The importance of light for our health

Our bodies are not adapted to receiving blue light from the many devices we use throughout the day, such as screens or indoor lights. When we balance diet, exercise, rest, and light, the last two are likely the most important for living a healthy life, contrary to what many believe.

During the day, artificial light is not a significant issue if we are regularly exposed to sunlight and don’t spend all day indoors. However, at night, we need to be more cautious with it, especially since that’s when we tend to use it the most.

Light has been the main guide for our circadian rhythms. We used to sleep when the light faded and stay outside while the sun was available. So, what happens when this changes and we expose ourselves to these types of lights at night? Several things can occur, including:

• Exposure to blue light at night suppresses the production of melatonin, which worsens sleep quality.
• There’s also a relationship showing that exposure to artificial light increases body fat in the general population, likely due to the lack of good, prolonged rest. And that’s precisely the most important factor when someone wants to lose weight: sleeping well.
• Furthermore, there’s been a correlation between exposure to artificial light and the increase in cancer rates. For example, this global study mentions that:

“Artificial nighttime light is significantly linked to multiple types of cancer. Immediate measures should be taken to limit artificial light at night.”

What are the solutions to this problem?

As you can see, light has a significant influence on our health. We live in a world where not everything is within our control, so here are some tips you can follow by yourself without relying on others:

• Maximize exposure to natural light during the day, especially prioritizing sunrise and sunset. We synthesize melatonin and serotonin through infrared light, which makes up 70% of the electromagnetic radiation from the Sun.
• In the afternoon, reduce exposure to blue light from screens. If this isn’t possible, use blue light-blocking glasses like the ones from Gunnar, which are the ones I use.
• When the sun sets, we need to avoid any exposure to blue light—our environment should be as dark as possible. If you need to continue using your electronic devices, make sure the screen is set to red. If you need to be outside, you can buy night glasses to block blue light. Here’s an article that compares several options across different price ranges.

Why we can still use red light at night?

Red light at night doesn’t have harmful effects on our health. Probably because our ancestors used fire before going to sleep.

It even can have a calming effect on our bodies and doesn’t disrupt melatonin production at night, improving our sleep quality.