By now most of you have heard something about the importance of supporting your natural circadian rhythm when it comes to sleeping better, and supporting your health. Today, I am breaking it down for you into simple, actionable items that you can begin using right away, and because it’s me, I’m also going to drop some research on you! My hope is that in the next few minutes, you learn just how important light is to your health.
Circadian rhythms play a crucial role in regulating various processes in the body and maintaining overall health. These rhythms are essentially 24-hour cycles that govern functions like sleep-wake patterns, hormone release, body temperature, and metabolism. The body’s internal “biological clock” coordinates these rhythms, which are influenced by environmental cues, primarily light and darkness.
We will be focused on the blue spectrum of light today. Blue light makes up about 25% of the spectrum of light that our sun emits. This affects the circadian rhythm of all animals on our planet. In fact, blue light is the only spectrum of light that makes it to the bottom of the ocean! During the day, blue light in our eyes signals our body to stay awake and alert. As the sun sets and we receive less blue light in our eyes, and our bodies get the signal to produce more melatonin to prepare the body for sleep and recovery. If we all lived outdoors, this process would be working beautifully, but the trouble is, we don’t. We live in homes that are outfitted with LED lights, which emit 20-30% of the blue spectrum of light… Just like the sun! This means at 9pm when you are cleaning up your kitchen with all those lights on, your body is getting the message that it is the middle of the day, keeping cortisol levels elevated, and decreasing the production of melatonin that you need for sleep! No wonder it’s so hard to wind down at a decent hour, right?!
This phenomenon has gotten worse in recent years with the introduction of LED lighting, which was designed for increasing brightness efficiency, without considering the impact on human health.
In 2023, this paper included 2,697 peer reviewed publications on light and circadian clocks. It showed clear evidence that light at night causing circadian rhythm disruption increases the risk of breast cancer, obesity, diabetes and sleep disorders.
Another study in 2023 conducted by Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital showed that when a group of 26 teenagers were exposed to bright light in the morning and used blue light blocking lenses at night for 2-4 weeks, they demonstrated greater post-test improvement in math performance and reduction in errors of omission on attention test… better scores in school my friends!!
Here are 3 simple things you can do to support your circadian rhythm!
- Wear blue light blocking lenses for 3 hours before bedtime in the evening. This website is an excellent resource for reliable companies to purchase glasses through, and also for blue light-free lighting for your home or business! Another blue light blocking glasses company that I love is Ra Optics. They also sell kids glasses.
- Sleep in complete darkness. This may require an eye mask and/black out shades on the windows
- Get at least 15 minutes outdoors in the first half of the day with no sunglasses on your eyes. Go for a walk if you can!
I hope this newsletter has helped to brighten up your day!!
