The National Institute for General Medical Sciences describes circadian rhythm as “physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a daily cycle. They respond primarily to light and darkness in an organism’s environment.”
What is blue light?
The sun’s rays may appear to be colorless, but they’re actually made up of red, blue, orange, yellow, green and violet hues. Like red light, blue light is part of the visible light spectrum, where it ranges between approximately 380nm & 500nm. In natural sunlight, blue light is always present with red light, leading to numerous therapeutic effects.
Today, blue light exposure is everywhere. Computer monitors, smartphones, smart tablets, LED light bulbs, compact fluorescent lights, fluorescent lights and TVs. Blue light plays an important role in your circadian rhythm.
The circadian rhythm is the body’s natural biological clock which signals hormone secretion, cellular function, gene expression, it also tells the body when to sleep, wake, and eat. It is often influenced by environmental factors such as the sun, moon, and now man-made blue light.
Effects of blue light and sleep
At night, our bodies naturally produce melatonin, a hormone that prepares us for sleep. Many studies have found evidence that blue light suppresses melatonin, Therefore, constant exposure to artificial blue light is offsetting our circadian rhythm, causing havoc in our brain. Research shows that blue light may contribute to the causation of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity.and depression.
Harvard researchers and their colleagues conducted an experiment comparing the effects of 6.5 hours of exposure to blue light to exposure to green light of comparable brightness. The blue light suppressed melatonin twice as long as the green light and shifted circadian rhythms by twice as much (3 hours vs.1.5 hours).- Blue light has a dark side What is blue light? The effect blue light has on your sleep and more.Updated: August 13, 2018. Published: May, 2012
Disruption to Our Natural Rhythm
Before the invention of the light bulb, our circadian rhythms were well in sync with the sun and moon. Today, artificial lighting is abundant in fact, a laptop emits over 33,000% more lux than a full moon.
Night time lighting, specifically exposure to blue light, affects the circadian rhythm by inhibiting melatonin production which peaks at night to help us get a restful night’s sleep and regulates the circadian sleep phase.
A 2017 article in Translational Psychiatry says, “sleep disturbance is an important factor contributing to the onset and maintenance of mood disorders.”
Sleep disruption is also a classic symptom of major depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety and other mood disorders. Likewise, it is one of the most obvious likely consequences of exposure to nighttime lighting.
While there are a ton of science behind how blue light affects our health, Let’s take a look at some light hacks and how you can use them to protect your health.
Light Hack #1: Sunlight, Vitamin D and Hormone Balance
The most efficient and healthy way to get your vitamin D is our first light hack: the SUN! It’s free and accessible to nearly everyone.
The sun gives you the perfect, full spectrum of light we need, as opposed to the damaging LEDs and fluorescents, which lack many of the spectrums that contribute to biological function.
Vitamin D
Sunlight is the biological signal that triggers vitamin D production in your body.
Only sunlight contributes to the direct formation of vitamin D in your body; which activates vitamin D by turning it into vitamin D sulfate. Supplementing with synthetic D will never get you the full spectrum benefits of Vitamin D. Only the sunlight can produce vitamin D sulfate.
Also, please beware that vitamin D in supplement form can build up to toxic levels in your body. You’ll never overdose on vitamin D from sunlight – you stop producing it when you hit the optimal level. To avoid sunburn, stay in the sun for 10-20 minutes at a time, avoid using toxic sunscreens instead use quality sunscreen. You can read more about the risks and benefits of sunblock in this article.
I love this APP on iPhone, called Dminder. Wherever you go in the world, dminder tracks the sun and tells you when you can get Vitamin D. The stopwatch interface lets you set your session target by either amount of D to get or time. Then it will count up or down to your target, applying all the factors that determine how much D you can get: skin tone, age, weight, amount of skin exposed. All your doses of D, from the sun or supplements, are used to continuously estimate your current level. Developed with world authority on Vitamin D, Dr. Michael Holick
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Testosterone
For all you fellas out there, this ones for you.
