Most Canadians are getting ready to “fall back” this weekend and set their clocks as Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday.
With a few minor regional exceptions, all Canadian provinces and territories except Saskatchewan and the Yukon recognize Daylight Saving Time, and will be setting their clocks back an hour.
According to Diana McMillan, associate professor at the University of Manitoba’s college of nursing, however, the shift can really take its toll on some people, and can throw your internal clock out of whack.
“We’re disrupting this circadian rhythm — we’re sort of shifting that a little bit,” McMillan said.
“It’s only an hour, and some people are not as affected as others, but we do see a small, significant disruption.”
McMillan told Global Winnipeg that eating healthy and exercising can help get you back on track, while it can be even harder to get your body back into a regular rhythm if you’re consuming things like caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol.
“We’re driven in terms of our body clocks, not only by light, but also our temperature, our meal times … and this helps to sort of entrain other rhythms in our body so we actually function optimally,” she said.
“We really need to be more active, and that will make us feel a more healthy fatigue, and to prioritize sleep.”