Editor's Weekly Ramblings 144

June 21st 2006

Light Sleeper

I hate to complain about the long hours of summer daylight, but it is affecting my beauty sleep. In London, the sun rises before 5 AM these days, and by 6 AM there's so much sunlight I keep waking up thinking it's mid-morning and I've slept through my alarm. I've resorted to sleeping with eye shades on so that I can fit in a few extra hours of sleep before I have to get up and leave for work.

Since our body clocks are governed by light and darkness, the early summer sunrise is not great for those who prefer to sleep in. Although external stimuli like alarm clocks and artificial lighting, and the daily habits we set for ourselves, affect when we are hungry, tired or listless, nature would take over in their absence and we would probably eat at regular intervals, and wake up and nod off with the sun.

The chemical structure of melatonin, the sleep hormone.

The presence of light causes the pineal gland in our brain to stop producing the sleep hormone melatonin, thus making us feel awake during the daylight hours. This helps regulate when we wake up and fall asleep. Melatonin supplements are sometimes suggested to help with insomnia or jetlag and can also have health benefits since melatonin is an antioxidant and has been shown to stimulate the immune system.

Until recently, scientists thought that this hormone was only produced by mammals. But researchers from the University of Milan in Italy have discovered that grapes used to make popular red wines like Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon contain large quantities of melatonin. Perhaps this explains why drinking wine is a relaxing evening activity and is more likely than other types of alcohol to make you doze off...