關於生物鐘的十大真相(下)

adian Clocks Are As Old As Time

5.生物鐘像時間一樣古老

The Salisbury Cathedral in England is said to be home to the world's oldest clock. The mechanical device's wrought iron hands are believed to have been tracking the passage of time since at least 1386. The clock survived war, fire and inattention before being rediscovered in the early 20th century and restored.

英格蘭的索爾茲伯裏大教堂據說是世界上最古老的鐘的發源地。至少自1386年來，裝有鐵的時針的機械設備就被認爲是用來記錄時間的。在20世紀早期被重新發現之前，索爾茲伯裏大教堂裏的這口鐘受過戰火的洗禮，以及人們的忽視，但是最終還是保存了下來。

The Salisbury Cathedral clock is but a wee whippersnapper when compared to the natural clocks that track our circadian rhythms. Scientists believe internal clocks evolved more than 3 billion years ago in cyanobacteria (what we also call blue-green algae), but they don't know exactly why it happened. Some say this was nature's way of leveling the playing field for organisms all competing for the same sources of energy. Circadian rhythms developed so that some creatures feed during the day and others do it at night. Others say the body clock evolved in algae to stagger the sludge's processes for photosynthesis—converting light into energy to be stored for later—and nitrogen fixation—in which plants convert nitrogen from the air into energy — so as not to counteract one another.

和記錄我們晝夜節律的生物鐘相比，索爾茲伯裏大教堂裏的鐘根本是微不足道的。科學家認爲在30億年前的藍細菌（我們稱之爲藍藻）時期生物鐘就開始演變了，但是科學家們並不知道生物鐘開始的確切時間。有的人覺得這其實只是一種自然的競爭機制，因爲所有的生物體都需要同樣的能量。生物鐘的存在確保了有些生物可以在白天覓食，有些可以在晚上覓食。而另外一些人認爲在藍藻時期就演變的生物鐘利用光合作用緩慢發展，把光轉換成能量，儲存在身體後，又釋放出氮化物，這樣的話植物就把空氣中的氮化物固定在體內了，以免消耗。

p, It Does a Body Good

4.睡眠對身體有益

Perhaps the reason for circadian rhythms in humans is simpler: They help you sleep, and sleep is good for you.

或許，人類具有生物鐘的原因很簡單——生物鐘有助於你入眠，而睡眠對你有益。

When you lay your head down and nod off to the feather ball, your body is restoring itself. That includes basic upkeep and repair like muscle growth, tissue maintenance, protein production and the release of growth hormones. Those hormones help children develop naturally — exhibit A in the case against little Johnny staying up to watch Jimmy Fallon — but also play a key role in helping adults rebuild tissue over time. In fact, it's believed that some of these functions only happen during sleep hours. Animals deprived of sleep will lose all immune function and die in just a few weeks. If you've ever popped out of bed after a nice long slumber and felt mentally refreshed, it's probably not just because you spent the night dreaming about being fanned and fed grapes by models poolside at an Italian villa. Sleep helps humans restore their mental energy and cognitive functions that often get tapped out during waking hours. Our circadian rhythms naturally make us sleepy at night.

當你安然平躺，枕着鬆軟的枕頭酣然入眠時，你的身體便開始進行自我修復，即一些基本的維護保養，如肌肉的增長、組織的修復、蛋白質的生成及生長激素的釋放。生長激素對兒童的茁壯成長具有促進作用，總是熬夜看吉米·法倫節目的小不點兒就是個典型的反面例子。不僅如此，生長激素還在促進成年人的組織修復過程中起着關鍵作用。有分析認爲，以上機能中有部分僅在睡眠時才起作用，因此，被剝奪睡眠的動物會喪失所有的免疫能力，在幾周內死亡。你在經過了長時間的優質睡眠後會覺得精神煥發，或許不僅僅是因爲置身豪宅、名模環繞的黃粱美夢之中。因爲睡眠有助於恢復人們在清醒時消耗的心理能量及認知功能。而且，夜裏那排山倒海的睏意也是生物鐘這隻“幕後黑手”所致。

Post-Lunch Dip is Natural

3.午餐後犯困很正常

Ever wonder why you have to fight the urge to sleep after lunch (unless you're lucky enough to work from home and can give into it)? Your body's circadian rhythm is in a natural resting place after your noontime meal. There's also another system called the sleep/wake homeostatis that tells your body when it's time to sleep, which also occurs after you've been awake for a long time. By 2 p.m., you've usually been awake for at least eight hours. Put those two systems together, alongside a heavy lunch, and it's no wonder you want to take a nap.

