Time-change is happening at 2:00am on Sunday morning this weekend. 

Even though we gain an hour, time-change can still have a negative effect on your body. 

Dr. Denis Fortier from Southern Health says anytime that you get a sudden change in the time from what your body is used to, it will affect you.  

“The change in daylight saving time both in the spring and in the fall can have some detrimental effects on you and your health.” 

He says the negative effects are more significant in the spring when we “spring forward.” 

When we “fall back” as we're going to do this weekend, we actually gain an hour of sleep, so it's not quite as obvious. 

However, anytime there is a change in your normal routine, whether you lose an hour or gain an hour, it will take a few days to recover. 

“The one-hour change is going to affect you. It affects everyone. You'll notice that in your pets, in your children, and in yourself.” 

He says we all have a built-in biological clock, even our pets do. It’s called a circadian rhythm.  

You'll notice that your pets are still going to want to wake up and eat at the same time that they are used to doing so. 

“It's going to take them, and your children for that matter, a few days to settle into a new pattern and have your circadian rhythm reboot itself to the change in the time.” 

The change in your routine and circadian rhythm can also cause a bit of stress on your body.  

There are increasing research papers that say stress and sleep deprivation can lead to physical changes in the stress hormones in our body, which then can cause us to have physical health problems.  

“If we have a change in our own personal stress hormones, that can have a host of physical ailments, from autoimmune disorders to cardiac problems to mental health issues, et cetera.” 

Time-change will affect everyone differently, and for the most part, people will be able to adapt smoothly with little to no stress. 

He says a lot of it depends on how routine your everyday life is, and the more you depend on a routine, the more likely you will notice the change. 

“For some of the people out there who are very much on a routine regiment, like our children and the elderly population, they are probably the ones who will most notice that there is a change.” 

But time-change isn’t the only time we experience a disturbance in our circadian rhythm.  

We experience the same thing when we go on trips, or we fly to another province or country. 

There are pretty significant time changes related to travel, and it can take you a number of days to recover.  

“The basic rule of thumb is for every hour that you gain or lose, add a day to recover. So, if you lose one hour, it might take you a day, maybe two days to recover. If you lose 3 hours, it might take you 6 or 7 days to recover.” 

Dr. Fortier reassures that whatever effect time-change has on you, whether it's positive or negative, it won’t take very long to dissipate.