The sneaky blue light and why it keeps you up at night

As human species we evolved sitting around the fire after the sunset. Therefore having flickering light bulbs blast us from atop and/or screens (laptops, phones, TVs etc) penetrate our eyes with intense, unbalanced doses of man-made blue light spikes has a major impact on our physiology. We are talking disrupted circadian rhythm and therefore insomnia, headaches, stress, hormone imbalance etc.

Green, red, blue… ehh?

Blue light is found both naturally and artificially. When you go outside, blue light is emitted from the sun. Blue light from the sun is essential in regulating your sleep and wake cycles and your body clock. It is also accompanied by all the other colours from the light spectrum, making it a balanced and healthy light source. Blue light has also been shown to improve alertness, reaction times and create a sense of wellness.

Blue light is also found artificially from electronic devices which include your smart phone, computer screens, TV as well as from light bulbs.

We know that the shorter the wavelength of light the higher the amount of energy it contains. Blue light is found at the very beginning of the visible light spectrum meaning it contains intense amounts of energy. Blue light ranges from 400-495nm.

The light found in digital devices and light bulbs contains far more blue compared to other colours in the light spectrum meaning our eyes are receiving too much unbalanced blue light. This blue light penetrates the eye and over the course of a day will cause digital eyestrain. The damaging wavelength at 455nm has been found to have to have the highest impact on melatonin suppression.

Melatonin, a powerful antioxidant, plays many important roles in the body from regulating sleep to reducing inflammation and supporting the immune system. Artificial blue light disrupts our body’s natural production of melatonin. This leads to sleep disruption and mitochondrial damage.

Do an experiment: try to stay awake when power goes out after a heavy rain in the evening (especially if you haven’t had a chance to charge your devices! :)). You probably will notice that if power comes back after 1-2 hours and you’ve managed to stake awake after wandering around in pitch darkness, getting back out of the sleepy mode is extremely difficult!

The light found in digital devices and light bulbs contains far more blue compared to other colours in the light spectrum meaning our eyes are receiving too much unbalanced and energy-rich blue light.

Artificial light sources also keep our cortisol levels (stress hormone) chronically high. Coupled with lack of natural sunlight, this can lead to stress, anxiety, depression, heart disease, increased risk of type-2 diabetes and cancer.

This is why managing our blue light exposure is absolutely essential to our wellbeing. By simply following these two #nontoxicsteps steps, you can tremendously recalibrate your circadian rhythm:

1. Reduce sources of the blue light

Even during the day but especially after the sunset, avoid man-made sources of blue light:

• Invest in red lights, flicker-free light bulbs or at least use bulbs that emit warm amber light rather than the cold blue one (brrr…)
• Have multiple sources of light distributed around your house: focus on floor- and side-table lamps that emit less intense light compared to LED-rich ceiling lights. Avoid dimmers if you can to reduce dirty electricity in your home.
• Have your dinner in a candle light (extra oxytocin bonus is you share your meal with family and/or friends!)
• Make it a habit to read a good book to wind down rather than scroll endlessly on one of your devices. To keep your melatonin production un-interupted, use a red-light only reading lamp.

2. Manage your exposure to blue light

Wear your blue-blockers! Science-backed blue light glasses by Defender Shield filter out harmful frequencies with wavelength intervals of 450-490 nm.

Blue-blockers come with different lenses so choose wisely depending on what type of protection you’re looking for:

• Clear lenses filter or block from 400nm – 420nm but they provide no protection in the most damaging range of 440nm – 455nm. That’s why a yellow or orange lens does a better job blocking the blue light.
• Yellow lenses filter out 50% of the blue light and are best for normal day-to-day use when blue light has less of an effect.
• Orange lenses provide most protection and are ideal for nighttime use, when blue light has the most effect, while viewing screens from computers, laptops, tablets, cell phones and other electronic devices. They filter out 99% of the harmful light frequencies.

Visible or not, modern life conveniences come at a cost. Learning how to use them while minimizing the harmful effect on our wellbeing is one of the steps we can take towards health sovereignty.

Con Mucho Amor,

Milda & Co 🤓