, a year later the European Parliament also voted to end the clock-change tradition. Then it remained silent. Ultimately, it is up to the member states themselves to decide, in the European Council. It never appeared on the agenda there.
One of the questions was of course: should we choose standard time - also called winter time - or summer time? Many disagreed about that. We will tell you more about it later.
System without changes is best
What many did agree on – and still do: a system without changes is the most pleasant. And the best for health. It would also be better for traffic. “In the context of traffic safety, there are indications that it can be advantageous to avoid the time change,” said Minister Ollongren of the Interior at the time.
That's right, says sleep expert Toine Schoutens. "It's because you have a kind of jet lag. The sleep rhythm is disrupted and road users go out on the road tired and less alert on Monday morning."
United States moves toward permanent daylight saving time
According to him, the clock change is less innocent than it seems. He also refers to a recent American study that the risk of a serious traffic accident temporarily increases by six percent.
Schoutens has three tips to minimize the disadvantages of the clock change.
Tip 1: Go to bed earlier on Wednesday
“Starting Wednesday, March 22, get up 15 minutes earlier every day and go to bed 15 minutes earlier in the evening,” says Schoutens. It sounds simple, but he warns: this requires discipline. So also eat a little earlier in the evening, stop watching Netflix earlier – or whatever you normally do.
And even harder: set your alarm clock 15 minutes earlier in the morning, even on weekends. Do you normally get up at 7? Then set your alarm on Saturday at 6:15 and on Sunday at 6:00. Voilà, you are fully adapted to the new rhythm.
Shifting the sleep-wake rhythm is a form of 'chronocoaching'. Top athletes know all about this. They regularly call Schoutens when they need advice. "The best time for a top performance is in the afternoon. But if you have jet lag, your peak is at two o'clock in the afternoon or at 10 o'clock in the evening. That affects your performance."
Schoutens also gave time coaching to the participants of the dance marathon at SBS. “That was also quite a top performance. That was top sport. We trained those people for half a year to do that. Nutrition also played an important role in that.” A nice bridge to:
Tip 2: Proteins in the evening, carbohydrates in the morning
Most people know of course: don't eat a heavy meal before going to bed. Schoutens puts it this way: don't eat carbohydrates in the (late) evening but eat proteins, or even better, nothing at all. A glass of warm milk is fine. Milk contains the substance tryptophan, an amino acid that makes you sleepy. Incidentally, this is also found in bananas.
In the morning you can take carbohydrates, like a sandwich. “We are diurnal animals. We need those carbohydrates for energy, and possibly store them as a reserve. If you eat them in the evening or at night, your body is hardly able to break them down.”
Tip 3: no blue light in the evening, but yes in the morning
Many Olympic athletes who recently traveled to Beijing also suffered from a kind of summer time: the journey left them short of hours, so to speak. Light glasses have been developed for this. These glasses filter out blue light, especially in the time just before you go to sleep. “Bluish light is an important trigger for the night hormone melatonin to stop producing.” And you need that melatonin.
So, away with that blue light in the evening. You may have smart lights in your home that you can adjust to that. The light on smartphones is often adjusted automatically.
In the morning, you can use that blue light to wake up. “You need morning light to get going. In fact, light stimulates the production of the hormone cortisol, which converts carbohydrates into energy.”
Also interesting: a day lasts 24 hours, but our biological clock ticks a bit longer. About a quarter of an hour. “The light in the morning can get your biological clock back in sync.”
'Don't make daylight saving time standard time'
Okay, so we're going to summer time. Schoutens hopes that this will never become the standard time as they are planning in the United States now. In the evening you should actually avoid extra light.
Neurology professor Beth Malow put it this way, at a hearing in the US: “Standard time is the healthy choice because it maximizes light on winter mornings, when we need it to wake up and be alert. It also minimizes light on summer evenings that can disrupt your sleep.”
Permanent summer time means that it doesn't get light until a quarter to ten in the morning in the winter, Schoutens warns. "In France, they have that problem much worse, in the west of the country the sun doesn't rise until 5 past 10."
Well, it remains a puzzle. March 27th we will have to believe it anyway, then summer time starts, at 2:00 at night. Don't forget!
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