Restorative Sleep: Part III

Julian Morales

How to get Restorative sleep

With stress running high in 2020, the importance of restful sleep is imperative for staying healthy. But just because you slept for 8 hours, doesn't mean it was restorative. In a somewhat personal experiment, I have put what I have learned into 5 different categories that I will break down in a 5-part-series. I used a sleep tracker called the Poar Vantage M to show us the results. Turns out, the amount of deep sleep and REM sleep greatly increased when we did these 5 tips. This is Part 3!

3. Use blue light blockers 3 hours before bed.

Put on the hipster glasses! We are all guilty of looking at screens before bed, and the bright light is detrimental to our sleep. In the age of social media, asking anyone to stop looking at a screen 3 hours before seems unrealistic. What does seem realistic is asking people to drown out some of the harmful blue light that causes our sleep to be poor by using blue light blockers.

What is blue light?

Not all colors of light have the same effect. Blue wavelengths, which are beneficial during daylight hours because they boost attention, reaction times, and mood, seem to be the most disruptive at night. And the proliferation of electronics with screens, as well as energy-efficient lighting, is increasing our exposure to blue wavelengths, especially after sundown.

Effects of blue light and sleep

While light of any kind can suppress the secretion of melatonin, blue light at night does so more powerfully. Harvard researchers and their colleagues conducted an experiment comparing the effects of 6.5 hours of exposure to blue light to exposure to green light of comparable brightness. The blue light suppressed melatonin for about twice as long as the green light and shifted circadian rhythms by twice as much (3 hours vs. 1.5 hours).

In another study of blue light, researchers at the University of Toronto compared the melatonin levels of people exposed to bright indoor light who were wearing blue-light–blocking goggles to people exposed to regular dim light without wearing goggles. The fact that the levels of the hormone were about the same in the two groups strengthens the hypothesis that blue light is a potent suppressor of melatonin. It also suggests that shift workers and night owls could perhaps protect themselves if they wore eyewear that blocks blue light.

Protect yourself from blue light at night

  • Use dim red lights for night lights. Red light is less likely to shift circadian rhythm and suppress melatonin.

  • Avoid looking at bright screens beginning two to three hours before bed.

  • If you use a lot of electronic devices at night, consider wearing blue-blocking glasses or installing an app that filters the blue/green wavelength at night.

 

Go SMAC!

 

Julian