What is blue light?
"Blue light has the most power among the spectrum of visible lights to affect your internal sleep-wake body clock called circadian rhythm.
Both natural and artificial blue light can boost your alertness and mental sharpness. But too much of it may keep you awake when your body needs to wind down." WebMD
With the rise in screen time, our exposure to blue light is at an all-time high. From mobile devises to TV, our over exposure in the evenings may be causing some unintended health consequences. Exposure to blue light suppresses the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that influences circadian rhythms. This is great when you take in the rays of from the sun upon waking up in the morning but, not when you are looking to get a good night's sleep.
Reducing our exposure to blue light in the evening can help our bodies to relax and have a deeper more restful sleep. As we have discussed before sleep is very important to healing. Also, many of us may be looking at computer screens all day long and this may also cause more stress on the eyes.
How can we reduce blue light exposure?
If you are looking to reduce your exposure to blue light later in the day, try these simple tricks.
- See if your cell phone has a blue light reduction setting. Many have filters that can dramatically reduce the blue light emitted by your phone.
- Check your computer monitor as well. Many newer ones have a blue light adjustment.
- Try using red lights for night lights in your home. Red lights are much less likely to shift circadian rhythm and suppress melatonin.
- Avoid screen time in the evening.
- Look into blue blocking glasses. There are many brands on the market with high quality lenses such as Warby Parker and Felix Gray. Many report that they experience less eye stress with these glasses.
- Get plenty of bright light, preferably from the sun, during the day, this can boost your ability to sleep well at night.
By making a few simple adjustments to your light exposure, you may experience better sleep and less eye strain and better sleep can mean better health.
Until next time. Make good choices and stay healthy! 😀
