 | By Paola de Varona, Associate News Editor | | It's that time of the year again. On Sunday morning, you'll have to set your clocks back an hour, marking the end of daylight saving time.
Mornings will be sunny and nights will be dark—both at a much earlier time. Where I live, the sun currently sets at around 5:40 p.m. Next week, the dark will creep in an hour earlier. That means I have just 40 minutes after work to seize the day. Talk about pressure.
Even though I personally, like many others, hate nights that seem to stretch on forever, there are ways we can adjust our bodies to this change. | | | Today's Top Story | | More Daylight Can Brighten Your Spirits |  | In the coming months, prioritize your sunlight hours. New research finds that more time spent outdoors while it's sunny out can lead to an improvement in depressive feelings and sleep.
An international team of researchers looked at the health information of over 400,000 people, who reported spending a median of 2.5 hours in daylight per day.
Every additional hour they spent outdoors correlated with lower antidepressant usage, less frequent low moods, and greater happiness. It was also linked to easier early mornings, being less tired, and having fewer insomnia symptoms.
But why? It has to do with our circadian rhythms—or body clocks. These rhythms are the cycle of physiological and biological processes happening inside of you that fluctuate on roughly a 24-hour timetable. They're directly linked to sunlight cues.
"Light helps the brain know when it is time to be awake and time to sleep," says Jacqueline Lane, PhD, instructor of anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital. "The same light also controls how we process emotions."
Getting a lot of light at the wrong times of day—like that pesky blue light from your phone at night—can confuse the brain and disrupt your sleep and mood. | | Know More | | For most of human history, people have lived according to the sun. Daylight saving time was established by Congress in 1918 as part of a war effort to conserve energy. Experts say it interferes with the natural seasonal adjustment of the human clock and has been linked to a slew of health issues like cardiovascular disease and depression. | | Feel Better | | If you're like me and have minimal daylight hours after work, try waking up early and going for a walk or sitting outside to have your morning beverage. You should also try refraining from scrolling on your phone or computer late into the night. | | |  | | In the last four years, 19 states have enacted legislation or passed resolutions to secure year-round daylight saving time, if Congress were to allow it. Two states, Hawaii and Arizona, opted out of daylight saving time in the 1960s. |  |  | | We're in a Climate Change Code Red | This year's Lancet Countdown signaled a code red for the world's future. The report found that climate change is becoming detrimental to our health globally. Increased heat waves, droughts, poor air quality, and infectious diseases are all only getting worse.
"We're seeing that across all indicators that track the impacts of climate change on human health, we see that things are getting worse," says Marina Romanello, PhD, research director for the Lancet Countdown and the study's lead author. | | | | Nutritional Guidelines for Pregnant People Might be Subpar | | A new study review suggests that pregnant people are highly underrepresented in the research that informs nutritional guidelines in the United States. Out of the 704 nutrient studies researchers looked at, only 17% included pregnant people or people who are lactating. Still, experts say that doesn't mean existing guidelines for pregnant people aren't beneficial, they just have room for improvement. | | | | | |  | | Sanja Jelic, MD, a Verywell Medical Advisory Board member and sleep specialist, stresses the importance of getting enough shut-eye every night. |  | | Good sleep is essential for good health and well-being. Getting 7-8 h of sleep daily, keeping a constant bedtime and wakeup time and treating sleep apnea if you have it improves learning, memory, mood, cardiovascular and metabolic function. Make good sleep your priority. | |  |  | Sanja Jelic, MD
Pulmonologist and sleep specialist
| | | Keep Reading | | | ■ | The Big Question This Thanksgiving: Are You Vaccinated? The New York Times | | | | | ■ | Can We Outrun Our Winter Dread? The Cut | | | | | ■ | These Podcasts Are Genius If You're Struggling to Fall Asleep. Bustle | | | | | | | |  |     | You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to the Verywell Health newsletter. If you wish to unsubscribe, please click here.
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