你可曾想過，爲何你在午餐後總是得對抗那綿綿睏意（除非你是個在家辦公的幸運兒，睏倦來襲便可安然入睡）？那是因爲午餐過後，你體內的生物鐘已經指向了休息時分。而且，睡眠/清醒體內平衡系統會在到點睡眠時或保持長時間清醒狀態後，向你的身體發出訊號。到下午2點時，你至少已經保持了8個小時的清醒狀態，這時，豐盛的午餐、生物鐘以及體內平衡系統三管齊下，你不想打盹纔怪呢！

Not everyone has this feeling to the same degree but it is a natural one. In fact, for most adults, their strongest sleep drives are at 2 p.m. and 2 a.m., thanks to their circadian rhythms. However, if you got a good night's sleep, your urge to nap at lunchtime will be lessened.

每個人的睏倦程度有所不同，這很正常。由於生物鐘的作用，大多數成年人往往在下午2點及凌晨2點時睏意最濃。但如果夜間的睡眠質量好，午餐後的睏倦會有所減輕。

tronic Light Warps the Body Clock

2.電子產品的燈光會擾亂生物鐘

If we've learned anything so far, it's that the body clock is wound generally to correspond to light and dark. When it starts to get dark at night, the brain tells the body it's time for a rest by releasing melatonin into the bloodstream. So, what happens when you literally flip the (light) switch in the evening?

就我們目前所瞭解到的，生物鐘一般來說會與光明和黑暗相對應。當夜幕開始降臨，大腦通過釋放褪黑激素到血液中，告知身體已到休息的時間。那麼，當你在晚上撥動（電燈）開關會怎樣呢？

Artificial light can send mixed signals. Yes, a small and strategically located night-light may be necessary for navigating from bedroom to bathroom when duty calls. But other lights could throw your body clock into disarray. That includes illumination coming from a television, computer or smartphone. Many people like to wind down for the night by watching the ol' boob tube -- or streaming entertainment through their computers and tablets. If you bring those devices, and the artificial light that they give off, into bed, however, you may be tricking your brain into thinking it should stay awake.

人造光線會傳遞出複合信號。沒錯，也許一盞在特定位置的小小夜明燈對指引人們從臥室到衛生間以解決日常需要來說是必要的，但是其它的光線會打亂你的生物鐘，這些光線來自電視機、電腦和手機。許多人喜歡在晚上通過看電視來放鬆自己或者將玩電腦和平板作爲娛樂活動。如果你將這些電子設備帶到牀上，它們散發出來的人造光會影響大腦原先的運作方式。

Body Clock Can Impact the Biological Clock

1.生物鐘會影響生理鍾

We've come right back to the "biological clock." Research shows that women who are pregnant or hoping to conceive should listen to their circadian rhythms and avoid artificial light at night. Sleep doesn't just help the body rejuvenate and promote growth in kids; it also protects a woman's eggs from stress. That's because melatonin is believed to have antioxidant qualities and defends the body against inflammation while stimulating the immune system, particularly during ovulation .

讓我們回到“生理鍾”這個話題上。研究人員表示孕婦或者期望懷上孩子的女性應該遵循她們的晝夜節律以及在夜晚避免接觸人造光線。睡眠不僅僅有助於身體自我修復和兒童的成長髮育，還可以保護女性的卵巢免受情緒壓力影響。這是因爲褪黑激素有抗氧化的功能，並且可以通過刺激免疫系統來抵禦炎症以保護身體，尤其是在女性排卵期。

When the lights go on at night, melatonin production slows or stops. Experts say that women who are expecting should maintain steady sleep patterns that conform with the light and dark cycles going on outside. That means eight hours of darkness with little or no interruptions each night. The dark, not actual sleep, is the key. The body produces melatonin as a reaction to darkness and will continue doing so, even if you can't sleep. Among other effects, researchers have found that disruptions in this routine can lead to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism-related disorders in young children.

在夜晚有光亮時，褪黑激素會減慢甚至停止生成。專家認爲想要懷孕的女性應該養成與外界日夜交替保持一致的固定的睡眠模式。也就是說在每晚八小時的睡眠時間中，應該很少或者完全避免受到光線的干擾。保持黑暗的睡眠環境是關鍵，而非睡眠本身。身體產生的褪黑激素是對黑暗的條件反應，就算你沒有進入睡眠，褪黑激素的產生仍會繼續進行。至於其他方面的影響，研究人員發現對於幼兒來說，夜晚睡眠中受到光線的干擾會導致注意力缺陷障礙和自閉症等相關疾病

審校：圍巾、煙囪 編輯：listen 來源：前十網