Sunlight also contributes to optimal testosterone levels. Testosterone is a major hormone for both men and women. It dictates your muscle tone and body composition, your confidence, and your sex drive.
In fact, studies on the effects of light on the testes go way back to 1939, when researchers exposed various parts of men’s bodies to UV light. They found that men’s testosterone levels went up by 120% when the participants’ chests were exposed to UV light, and they went up by 200% with UV exposure to the genital area.
Light Hack #2: Expose Your Eyes to Good Light
Go outside in the morning or mid-afternoon sunlight and look at the sky for a couple of minutes. Please do not look directly at the sun. Exposing yourself to sunlight will send a signal to your body and help regulate your circadian systems.
Light Hack #3: Embrace Total Darkness
Darkness is just as important as the light in your life. The darker your room the better you will sleep. One of the best hacks you can do is investing in black out curtains, this will seriously change your life. You will sleep really deep when your room is dark. That means no digital clocks. Instead, use a battery operated analog alarm clock. Don’t forget, turn your phone on airplane mode when you go to sleep (your alarm will still work if you use your phone as an alarm clock). Remove television and computer out of your bedroom, especially your kids room.
If you can’t afford black out curtains, wearing an eye mask will help. But remember, your skin is photosensitive too, so total darkness is best.
Light Hack #4: Avoid Artificial Light
Get rid of LEDs and compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) in your home. Instead use incandescent. CFL may dramatically use less energy than incandescent bulbs, but they also contain mercury – a dangerous toxin! These newer artificial light bulbs lack many of the sun’s frequencies that our bodies and brains need. Most LEDs and compact fluorescents emit about 5 times the blue light we’re used to. So, use blue blockers when looking at your LED screens especially at night.
Light Hack #5: Red Light Therapy
Red light can stimulate DNA and RNA synthesis, activates lymphatic system and increase blood flow, decrease inflammation and swelling, even way down to your deep tissue.
That means more energy, less pain, and faster wound healing. Red light provides you with steady energy all day and better sleep at night.
Red light also triggers collagen synthesis. For collagen synthesis, a couple minutes every day in front of a red light could significantly improve your skin’s tone, texture, redness, and signs of fine line and wrinkles. You can read more on red light therapy here.
Summary
The circadian rhythm is a cellular process that synchronizes certain behavioral and biological processes. Light is perhaps the strongest environmental influencer of the circadian rhythm, with artificial blue light creating the most havoc to our health.
Blue light is naturally emitted from the sun, reaching peak intensity during the day. However, our use of electronics has prolonged and interrupted this day time exposure to continue through out the night.
Exposure to artificial blue light after sunset, can disrupt the circadian rhythm. This disruption likely leads to a lower energy, depression, obesity and even cancer.
When you start experimenting with different light hacks, the difference can be profound! I found that I slept better, and deeper. There are a lot of other sleep hacks, too. We’ll save that for another day.
Have you experimented with light hacks? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading, have a great week and please subscribe below for more info on upgrading your mind and body the more natural way.
Resources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3798924/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3047226/
https://www.swanwicksleep.com/blogs/news/blue-light-nightmare
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6071739/
https://www.chronobiology.com/new-study-delves-blue-light-affects-metabolism/
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/04/19/light-pollution.aspx
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blue-light-has-a-dark-side
http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/blog/how-blue-light-affects-mental-health
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199501053320102
http://sunlightinstitute.org/bright-light-therapy-revs-sex-life/#_ednref2
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3926176/
This was so very interesting. I never knew blue light was so bad for you. Thanks for the information.
So far I was not aware of all the blue lights that surround me.
No doubt our organism is altered by so many things that we are not aware and then come health problems.
Thanks for the recommendations, I will immediately make some changes like making sure to turn off absolutely all the light sources to sleep, while I am replacing my LED bulbs