Author lived underground for 10 days to study sleep, happiness and health.

In her quest to better understand how factors like when we eat and how much sunlight we receive affect our ability to feel rested, happy and balanced, Lynne Peeples was 50 feet underground for 10 days.

Peeples, science journalist and author of “The inner clock: living in sync with our circadian rhythms“, found a Airbnb in Arkansas which was once a bunker during the Cold War.

“This guy had bought an old nuclear missile silo from the government and upgraded it,” he said on an episode of “Every day better with Leah Smart” podcast.

In the bunker “there was no daylight,” he said. Peeples also got permission from the Airbnb host to cover all the clocks on the digital devices with black tape so he would have no idea what time it was there.

The lights in the bunker were dim and red. “We know that red is the wavelength of light that affects our circadian rhythms less“, said.

For his book, Peeples wanted to explore what would happen to his internal clocks “if I disconnected from the signals they need to tell time.”

During his stay, Peeples documented his experience through voice recordings with the plan to use the timestamps to see how closely it aligned with his typical schedule, such as when he had breakfast or when he went to sleep.

“For the first few days, it was miraculous because then I could see the timestamps of the voice recordings I made, and I lived quite accurately through a 24-hour day,” he said. “Our clocks within us keep time pretty well.”

But about halfway through the experience, Peeples began to feel “really cranky,” which he likened to major jet lag.

“At ‘worst’, I was completely turned upside down. I was living my day when everyone else on the surface was sleeping. So I was about 12 hours off,” she said. “I felt the effects of that.”

Peeples began experiencing bad moods, “feeling hot and cold,” and hunger once his internal clock was out of sync with his usual schedule. He also noticed that his thinking was more confused and that he was more clumsy than usual.

“It’s not that he didn’t expect it, but to really feel it was quite profound.”

When your circadian rhythm is out of sync, you may experience fatigue, insomnia, headaches, or even depression, depending on Cleveland Clinic. The results of Peeples’ experiment further prove what research has shown about how certain factors such as exposure to sunlight can affect the circadian rhythm.

“To maintain that calibration, it’s about get adequate bright light, especially in the morning“Peeples said.

“Within the first two hours of waking up, if you can expose your eyes to daylight,” you’ll be in good shape.

Take a 15-minute walk in the morning and “stay as close to a window as possible during the day,” she suggested. At night, Dim the lights in your home as it approaches bedtime. to prepare your body for bed.

Aligning your lifestyle with the 24-hour cycle is vital for your body’s functions, including processing food correctly and “priming our immune system” to fight certain pathogens. It’s the best way to “keep all those body systems doing a better job of doing the right things at the right time.” she saying.

Peeples also provided a list of things that can disrupt your circadian rhythm and affect more than just the quality and quantity of your sleep:

• Darkness during the day
• Too much light at night
• Eating at the wrong times of the day (snacking whenever)
• Change the time on our clocks twice a year, when we “go back” and “jump forward“
• Travel across time zones

Do you want to improve your AI skills and be more productive? Take the new CNBC online course How to use AI to be more successful at work. Expert instructors will teach you how to get started, practical uses, tips for writing messages effectively, and mistakes to avoid. Pre-register now and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory 30% discount through February 11, 2025.

Further, Subscribe to CNBC’s Make It Newsletter for tips and tricks to succeed at work, with money, and in life.