This is an excellent “back to physiology” piece, thank you! In clinic, the biggest sleep breakthroughs rarely come from another supplement; they come from restoring circadian contrast: bright days, dim nights, plus consistent timing for sleep and food. I also appreciate you highlighting the under-recognized driver: most of us live in biologically dim daytime light (indoors) and biologically bright evenings (screens + overhead LEDs), which is essentially the perfect recipe for 3 a.m. wake-ups. The other clinically high-yield lever you emphasize (meal timing) is real: late eating can keep core temperature and glucose/insulin signaling elevated and can “pull” peripheral clocks out of sync with the brain’s clock. The practical prescription you outline (daylight early, lights low after dinner, finish dinner ~3 hours before bed, steady wake time) is simple, but it’s not simplistic; it’s how the system is built to run. And I love the tone of “aim for direction, not perfection”. For readers who do all of this and still struggle, your final point matters: that’s often when it’s worth screening for sleep apnea, restless legs, meds/alcohol effects, or mood physiology, because the foundations set the stage, but sometimes there’s a treatable blocker.
Thank you for writing this excellent piece. I just finished listening to an interview with Michael Grandner, PhD a sleep researcher at the University of Arizona (https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/michael-grandner). He said a lot of the same things, including getting light throughout the day to set your sleep and wake times.
Can you share the reference to the Nature article?
This is an excellent “back to physiology” piece, thank you! In clinic, the biggest sleep breakthroughs rarely come from another supplement; they come from restoring circadian contrast: bright days, dim nights, plus consistent timing for sleep and food. I also appreciate you highlighting the under-recognized driver: most of us live in biologically dim daytime light (indoors) and biologically bright evenings (screens + overhead LEDs), which is essentially the perfect recipe for 3 a.m. wake-ups. The other clinically high-yield lever you emphasize (meal timing) is real: late eating can keep core temperature and glucose/insulin signaling elevated and can “pull” peripheral clocks out of sync with the brain’s clock. The practical prescription you outline (daylight early, lights low after dinner, finish dinner ~3 hours before bed, steady wake time) is simple, but it’s not simplistic; it’s how the system is built to run. And I love the tone of “aim for direction, not perfection”. For readers who do all of this and still struggle, your final point matters: that’s often when it’s worth screening for sleep apnea, restless legs, meds/alcohol effects, or mood physiology, because the foundations set the stage, but sometimes there’s a treatable blocker.
Thx for your kind comment.
Thank you for writing this excellent piece. I just finished listening to an interview with Michael Grandner, PhD a sleep researcher at the University of Arizona (https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/michael-grandner). He said a lot of the same things, including getting light throughout the day to set your sleep and wake times.
Can you share the reference to the Nature article?
https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-03148-8
Nature 646, 26-28 (2025)