It starts with a harmless “just one more episode”. Before you know it, the credits roll at 1:45 a.m., and you are lying in bed, mind racing, already calculating how little sleep you will get before the alarm goes off. The next morning, you are groggy, irritable, and strangely anxious, all from one late night.

 

That feeling is not just “being tired”. It is your body clock, also known as your circadian rhythm, trying to get back on track.

 

The time of year can also make it tricky for your body's rhythm: on the last Sunday of October the clocks go back an hour (making it darker earlier at night, and lighter in the mornings) and on the last Sunday of March they spring forward an hour (making it lighter later in the day, but darker in the mornings). Spring forward, Fall back is a good way to remember. This can result in a mismatch for our circadian rhythm, the metronome we need to adhere to for optimal health.

Your Built-in Timekeeper

Your circadian rhythm is your internal 24-hour timekeeper. It decides when you are alert, when you feel sleepy, when you are craving food, and even when you are most likely to feel anxious or calm. This is not just mental, it is biological, run by a small cluster of nerve cells in your brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which responds directly to light and darkness [1, 2].

 

When you work with your body clock, life flows: you sleep well, wake refreshed, focus easily, and your mood stays steady. When you fight it with late nights, irregular bedtimes, or too much light at the wrong times, the system scrambles. Hormones peak at the wrong hours, your sleep quality drops, and your stress levels rise [3, 4, 5].

 

 

 

Brain Chemistry 101: The Body Clock’s Chemical Crew

Your body clock does't just manage sleep - it controls the ebb and flow of brain chemicals that shape your mood, focus, and sense of calm.

 

Melatonin is your biological nightlight. Made in the pineal gland, it rises in the evening with darkness and tells your body it is time to wind down. Bright screens or sleeping with the lights on can delay melatonin, meaning you feel tired later and wake up groggy [2, 7].

 

Cortisol is your morning spark plug. Made in the adrenal glands, it wakes you up, gets you moving, and helps you handle stress. In a healthy rhythm, it peaks early and declines steadily. In a disrupted one, it can stay high late into the night, keeping you wired when you should be resting. Morning sunlight and relaxing evening routines help keep cortisol in check, as can Lactium®, which is the key ingredient in Leapfrog SNOOZE, supporting lower evening cortisol [2, 3, 8].

 

Serotonin is your mood stabiliser. Made in both your brain and gut, it keeps you calm and happy, regulates appetite, and later converts into melatonin. Sunlight, movement, and nutrient-rich food help boost serotonin, while a disrupted body clock can lower it, leading to low mood and poor sleep [4, 6].

 

GABA is your brain’s “calm-down” signal. This neurotransmitter slows brain activity so you can relax and drift off. Low GABA can mean racing thoughts, anxiety, and restless nights, and stress tends to lower it further. Lactium® can also help boost GABA activity, promoting deeper rest [2, 3, 4].

Why Routine Is Your Body’s Best Friend

Your body clock runs best on consistent cues: light in the morning, darkness at night, regular mealtimes, daily movement, and predictable sleep. These rhythms keep your hormones and neurotransmitters in sync so your body knows when to energise you, when to calm you down, and when to switch into recovery mode.

When those cues are mixed, such as bright light at midnight, skipped meals, or erratic bedtimes, your brain chemistry gets out of sync, and that is when anxiety, fatigue, and insomnia creep in.

Resetting the Rhythm

Life doesn’t always cooperate with your body clock. Travel, deadlines, stress, or a toddler who thinks 3 a.m. is breakfast time can knock you off balance. That is why it helps to support your biology while you get back on track.

 

A simple reset might look like:

 

• Morning light within 30 minutes of waking
• Dim evenings and screen-free wind-down time
• Consistent mealtimes
• Daily movement
• Supplemental support like SNOOZE to help lower evening cortisol and boost calming brain chemistry

In October, the clocks going forward wreaks less havoc on the body than the forward shift of one hour in spring when melatonin - the sleep hormone - is suppressed by the extra daylight. 

 

Whatever time of year, you should listen to your body’s natural cadence and timing, and you’ll enjoy calmer days, better nights, and a mind that feels more balanced from sunrise to sunset.

 

 

References

 

1.        Frontiers in Sleep (2025) Circadian rhythms revealed: unraveling genetic, physiological, and behavioural interconnections. Frontiers in Sleep, 2(3).

2.        Foster, R.G. (2022) Life Time: The New Science of the Body Clock and How It Can Revolutionise Your Sleep and Health. London: Penguin Books.

3.        PMC Neurobiology Review (2025) Mechanisms linking circadian clocks and cardiovascular function. Neurobiology of Circadian Clock and Cardiovascular Health, 18(1).

4.        National Institute of General Medical Sciences (2025) Circadian Rhythms: Health Effects and Molecular Mechanisms. NIGMS Fact Sheet Series.

5.        Nature Human Behaviour (2025) Comprehensive integrative analysis of circadian rhythms in humans. Nature Human Behaviour, 9(2), pp.110–122.

6.        MDPI Molecules (2025) Molecular links between circadian rhythm disruption, melatonin, and human health. Molecules, 30(9), p.1888.

7.        Frontiers in Physiology (2025) Circadian system coordination: new perspectives beyond classical models. Frontiers in Physiology, 16(4), pp.233–246.

8.        Frontiers in Physiology (2025) Novel models integrating quantum biology to explain circadian synchronisation. Frontiers in Physiology, 16(5), pp.255–267.