Our Mission
BetterTimes is an initiative that campaigns for the right to live in accordance with the internal clock.
The internal clock, called the circadian clock by scientists and medical experts, has now been well researched. In 2017, three American scientists, Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young, even received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for deciphering the genetic mechanisms of the internal clock. Today there is no longer any doubt that the internal clock is essential for health and well-being. It regulates almost all of our bodily functions and ensures that processes in the body interact in a meaningful way. It is also undisputed that a life against the internal clock has serious health consequences.
However, most people live according to social times that are not compliant with their internal clock. The discrepancy between the internal clock and the social time, the time of day, is known as social jetlag. Over 85% of the population suffer from this - an extent that justifies calling it a pandemic. Signs that you are affected by social jetlag are the need for an alarm clock to get up, problems falling asleep and staying asleep, and daytime tiredness. This is not only a matter of physical discomfort, but a serious scourge on society at large, as it stifles economical growth and burdens social structures, like the healthcare system. On an individual level, it increases sickness, it reduces academic success, and shortens live expectancy.
Rather than working against the internal clock, we should use it to make us feel fitter, sleep better, be more productive at work and live healthier. We have to clear up myths and prejudices about sleep. Social times have to adapt to people and not vice versa.
And that is what we promote.
Based on recent scientific findings of the internal clock and chronobiology, BetterTimes sheds light on the importance of the internal clock for body and mind, and on the health risks we carry when we ignore it. We consultatively support institutions, politicians, companies and individuals in developing healthier time structures for society and for single individuals.
We are BetterTimes.
For a healthy life.
For a healthy society.
For healthy social times.
Founders
Dr. João Lipinsky Nunes
Biochemist, scientist
Manuela Lipinsky Nunes
Physicist, high school teacher for mathematics and physics