Here’s What Happens to Your Body When the Clocks ‘Fall Back’ 🍁⏰

Good news, Canada — we’re about to gain a glorious extra hour of sleep! 😴🍂 But before you start celebrating with a 12-hour nap, there are a few things your body needs to adjust to when we “fall back” into standard time.

On Sunday at 2 a.m., daylight saving time ends. Translation: set your clocks back one hour before bed and enjoy waking up feeling slightly less exhausted than usual. Standard time sticks around until March 8, when we lose that hour again because life is cruel.

So… Why Does This Time Change Mess With Us?

A new Stanford University study confirms what we’ve all suspected:
Flipping back and forth between time zones twice a year is terrible for our bodies.

Researchers found that staying on one time all year is much healthier — and if we had to pick, permanent standard time wins. Why? Because it lines up better with the sun and our internal body clocks (aka our circadian rhythm).

Think of your circadian rhythm like a very sensitive orchestra:
🎻 Morning sunlight = conductor
🎺 Your organs = instruments
When the timing is off… the whole performance sounds like a Grade 7 band concert.

RELATED: Why You Might Want to Paint Your Room Before Daylight Saving Time Ends

Why Morning Light Matters

Getting sunlight early in the day helps reset your body clock. Later on, your brain releases melatonin, the sleepy hormone, to help you wind down at night.

But here’s the problem: too much light in the evening — whether from late sunsets during daylight saving time or from scrolling TikTok under the covers — delays melatonin, keeps your brain awake, and messes up your sleep cycle.

And when your internal clock is out of whack, it doesn’t just affect sleep. It can throw off:

• ❤️ Heart rate
• 🧠 Stress hormones
• 💪 Metabolism
• 💥 Immune system

So yes, your phone at 11:58 p.m. really is ruining your life — not just your sleep.

Bottom Line

Enjoy the bonus hour this weekend… but get outside early, touch some real sunlight, and try not to doom-scroll until 2 a.m. again just because “we gained an hour.”

Your future, well-rested self will thank you.