4 Think About Your Food
Another method you can use to set your own body clock is to think about when and how much you eat. Have you ever noticed how you feel tired and sluggish after a big meal? This is because your body will break down the carbohydrates in the meal, leaving behind the tryptophan. This is then taken to the brain, where it is converted into serotonin (the feel-good hormone) and melatonin (the sleep hormone). Meanwhile, the blood and energy that you normally rely on will be directed away from your brain and your muscles and instead to your digestion.
A large meal can help to stimulate your sleep then. Likewise, fasting for short periods can help to wake you up – this is one of the reasons we wake in the morning! And why the first meal of the day is called ‘breakfast’!
This is also a strategy used by sports teams that have long flights. By changing the times and amounts they eat, they can shift their body clocks in order to minimize jet lag and thereby help to synchronize to the new local times.