Living in the modern world, we might not notice just how much light we're surrounded by. From streetlights to television screens, we are constantly inundated by artifical luminescence, and we are only just now starting to realize the dangers of it. Blue light in particular, which is released in heavy quantities from smartphone screens, tablets, and even ereaders, has negative effects on our sleep schedules.

Blue Light Damages Your Sleep

Blue light refers to the artificial light that is emitted by electronics like phones, TVs, and other screens. These devices produce a higher amount of blue wavelengths, which stimulate the brain and promote alertness. Clearly, this is counterproductive when it's time to settle down and go to bed.

How does blue light affect the brain?

Blue light has been studied by scientists for some few years now, and it has become clear that artificial light has a distinct effect on your body's production of melatonin. Melatonin is the chemical your body releases when it's time to go to sleep, and by disrupting it by doing something as simple as using an ereader instead of reading an actual book you might be making it significantly harder on yourself when it comes time to finally fall asleep.

That's just the beginning of things, though. Research is currently being done on whether the extreme amounts of blue light that humans deal with may have long-term health effects. Scientists are still connecting all the dots.

Block Blue Light for Better Sleep

For people who want to play it safe, it's important to take steps to reduce the amount of artificial light they're exposed to. This is particularly true for evenings, where taking a step as simple as wearing blue light blocking glasses can help salvage your melatonin production to let you get healthy, natural sleep.

That's assuming you don't just keep your phone out of the bedroom or cut down on the number of screens you look at before bed at night.

For more information on the potential dangers of artificial light and how you can keep your sleep schedule on track, subscribe to the Sleep Better, Live Better blog below or simply contact us today!

Do you avoid electronics at night? What do you do to prevent blue light from ruining your rest? Comment to let us know!

Photo Credit: Kohei314