调整睡眠周期，只需一个晚上 (How to Naturally Reset Your Sleep Cycle in One Ni

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根据哈佛医学院（Harvard Medical School）最新的一项研究显示，只需要在12-16小时内不进食就可以帮助你快速的调整你的睡眠周期，这项新的发现将能够有效的帮助人们应对飞行时差综合症（jet lag）或是熬夜加班造成的睡眠周期紊乱。


科学家已经发现我们的昼夜感是由我们暴露在光线下的时间决定的，现在他们发现当我们感到饥饿时，第二个“食物时钟”也可以影响我们的昼夜感，而这一机制或许就是造成哺乳动物在他们感到饥饿时无法入睡的原因。
这项研究的首席研究员Clifford Saper解释说：
[blockquote]第二时钟最妙的地方就在于它可以覆盖我们的主时钟，也就是说你应该可以在一天之内将你的生物钟调整到一个新的时区。
[/blockquote]通常人们需要花费一周左右的时间才能将他们的生物钟调整到一个新的时区，想想这种新的“食物时钟”可以帮助你在一天之内倒好时差，这真是难以置信。
该如何使用这个技巧？
你只需要保证在你醒来之前的12-16个小时不要吃任何东西就行了，一旦你开始再次进食，你的内部时钟就已经完成了重置，它会将这看做是新的一天的开始，你的身体也会将你吃早餐的时间看做是一个新的“早晨”。
举个例子，如果你想要在凌晨2点醒过来，你应该从前一天的上午10点到下午2点之间开始禁食，并且一直持续到你在凌晨2点醒过来，然后你需要好好的吃上一顿丰盛的早餐，现在，你的身体就已经准备好迎接一个全新的“早晨”了。
再举一个例子：如果你从洛杉矶旅行到东京，你只需计算好你在东京的第一顿早餐的时间，然后从这个时间往前推12-16个小时，保证不要进食就可以了。
另外，你还可以同时使用其它一些促进睡眠以及保持精力的技巧，这样可以帮助你更快的调整你的生物钟到一个新的时区。
科学机制：为什么这会有效？
就同我们进化史上的所有事情一样，这也是因为适者生存的原则，下面是对Saper的研究成果的简单总结：
[blockquote]根据研究，”对于小型哺乳动物，寻找食物是它们每天的头等大事，因为即使只是饿上几天，在自然环境下，这也有可能会变成死亡威胁“。
“因此，为了应对这种情况，在经受一段时间的饥饿之后，动物必须要能够通过它们的第二“主时钟”来快速调整它们的行为模式，以增强它们在第二天的相同时间获得食物的机会。”
Fuller认为，发生在小型哺乳动物身上的这种强制调整睡眠模式的行为只是一种求生机制，研究表明，只需要一个饥饿周期就足以覆盖传统的由光线决定的生理周期。
“这个新的时钟可以有效的帮助动物调整它们的睡眠周期，以提升他们获取食物的机会”
”16小时的禁食已经足够形成一个新的时钟周期了“，Saper说。
所以，在这种情况下，只需要避免在飞机上摄入任何食物，然后在你着陆后立即寻找食物，应该可以帮助你调整——并且避免因为飞行时差综合症（jet lag）而导致的不适”，CBS（引用自发表在09年5月22日科学杂志上的研究报告）。
How to Naturally Reset Your Sleep Cycle in One Night Not eating for 12-16 hours can help people quickly reset their sleep-wake cycle, according to a new study from the Harvard Medical School. This discovery can drastically improve a person's ability to cope with jet lag or adjust to working late shifts.
Scientists have long known that our circadian rhythm is regulated by our exposure to light. Now they have found a second "food clock" that takes over when we are hungry. This mechanism probably evolved to make sure starving mammals don't go to sleep when they should be foraging for food.
The lead researcher Clifford Saper explains:
[blockquote]The neat thing about this second clock is that it can override the main clock ... and you should just flip into that new time zone in one day.
[/blockquote]It usually takes people a week to fully adjust to a new time zone or sleeping schedule. To think that this new "food clock" hack can help you change your internal clock in one day is mind boggling.
How does it work?
Simply stop eating during the 12-16 hour period before you want to be awake. Once you start eating again, your internal clock will be reset as though it is the start of a new day.  Your body will consider the time you break your fast as your new "morning."
For example, if you want to start waking up at 2:00 am, you should start fasting between 10:00 am or 2:00 pm the previous day, and don't break your fast until you wake up at 2:00 am. Make sure you eat a nice healthy meal to jumpstart your system.
Another example: If you are travelling from Los Angeles to Tokyo, figure out when breakfast is served in Tokyo, and don't eat for the 12-16 hours before Tokyo's breakfast time.
Why does this work?
Like everything else in our evolutionary history, it has to do with survival:
[blockquote]"For a small mammal, finding food on a daily basis is a critical mission. Even a few days of starvation, a common threat in natural environments, may result in death," the study said.

"Hence, it is adaptive for animals to have a secondary "master clock" that can allow the animal to switch its behavioral patterns rapidly after a period of starvation to maximize the opportunity of finding food sources at the same time on following days."

The shift is a survival mechanism in small mammals that forces them to change their sleeping patterns, Fuller suggests. One starvation cycle is enough to override the traditional light-based circadian clock, the study suggests.

"This new timepiece enables animals to switch their sleep and wake schedules in order to maximize their opportunity of finding food."

"A period of fasting with no food at all for about 16 hours is enough to engage this new clock," says Saper.

"So, in this case, simply avoiding any food on the plane, and then eating as soon as you land, should help you to adjust — and avoid some of the uncomfortable feelings of jet lag." CBC (quoting study published in the May 22 issue of Science.
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