Book Report: The Circadian Code

The Circadian Code: Lose Weight, Supercharge Your Energy, and Transform Your Health from Morning to Midnight by Satchin Panda

Dr. Panda is one of those scientists who dives into scientific detail in his work that is way over the understanding of most. But I follow his work and look forward to when he interviewed as he is able to take that knowledge and experience and deliver it in a manner that common folk can understand and apply. I was really looking forward to reading his book when I heard launch was pending. It is a great read!

• a daily eating–fasting cycle drives almost every rhythm in the liver.
• repeatedly disrupting your circadian clock can have adverse health consequences, as every system in your body starts to malfunction. It makes the immune system so weak that germs and bugs that don’t usually cause any trouble can upset your stomach or even cause flulike symptoms.
• the number one cause of death and work disability for active-duty firefighters is not fire or accident—it is heart disease, which is now thought to be linked to a disruption of the circadian rhythm.
• Human growth hormone is also produced when we sleep.24 In fact, people who have insufficient sleep produce less growth hormone.
• n 2002, three independent research groups, including mine, discovered a light-sensing protein present outside the rod and cone cells that is, in fact, the light sensor that entrains the daily sleep-wake cycle to light.35,36,37,38 This light-sensing protein is called melanopsin.39 Of the 100,000 retinal neural cells that transfer all light information to the brain, only 5,000 contain melanopsin. Rod and cone cells can also entrain the circadian clock, but only in the absence of melanopsin, and when they do, they are not as efficient.
• When melanopsin is activated by registering blue light, it sends a signal to the brain that any light is present, and the brain responds by thinking it is daytime, regardless of what time it really is.
• Melanopsin has another peculiar property: It takes a lot of light to activate it. For example, if you open your eyes for a few seconds in a dimly lit room, your rod and cone cells can take in an image of the room, but your melanopsin cells will react as if it was too dark to see.
• We learned that while circadian rhythms are influenced by light, the timing they follow is controlled internally, by genes
• Now we know that inside every cell, the Per gene sends instructions to create a protein that builds up slowly and then breaks down every 24 hours. This is true for every organism: There are three genes that control the clock in pond scum, and more than a dozen in animals and humans.
• Cell communication is circadian. Our organs need to communicate with each other, and this happens within a distinct rhythm. For example, when we are full, the hormone leptin is produced in the body’s fat tissue, sending signals to the brain to stop us from eating more.
• Cell secretion is circadian. Each cell produces something of value for its neighbor or for the whole body. Consequently, every organ produces something that gets into the bloodstream or is delivered to its neighbor. The production and secretion of these molecules are circadian. 
• This Book Report collection is meant to provide some of the best take-home points from the health and science genre I read. I will continue to go thru my notes of the 160+ and cou

This Book Report collection is meant to provide some of the best take-home points from the health and science genre I read. I will continue to go thru my notes of the 160+ and counting (as of January 2019) Kindle books I have on file. To view ALL the notes I saved on this one AND many others without a Book Report post yet, THAT IS ALSO SEARCHABLE, please click here.