Blue light blocking and red lights

This is part of an excerpt from Day 1 of the 21-day Holistic Habit Builder.

For all of time, our eyes have been under the influence of the sunlight. As a result, our circadian rhythm is synchronized through it. The sun emits all visible wavelengths during the day, but during the evening, sunset approaches, and the short wavelengths are filtered out. At this time, light from the sunset appears warm and red. The absence of wavelengths below 550 nm signals to our body for melatonin secretion to begin. Melatonin is then secreted into our blood roughly 90 minutes after our last exposure to wavelengths below 550 nm hitting our retinas.

Figure 3 Physiological melatonin levels of a 24 hour day. Declining light exposure in the evening results in an increased melatonin production by the pineal gland with peak levels in the middle of the night almost 10-fold higher than regular day levels

In a study, it’s been shown that using an iPad before bed can lead to a 55% reduction in melatonin production. The participants in the study took on average 10 minutes longer to fall asleep than print-book readers, and their sleep had significantly less REM activity – which is a crucial sleep phase for modulating our mood, managing stress, and activating our learning capacity. Furthermore, individuals who used the iPad before bed reported lower alertness levels the following morning and had delayed circadian rhythms the following evening in comparison to those who opted to read a physical book before going to sleep. (1)

Fig. 2. Melatonin suppression (A and B) and phase shifting (C and D) during and after the LE-eBook and print book reading conditions. (A) Average waveforms of melatonin (±SEM) during the fifth night of each reading condition. The black bar denotes the scheduled sleep episode (22:00–06:00). (B) Percent suppression for each condition for each participant (filled symbols) and group average (±SEM; open symbols). (C) Average waveforms of melatonin (±SEM) on the evening/night after each reading condition. (D) Average phase shift of melatonin onset for each condition for each participant (filled symbols) and group average (±SEM; open symbols). The main effect of Condition was significant (P < 0.05, mixed model).

This is why wavelengths below 550nm should be filtered out after sunset. These include greens, blues, and violets. These are mostly coming from digital screens, LED lights, and fluorescent lights. It's vital to our circadian rhythm and inner biological clock to not hinder or delay the secretion of melatonin and avoid the blue light that these modern technologies put out.

DIY free blue light blocking

Here is a step-by-step tutorial to change your iPhone to red to avoid sleep-disrupting blue light after sunset:

Open Settings > Select Accessibility > Select Display & Text Size > Select Color Filters > Turn Color Filters on > Select Color Tint > Slide Intensity to the far right > Slide Hue to the far right

*Once this is done once, you should be able to triple tap your power button to turn this mode on/off without needing to open the settings app.*

Here is a step-by-step tutorial to change your Mac to red to avoid sleep-disrupting blue light after sunset:

Open Settings > Select Accessibility > Select Display > Select Color Filters > Select Enable Color Filters > Select Color Tint > Slide Intensity to the far right > Select color red

*Once this is done once, you can simply go up to the “Select Enable Color Filters” step each time.*

Here is a step-by-step tutorial to change your Android to red to avoid sleep-disrupting blue light after sunset:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ5MRmdPGe0

Here is a step-by-step tutorial to change your Windows to red to avoid sleep-disrupting blue light after sunset:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hur3rZ8nHiI 

Cost-effective red lighting and blue light-blocking glasses

Another very cost-effective way to switch to red lights at night is to replace your bulbs with red incandescent lights. These are under $5 from Ace Hardware. These incandescent red string lights are another cheap option. You can bunch them up and set them in a glass jar for a compact light. And don’t underestimate natural candles. Opt for unscented or naturally scented candles. Beeswax candles burn for a long time.

Incandescent bulbs are going out of stores, as they’re being replaced with LED lights. Some states are trying to ban them (along with everything else that is good for us). Incandescent bulbs work by heating up a filament inside a glass bulb until it glows, which produces the light. They produce very little EMF and flicker. Incandescent lights are the closest light we have to natural light.

Make it your routine to switch your devices and house lights to red light when using them after sunset, or use blue light-blocking glasses. Not only does this mitigate any concerns of blue light, but it will also keep you from falling into the trap of doom-scrolling at this time. This red hue is less addicting to our brains than the true, vibrant tones.

Appreciatively, Mia