Daylight Saving Time begins at 2:00 am on March 14th in Minnesota and clocks will have to be set forward one hour.

Medical professionals with the Mayo Clinic say this can be a difficult time for people’s bodies and health.

“The duration of Daylight Saving Time has been associated with this phenomenon called social jetlag,” said Muhammad Rishi, MD, a sleep medicine specialist, “Where our internal clock, what’s called our circadian clock, goes out of sync from the solar clock.”

This can cause adverse effects.

“The phenomenon, social jetlag, is associated with metabolic syndrome, which is a fancy doctor way of saying that the patient has obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes,” said Rishi who also added that studies have also shown an increase in high attacks during Daylight Saving Time.

Melissa Lipford, MD, says there are things people can do to counteract and adjust their bodies to the new schedule.

“Preparing beforehand can really reduce the impact of losing that hour on our overall health,” she explained. “Ideally, we would implement small step-wise change over the course of a week.”

She added that there are also things people can do who didn’t prepare beforehand such as going to bed earlier by 20 minutes each night until they are back on schedule, exposing oneself to morning sunlight, exercising, and taking 15-20 minute micro-naps to help the body rest.

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