Here’s why sleep experts think we should abolish daylight saving time

While most Canadians usually take just a few days to adjust to the transition between daylight saving time and standard time, sleep experts say the twice-yearly time travel is harmful to sleep and negatively affects the body's internal clock.

“The body's internal clock essentially syncs with the sun clock—the external environment of light and darkness,” said Dr. Michael Mack, a psychiatrist and sleep medicine specialist at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health.

“Any discrepancy between your internal body clock and the external light-dark cycle leads to serious health problems.”

Instead of switching between Daylight Saving Time (DST) and Standard Time (ST), Mack and others studying circadian rhythms let's say we should permanently set our clocks to standard time because it better suits the body's natural rhythms and is better for our health.

Jumping forward is more harmful than falling back.

Evidence suggests that daylight saving time in the spring is more harmful than gaining one hour in the fall, says University of Ottawa associate professor Rebecca Robillard, who directs clinical sleep research at the school's Institute of Mental Health Research (IMHR).

“In many cases, we lose an hour of sleep,” she said. Dose host Dr. Brian Goldman.

“This is important because a large portion of the population is already sleep-deprived to begin with,” says Robillard, who also co-directs the University of Ottawa's sleep laboratory.

Daylight saving time is associated with an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and digestive system problems, as well as problems related to childbirth and pregnancy. according to research.

Countries located far from the equator, where there are large differences in daylight hours throughout the year, adopt daylight saving time as a way to take advantage of longer daylight hours in the spring and summer.

As a result, Robillard says, Canadians actually sleep a little worse during daylight saving time because we have to stay up later to take advantage of both the warmer weather and longer evenings.

“You would hope that we would wake up a little later to catch up, but with work, family responsibilities and all that, our social pressure [curtails] our dream,” she said.

Stick to Standard Time, Experts Say

Both B.C. And Ontario passed legislation to make daylight saving time permanent, eliminating the problems associated with the change twice a year. In both cases, these efforts depended on the agreement of neighboring states and provinces to do the same.

“When I first talked to policymakers about this, some things came up around compliance [New York Stock Exchange]said Robillard.

But she says there is a consensus among sleep researchers in Canada that it would be better to stick to standard time instead.

“This is the natural sun exposure profile we need to get,” said Robillard, co-chair of the Canadian Sleep Research Consortium.

“Permanent daylight saving time would be an artificial, distorted way of moving our clocks that may be socially interesting but biologically unsound.”

Patricia Lakin-Thomas, a York University professor who runs the school's clock lab, said permanent daylight saving time would also cause problems in the fall and winter.

“The problem with daylight saving time in a place like Toronto is that if we used daylight saving time all year round, you wouldn't see the sun rise until 9 a.m. in the middle of winter,” she said.

Saskatchewan is the only province it does not observe daylight saving time, although there are some communities bordering Alberta that change their clocks. A report sent The Canadian Sleep Society said Saskatchewan residents would be “severely impacted by DST.”

A Liberal MP at the beginning of October this year iintroduced a private bill to abolish daylight saving time in Canada.

The bill is unlikely to pass through parliament quickly.

Tune your body and then stick to a regular schedule

Meanwhile, experts say the best way to get ahead of the time change is to shift your schedule by 15 minutes a few days before the clocks change.

Staying active, as well as trying to maintain a regular sleep and eating schedule, will also help ease the transition between daylight saving time and standard time, Robillard says.

“However, be careful not to [exercise] closer to sleep… because then you may need to activate your system too much, and that sends mixed signals to your body clock that it might be time to wake up and be active.”

Robillard warns that dreams cannot be stored in a jar.

“You can’t get enough sleep beforehand to make up for lost sleep.”