WHAT IS BLUE LIGHT?
Blue light is a color in the visible light spectrum that can be seen by human eyes. Blue light is a short wavelength, which means it produces higher amounts of energy.
Good
In its naturally occurring form from the environment it is completely harmless and totally essential in our existence. It regulates our internal body clock; it wakes us up, gives us energy and alertness, and overall is extremely beneficial to our day-to-day life.
BAD
As our lives become more and more intertwined with technology and we spend more and more time looking at artificial light by looking at screens, we are being exposed to excess amounts of Blue Light, thereby confusing our bodies and minds.
EFFECTS OF BLUE LIGHT
- Eye damage
- Sleep
- Concentration
- Suppression of melatonin
- Mood swings
- Production in our bodies
- Energy depletion
- Energy depletion
- Low concentration
So how does blue light affect sleep?
- Melatonin is the sleep hormone that helps tell our body that it is getting dark, and we need to start winding down and getting ready to sleep, exposure to blue light is said to suppress the production of this important hormone. To make this easier to understand, blue light from the sun wakes you up naturally in the morning and you tend to feel sleepier in dark environments. Blue light from your digital screens can have a significant impact on your sleep cycle because of the way your brain perceives the blue light through the melanopsin receptors behind your retina. All the blue light from your devices get an all-access pass to your brain.
- Your circadian rhythm is your body’s time clock, its primary purpose is to tell your body when it’s time to sleep and wake up, and any disruptions to the cycle can have impact on your sleep. The role of blue light in all of this is to maintain melatonin levels in your body to help in controlling your body’s circadian rhythm,
- So blue light can interrupt your sleep in a couple of ways – one by disrupting the production of sleep-inducing hormones, and two, by throwing the natural circadian rhythm off-balance. By negatively affecting the quality of our sleep, blue light exposure can prove to be detrimental to our mood, behaviour and overall health.