Set Clocks Forward an Hour Tonight, but Watch Bedtime for Sake of Health

Daylight saving time returns at 2 a.m. Sunday, so here’s your reminder to set clocks ahead one hour tonight [Saturday]. But try not to think about the health implications in losing an hour’s sleep.

This time change is much trickier for our bodies than when we “fall back” in November, reports the Huffington Post. That’s because so many of us aren’t getting enough shut-eye to begin with, and being robbed of an additional hour can put us over the edge.

In fact, the report says, as many as 47 million people are sleep-deprived and 43 percent of Americans say they rarely or never get a good night’s sleep during the week.

“It's hard to get up an hour earlier,” Dr. Sam Sugar, director of sleep services at the Pritikin Longevity Center and Spa, a wellness spa and weight-loss program in Miami, Fla told The Huffington Post. “When we do, since most of us don’t sleep the recommended seven or eight hours anyhow, another hour less is not good for us, and we wind up fatigued and tired during the next day.”

Much like traveling between time zones, the changing of the clocks requires our bodies to adjust to a new sleep and wake schedule that feels similar to jet lag.

“Our internal clocks, which run on a more or less 24-hour cycle—that clock is suddenly confused,” Sugar was quoted as saying.