Hack Your Circadian Rhythm

Get the Right Kind of Light 

I don’t really like the winter time change when it gets so dark so fast in the afternoon. I’m sure many of you feel the effects of this like feeling more tired, increased tendency to depression, feeling more sluggish or craving more junk foods. Good news there may be some tools you can use to “hack” the time change problems. Photo credit Mark Morgan

One of the ways to “hack” the winter blues is with light. Our brains more specifically the pineal gland have sensors to light which affect melatonin secretion and other hormones. Light is not all the same. When light hits water in a certain way, the water creates a prism, which separates the wavelengths of light creating a rainbow. Different colors of light have different effects on our bodies.

For example blue light is stimulating, can give more energy, helps with a positive mood, suppresses melatonin production. Sounds great right? But if you use a lot of blue light at night, it’s not healthy because melatonin production is reduced. This may cause you to not sleep as deeply or restfully at night. Melatonin is also linked to cancer prevention, so low levels of melatonin may be associated with an increased risk of cancer. This is one of the reasons why there is research showing higher level of cancer in people who work night shift.

When to use blue light? There is more blue spectrum light from the sun in the morning compared to the afternoon. This is nature’s way to protect your circadian rhythm. Exposure to sun in the morning is the best way to get blue light. Get more natural sunlight during the day to prevent the winter blues and stay energized.

At night, you want to reduce blue light. There is a lot of blue spectrum light emitted from cell phones screens, TVs, certain LED lights, and fluorescent lights. Blue light is bad at night because it kills melatonin production and throws off other hormone balance. Red color is the opposite of blue. If you put a red filter on your electronic devices, it reduces some of the damage. There is a free software called:

f.lux

https://justgetflux.com/

You can install this on your computer, put down what time you’d like to go to bed and it will automatically adjust your screen color.

If you have an iPhone you can go to settings: display and brightness: night shift. Put down when you’d like your screen display to be warmer (more red colors) at night. Of course it is always best to stay away from electronic screens if you can 30-60 minutes before bed. You can create a low light setting with more warm colors (red spectrum) before bed such as with candles, or Himalayan salt lamps.

Being smart with your “lights” is one way to help with winter blues, body clock, and hormone balance. If you need more help beyond this, please feel free to reach out to me and we can go over a personalized assessment of your situation and give you specific therapies to help you overcome your health concerns. I’m so happy to get to share with you. Thank you for honoring yourself and investing in your health and future.