Your Circadian Health Knowledge Hub U – Z

Welcome to the final chapter of our alphabetical journey around Circadian Health and our Knowledge Hub U – Z.  Here you will uncover the final stretch of terms from `UV-A’ to `UV-B` to who does what, when and why. Each term is a friendly invitation from me to you, to expand your understanding of our body, wellness, and what we can do to enjoy circadian health and healthy living. For the initiated and the curious alike, you can end your alphabetic odyssey on a happy, positive and energising note. I am so thrilled that you are here and that like me, you are investing in your health and wellbeing.

U – Z of Circadian Health

U

Ultradian Rhythm

Ultradian Rhythms are biorhythms and biological cycles that last less than 24 hours.

These can include everything from our human heartbeat cycle to blinking to digestion to respiration to our nightly sleep cycle which lasts 90 – 120 minutes. Whilst most people are very familiar with our “circadian rhythm” which occurs over a 24-hour period, ultradian rhythms are shorter and are repeated during that time.

UV Radiation

UV radiation is a form of electromagnetic energy. It can come from natural sources, such as sunlight, as well as artificial sources, such as lasers, or tanning beds. In relation to circadian health, when referring to UV radiation, I’ll be referring to the UV rays coming from sunlight specifically.

The sun is the most significant source of UV radiation. The UV rays are classified according to their wavelength with UVA having the longest wavelength, UVB having medium wavelength and UVC having the shortest wavelength.

About 95 per cent of the UV rays that reach the ground are UVA rays. The other five per cent are UVB rays. As for UVC rays, these are completely filtered out by the ozone layer and as such, these rays never reach the ground.

There are a number of factors that influence when UV rays are at their most powerful, such as time of day, season and location. For example, UV rays are at their peak between 10am and 4pm, during the Spring and Summer months and in areas that are on, or near the equator, as UV rays have less distance to travel before reaching the ground at this point. UV rays are also stronger at higher altitudes as again, they have less distance to travel.

When researching UV rays and radiation, it is virtually impossible to find any information that doesn’t include the words harm, damage, skin cancer, aging and wrinkles. Sunlight has been given a bad wrap of late from all sides of medicine and associated agencies. In reality, sunlight is the source of all life on earth and without it, we would all die. We need to critically assess the information we’ve been told and programmed to believe, question the motives, the commercial value of the message being told and do our own research.

As mitochondriacs, it is our job to independently research information and to come to our own conclusions rather than relying on others . We need to use our own discernment as the highest authority of all so for starters I would question, why did Mother Nature make sunlight our greatest source of Vitamin D if the sun was so harmful, why wasn’t skin caner so prevalent 50 – 100 years ago and what other factors can contribute to skin cancer and aging (hint – you may want to research low Vitamin D levels and blue light for these).

I think though the sentiment of being a critical thinker, a hunter and gatherer of information and using our own discernment is a wonderful place to end this Circadian Health Knowledge Hub and library. I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed exploring the A – Z of health, wellness and all things circadian and that the health of you, your family and your loved ones is much better for it. Now, go and get ’em tiger!!