Your Circadian Health Knowledge Hub K – O

If you want to know the difference between melanin, melatonin and melanopsin, you’re absolutely where you need to be – the K – O corner of our Circadian Health Knowledge Hub. Prepare to up your wellness wisdom and sharpen your amazing mind, with each term a stepping stone towards making better decisions, improving your circadian health and being a happier and healthier you. I hope you enjoy!!

K – O of Circadian Health

M

Melanin

Melanin is well known as the substance in our body that produces hair, eye and skin pigmentation. The more melanin we produce, the darker our eyes, hair and skin will be. It originates from the amino acid tyrosine and is influenced by our ancestral heritage and environmental factors. But there is much more to melanin’s story.

Melanin is produced in melanocytes. These cells are located in different parts of our body, including our hair, the innermost layer of our skin, our pupils and irises, parts of our brain (the substantia nigra and locus coeruleus), our adrenal glands (the medulla and zona reticularis, and parts of our inner ear (the stria vascularis).

Melanin also plays many other important roles in our body. It absorbs light and uses it to create free energy utilising water. It also protects us against reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are by-products of our body’s cell processes. When ROS accumulates in our cells, it can lead to oxidative stress, premature aging and diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Melanin scavengers our body for ROS, boosting antioxidants and eliminating free radicals.

Melanin also plays a protective role in our body by reducing inflammation and having antibacterial and immune fighting powers.

Melanopsin

Melanopsin is a special type of protein found in certain cells of our eye’s retina, known as ganglion cells. Unlike the rods and cones that help us see images and colors, cells containing melanopsin are particularly sensitive to blue light, commonly found in daylight. This protein plays a vital role in regulating our internal body clock, or circadian rhythm, which influences various biological functions, including sleep patterns.

Melanopsin is like a natural alarm clock, tuning our body to the cycles of daylight and darkness, ultimately guiding our sleep. As the sun rises, the melanopsin in certain cells of our eyes becomes active, signalling our brain to wake us up. This ingenious system helps synchronise our internal clock with the world outside.

Melatonin

Melatonin is the hormone that tells our body, “It’s time to wind down” and is pretty much our circadian rhythm’s best friend. Secreted by the pineal gland in our brain, melatonin helps regulate our sleep-wake cycles. Typically, our body ramps up production of melatonin in the evening once the sun has set and it’s dark outside. These are nature’s queues, telling our body is time to finish up and close up shop for the day.

Whilst most people associate melatonin only with sleep, there are many other vital functions that melatonin is part of. Other than sleep, melatonin plays a role in blood pressure and cardiovascular regulation, immune system regulation, retinal functions, detoxification of free radicals and antioxidant actions as well as having anti-tumoral properties.

Exposure to artificial blue light at night greatly suppresses our production of melatonin. This has considerable adverse health affects as it inhibits and interferes with the great work melatonin does and needs to do. Final note, naturally produced melatonin does not equal melatonin supplements. The two are not the same.

Mitochondria

Nicknamed the “powerhouse of the cell,” mitochondria creates the energy that all our cells need to function for life. They convert the sugar, fat and protein from our food into energy our body can use, called ATP.

These tiny structures are in nearly every cell and get their orders partly from — you guessed it — our circadian rhythm.

Our mitochondria is influenced by our environment – particularly by temperature and electromagnetism. And it is the state of our mitochondria that determines our wellness or illness via epigenetics, not our genes, making the health and wellness equation very simple.

The healthier our mitochondria, the healthier we are. The weaker our mitochondria, the higher the chances of illness and disease are.

This connection between mitochondria and health offers such a great opportunity for all of us and especially those who think they are doomed because of their genes. Work on optimising your mitochondria, and you’ll be ready to take on the the world.

Fun fact! We inherit all our mitochondrial DNA from our maternal side and our mums. This has been a long standing biological mystery which I’m sure nature has very good reasons for. In saying that, it does give mums-to-be another great reason to really look after themselves before getting pregnant and during pregnancy as ladies, you have the opportunity to give your babies the most magical gift of life AND healthy mitochondria.

Mitochondriac

A mitochondriac is a fan or follower of mitochondria, biophysics and the daily and seasonal cycles of our body. It can also be used to describe someone that is obsessed with the mitochondria, and the environmental factors and practices that optimise mitochondrial health or compromise it.

Mitophysics

Mitophysics is the forces of physics that control our mitochondria and circadian and infradian rhythms.

It is an umbrella term used to describe an amalgamation of sciences important to mitochondriacs such as biophysics, quantum biology, mitochondrial biology and chronobiology. You can read more about this fascinating subject in The Mitochondriac Manifesto.

Mitophysics explains how sunlight, pure water, friendly electromagnetic frequencies and the earth’s magnetic field give us energy, life and a resistance to disease or how conversely, things like contaminated water and nn-EMF can deplete us of energy, our ability to heal and lead to dysfunction and disease.

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Photobiomodulation (PBM)

Photobiomodulation is the use and application of light, for therapeutic purposes. PBM can be used to promote tissue repair, reduce inflammation or reduce pain amongst other health benefits. It utilises light within specific wavelengths, which can range between 400 nanometers (nm), being blue light, to up to 1,200 nm, being near-infrared light.

People often ask is Red Light Therapy the same as Photobiomodulation? Red light therapy is a type of photobiomodulation therapy.

It still uses light as medicine however it utilises red light or near infra-red light specifically, which exists on the visible light spectrum in wavelengths between 620 and 750 nm.

Today, there are many red light devices which you can use in your home and yes, I do have one myself.

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Quantum Biology

Quantum biology is a fascinating field at the crossroads of quantum physics and biology. It explores the ways in which the principles of quantum mechanics, which govern the behaviour of particles at the atomic and subatomic levels, may influence our biological processes which are critical to life. This fascinating science seeks to help us understand how these tiny particles, like electrons and photons, can play a role in the complex machinery of living organisms.

One of the intriguing aspects of quantum biology is how it might explain phenomena that classical biology cannot, such as how birds manage to migrate with incredible precision, possibly relying on a form of a quantum compass, or how plants convert sunlight into energy with near-perfect efficiency through a process called photosynthesis.

For us health-conscious people, knowing more about this quantum biology world has the potential to revolutionise our understanding of who we are, and how our miraculous bodies and systems operate. From here we can enter an exciting frontier, helping us live healthier and happier lives – just like Nature intended for us.