Come With Me To The Dark Side.....
Sleep is one of the things I do best.
My secret weapon is my eye mask. As long as I'm wearing it, the world is pitch black....which is a great thing because light exposure at the wrong time can negatively affect your health.
Even small amounts of light while you sleep have been associated with:
Higher rates of obesity in women
Now we can add heart health to that list.
A major study published this year analyzed light-exposure data from nearly 90,000 people wearing fitness trackers.
These devices recorded minute-by-minute light exposure in addition to movement.
When researchers sorted people by how much light they were exposed to at night, one factor stood out: only about half of them were sleeping in true darkness.
The top 10% (the brightest sleepers) were exposed to about 100 lux between midnight and 6 a.m.
That's roughly the glow of a dim hotel hallway, scrolling in bed, a too-bright nightlight, or falling asleep with the TV on.
The brighter the night, the higher the risk of developing heart disease, atrial fibrillation, stroke, or heart attack over the next decade.
This relationship held up even after researchers accounted for sleep duration, body weight, prediabetes, and other health factors.
Why would a little light do that?
One theory is melatonin disruption. Melatonin is the hormone that tells your body it’s nighttime. Even brief flashes of light can suppress its production.
Light also seems to keep the nervous system on alert.
In one study, people who slept in 100 lux didn’t get the normal nighttime drop in heart rate. The next day, their bodies had to work harder to manage blood sugar.
Ironically, during the day, we’re under-lit (unless you work outside), and at night we’re over-lit.
It's the opposite of how our circadian rhythm evolved.
The researchers found that having bright days, as we'd have if we spent lots of time outside, and very dark nights may protect against heart problems.
None of these studies can say “light causes disease.”
But they paint a consistent picture:your body needs darkness at night just as much as it needs light during the day.
The fix isn't complicated
If you’re falling asleep to the TV, or streetlights pour through the blinds, or your neighbor's landscape lighting is aimed through your window....😡, an eye mask is an easier solution than installing blackout curtains.
Turn off anything that glows. I don't even keep a clock in the bedroom.
If silence makes your mind race, listen to something instead. I listen to Josh Johnson stand-up, then switch to low-level white noise.
Your ancestors weren’t scrolling TikToks or watching old movies by moonlight.
Your body wishes you wouldn't, either!
