Long journeys and shift work can cause quite a disruption in our day/night/rhythm. A disturbance of the internal clock leads to physiological stress and can especially affect the intestinal flora. Obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases or an increased risk of infection can be the result.
Life on earth is controlled by circadian fluctuations, caused by light fluctuations, created by the rotation of the earth around its own axis. With the inner biological clock we have adapted to this situation and can couple our physiological processes with geophysical time.
Jetlag can lead to secondary diseases.
This inner clock works in a 24-hour rhythm and is also known as the circadian rhythm. It is often disturbed in many people, which is a sign of our time and modern lifestyle: shift workers work at any time of day or night and are exposed to light at night, many people fly through different time zones. Or it is simply the bright street lighting, the loud neighbor or the smartphone in bed that robs us of sleep.
Jetlag is the result: people are exposed to physiological stress that is associated with many diseases, such as obesity, diabetes mellitus type 2, cancer, cardiovascular diseases or increased susceptibility to infections. It is still unclear which mechanisms are involved.
The circadian clock controls many biological processes
We know more about the inner pacemakers: The circadian rhythm consists of a central clock gene in the hypothalamic nucleus of our brain and a subordinate peripheral clock gene in other body regions. The environment (i.e. the light conditions) influences the central clock gene, which in turn influences the peripheral clock gene by means of hormonal and neuronal signals.
In the periphery, the circadian clock controls many biological processes, including metabolism and cognitive function. Physiological stress as a result of sleep/wake/rhythm disturbances is therefore likely to have an effect on the entire organism.
If the internal clock is disturbed, the composition of the intestinal flora also changes.
Israeli scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science have discovered that the intestinal flora synchronizes its biorhythm with that of the body. If the circadian rhythm is disturbed, the microbial colonisation of the intestines also changes.
The researchers also discovered that the circadian rhythm increases or decreases the frequency of different types of bacteria during the course of the day. And that’s not all: the intestinal microbes perform different functions depending on the time of day or night. In the investigations, it was observed that in the dark the bacteria devoted themselves to metabolism, which was related to the energy balance or food utilization, while in the light phases, for example, other processes such as detoxification took place primarily.
The intestinal bacteria apparently get their rhythm by the time they eat. If the internal clock is disturbed, the microbial balance in the intestine is also impaired. Restoring this balance is often difficult and usually only possible with the help of probiotics. If the food intake is too high in fat, rhythmic fluctuations can lead to metabolic problems such as overweight and glucose intolerance as well as rising blood sugar levels.
Frequent flyers and shift workers are often affected. A sufficient amount of high-quality sleep is therefore extremely important not only for our energy and mood, but also for our digestion and our health.
