The Body Clock...

Is this what a body clock is?

Haha.  I doubt that any of you actually pictured something like this when I started talking about a body clock, but I ran across it today as I was trying to figure out the best way to explain what I know and it made me giggle.

Perhaps you've heard people call this other things.  "Her Biological Clock is ticking." "His internal clock is off again;" no matter what it is being called at the time, the theory behind the body clock or "Circadian Rhythm" is that at any given hour of the day a particular organ is at its peak energy.  Some people say that that organ is resetting or that it "rules the hour." Also, at the opposite side of the clock (aka 12 hours later) it is at its lowest energy.  Here is an image of what I mean:

So, the idea is that if you are waking up every night at the same time and can't sleep no matter what you do, or you tend to fall asleep in your desk at work every day at around the same time, that you can look at this clock and see what your body is trying to tell you.  For example, waking up every night at 2:00 am might mean that something is happening in the liver or if you are getting sluggish around 1:00 pm every day it might mean that your small intestine is overwhelmed and trying to get you to take a nap so that it can "take care of business,"  haha.  

Well, it is a neat theory, and I actually believe it...but I don't believe that it is exact (meaning at this specific time) for everyone.  Would it be at this time if I worked graveyard shifts one week and day shifts the next?  and would it be at this time if I lived in England vs America or traveled to Australia or Peru?  What about daylight savings time...does my "liver" know that the day is now an hour longer (or shorter)?

I believe that everyone follows this pattern, but not necessarily at these exact hours...unless they have reset their clock.  Dun, dun, dun (insert dramatic singing voice here)...that's what I'm doing right now.

Here are some interesting articles that you might want to look at to learn more:

Chinese "Body Clock" 

Ancient body clock discovered that helps to keep all living things alive.