![]() Blue light has a dark side. Exposure to blue light at night, emitted by electronics and energy- efficient lightbulbs, harmful to your health. Until the advent of artificial lighting, the sun was the major source of lighting, and people spent their evenings in (relative) darkness. Now, in much of the world, evenings are illuminated, and we take our easy access to all those lumens pretty much for granted. But we may be paying a price for basking in all that light. At night, light throws the body's biological clock—the circadian rhythm—out of whack. Sleep suffers. Worse, research shows that it may contribute to the causation of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. But not all colors of light have the same effect. Blue wavelengths—which are beneficial during daylight hours because they boost attention, reaction times, and mood—seem to be the most disruptive at night. And the proliferation of electronics with screens, as well as energy- efficient lighting, is increasing our exposure to blue wavelengths, especially after sundown. Daily rhythms influenced by light. Everyone has slightly different circadian rhythms, but the average length is 2. This dictionary is a simplified version of the Dictionary of Circadian Physiology contained in Dr. Refinetti's book Circadian Physiology, 2nd Edition.![]() Many of us have moods that are changeable like the tides, and like the tides, for many of us those moods are dictated by many things including the weather. The authors of "Buddha's Diet" share how making an easy shift in eating habits can lead to big changes in how you look and feel. Reader Adam Kadela has begun intermittent fasting and wonders how it might affect his hypothyroidism: I have a question pertaining to the section at the end of the. Or would you happily sleep until midmorning if you could? Do you feel. ![]() ![]() Skip breakfast and lunch, eat your main meal at night. The plan guides you how to nourish your body in sync with your innate circadian clock via two phases. Rhonda Patrick speaks with Dr. Satchidananda Panda, a professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. Satchin's work. ![]() The circadian rhythm of people who stay up late is slightly longer, while the rhythms of earlier birds fall short of 2. Charles Czeisler of Harvard Medical School showed, in 1. The health risks of nighttime light. Study after study has linked working the night shift and exposure to light at night to several types of cancer (breast, prostate), diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. It's not exactly clear why nighttime light exposure seems to be so bad for us. But we do know that exposure to light suppresses the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that influences circadian rhythms, and there's some experimental evidence (it's very preliminary) that lower melatonin levels might explain the association with cancer. A Harvard study shed a little bit of light on the possible connection to diabetes and possibly obesity. The researchers put 1. ![]() Three Parts: Learning Your Circadian Rhythms Weaning Off Your Alarm Clock Waking Up Naturally. History of Chronobiology. Most of us have very little knowledge about the human body’s inner clock. However, a young science from Europe called Chronobiology has. Their blood sugar levels increased, throwing them into a prediabetic state, and levels of leptin, a hormone that leaves people feeling full after a meal, went down. Even dim light can interfere with a person's circadian rhythm and melatonin secretion. A mere eight lux—a level of brightness exceeded by most table lamps and about twice that of a night light—has an effect, notes Stephen Lockley, a Harvard sleep researcher. Light at night is part of the reason so many people don't get enough sleep, says Lockley, and researchers have linked short sleep to increased risk for depression, as well as diabetes and cardiovascular problems. ![]() Our bodies are directed by circadian rhythms that dictate when we sleep and eat. Timing meals like our Paleolithic ancestors can help keep them in sync. ![]() The power of the blues. While light of any kind can suppress the secretion of melatonin, blue light at night does so more powerfully. Harvard researchers and their colleagues conducted an experiment comparing the effects of 6. The blue light suppressed melatonin for about twice as long as the green light and shifted circadian rhythms by twice as much (3 hours vs. In another study of blue light, researchers at the University of Toronto compared the melatonin levels of people exposed to bright indoor light who were wearing blue- light–blocking goggles to people exposed to regular dim light without wearing goggles. The fact that the levels of the hormone were about the same in the two groups strengthens the hypothesis that blue light is a potent suppressor of melatonin. It also suggests that shift workers and night owls could perhaps protect themselves if they wore eyewear that blocks blue light. Inexpensive sunglasses with orange- tinted lenses block blue light, but they also block other colors, so they're not suitable for use indoors at night. Glasses that block out only blue light can cost up to $8. Less- blue light. If blue light does have adverse health effects, then environmental concerns, and the quest for energy- efficient lighting, could be at odds with personal health. Those curlicue compact fluorescent lightbulbs and LED lights are much more energy- efficient than the old- fashioned incandescent lightbulbs we grew up with. But they also tend to produce more blue light. The physics of fluorescent lights can't be changed, but coatings inside the bulbs can be so they produce a warmer, less blue light. LED lights are more efficient than fluorescent lights, but they also produce a fair amount of light in the blue spectrum. Richard Hansler, a light researcher at John Carroll University in Cleveland, notes that ordinary incandescent lights also produce some blue light, although less than most fluorescent lightbulbs. What you can do. Use dim red lights for night lights. Red light has the least power to shift circadian rhythm and suppress melatonin. Avoid looking at bright screens beginning two to three hours before bed. If you work a night shift or use a lot of electronic devices at night, consider wearing blue- blocking glasses or installing an app that filters the blue/green wavelength at night. Expose yourself to lots of bright light during the day, which will boost your ability to sleep at night, as well as your mood and alertness during daylight.
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