How to take advantage of your body's internal clock

+ recognizing perceptual abilities US Edition - Today's top story: Your body has an internal clock that dictates when you eat, sleep and might have a heart attack – all based on time of day [View in browser]( US Edition | 2 July 2022 [The Conversation]( Deep in your brain is a bundle of neurons that help your body keep time. Like a drum major commanding a marching band, your biological clock synchronizes your bodily functions to a 24-hour light-dark cycle. It’s why you feel sleepy at night and hungry around noon. And it’s also why strokes are more common in the morning, and why it may be better to take certain medications at certain times of day. Texas A&M University scholar Shogo Sato is a chronobiologist who studies how we can [take advantage of our circadian rhythms]( to optimize our health and well-being. His recent mouse study on the best time of day to exercise finds that the answer depends on what your personal health goals are. These findings, he writes, could “help tailor exercise plans to maximize specific benefits for patients with obesity, Type 2 diabetes and other diseases.” This week we also liked articles about [Episcopal saint Pauli Murray]( and [liberal activists who opposed abortion]( before Roe, as well as how [Catholic hospitals restrict reproductive health options](. Vivian Lam Assistant Health and Biomedicine Editor Syncing your circadian rhythm to a natural light-dark cycle could improve your health and well-being. nambitomo/iStock via Getty Images Plus [Your body has an internal clock that dictates when you eat, sleep and might have a heart attack – all based on time of day]( Shogo Sato, Texas A&M University Your body follows a circadian rhythm that influences everything from how well your medications work to the best time for exercise. Pauli Murray: priest, activist, lawyer and more. Carolina Digital Library and Archives/Wikimedia Commons [The Episcopal saint whose journey for social justice took many forms, from sit-ins to priesthood]( Sarah Azaransky, Union Theological Seminary Pauli Murray, the first Black woman to be ordained by the Episcopal Church, was an advocate for women’s rights and racial justice. A 1973 photo shows an estimated 5,000 people, women and men, marching around the Minnesota Capitol building protesting the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. AP Photo [Many anti-abortion activists before Roe were liberals who were inspired by 20th-century Catholic social teaching]( Daniel K. Williams, University of West Georgia A historian explains why the pre-Roe anti-abortion movement was filled with liberal Democrats who opposed the Vietnam War and supported the expansion of the welfare state. - [A growing number of women give birth at Catholic hospitals, where they do not receive the same reproductive health options – including birth control – provided at other hospitals]( Maria Gallo, The Ohio State University Many people do not realize they are delivering at a Catholic hospital, and others may not have a choice. But where one receives care has a profound impact on the birth control options they’re offered. - [People vary a lot in how well they recognize, match or categorize the things they see – researchers attribute this skill to an ability they call ‘o’]( Isabel Gauthier, Vanderbilt University; Jason Chow, Vanderbilt University To achieve perceptual expertise, you may need more than smarts and hard work. Research suggests there’s a general ability that may help you succeed in jobs that depend on perceptual decisions. - [A water strategy for the parched West: Have cities pay farmers to install more efficient irrigation systems]( Robert Glennon, University of Arizona Stemming the water crisis in the western US will require cities and rural areas to work together to make water use on farms – the largest source of demand – more efficient. - [Poll reveals white Americans see an increase in discrimination against other white people and less against other racial groups]( - [How 19th-century literature spread the archetype of the ‘evil abortionist’]( - [Jan. 6 hearings highlight problems with certification of presidential elections and potential ways to fix them]( - [Defining when human life begins is not a question science can answer – it’s a question of politics and ethical values]( - [Abortion benefits: Companies have a simple and legal way to help their workers living in anti-abortion states – expand paid time off]( - [Intensifying heat waves threaten South Asia’s struggling farmers – many of them women]( - [What’s cellulitis? A dermatologist explains]( - - About The Conversation: We're a nonprofit news organization dedicated to [helping academic experts share ideas with the public](. We can give away our articles thanks to the help of foundations, universities and readers like you. [Donate now to support research-based journalism]( [The Conversation]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation]( 303 Wyman Street, Suite 300 Waltham, MA 02451 [Forward to a friend]( • [Unsubscribe](