Most of us who work indoors get too little natural light and the wrong mix of light colors. It can lead to i.a. fatigue, lack of vitamin D, increased susceptibility to infections, depression and inflammation. In addition to spending more time outside during the day, light therapy lamps can be used to saturate the photon traps in our cells.
In the blog article Natural Light and Darkness, I gave tips on how to filter or block unwanted light to get the circadian clock going right and increase melatonin. Here are more tips about light therapy and light-blocking glasses.
Capture the colors in natural light
The sun emits large amounts of red + infrared light at sunrise and sunset. If it is cloudless and warm, you can expose both skin and eyes - without sunglasses - to the beneficial red light. Do not look directly at the sun for more than a few seconds unless you are an experienced sun gazer.
Most of us have an imbalance in our light diet, due to screens and other one-sided blue/green around the clock. Our cells then lack red and infrared light.
To mimic the natural light spectrum of the day, you can:
• use a light therapy lamp with red and near infrared light early in the morning and/or in the evening
• have lights with red light in the background when you are sitting in front of a screen so that the one-sided blue and green are balanced
• only light candles or red and yellow-orange lights after sunset.
Lamps for light therapy
Quality of light therapy lamps:
There are several different types of lamps on the market. Feel free to compare energy per surface unit between different lamps and check whether the manufacturer reports unwanted electromagnetic radiation and if the light flickers. Some lamps have a built-in beneficial pulse - they can "blink" at certain frequency rates, often invisible. These are not the same as flicker.
Vitamin D lamp
UVB in the spectrum 290 - approx. 310 nanometers forms vitamin D in the skin. There are good quality lamps that provide vitamin D when you don't get enough sun - and sun at the right angle - in the winter. Always read the instructions for use carefully, wear safety glasses and do not exceed the few minutes recommended.
Infrared sauna
The infrared light reaches deeper into the body's tissues than other light. That's why it's so relaxing and beneficial, especially after exercise or when you're in pain. It also increases the body's ability to detox.
Blue blocking glasses
Blue light up to 479 nanometers, but even the green disturbs your natural biorhythm in the evening. You don't want any of that from two to three hours before bed. Also think about the children.
There are glasses that block all blue light - and green - even for children. Use them when you or your children watch screens or movies in the evening. Then the natural melatonin is preserved and it can be released completely freely during the night.
Quality check your light filtering glasses:
• Select brands that block the correct wavelengths and specify which ones.
• Some glasses are intended for use in front of computers during the day, they do not filter out all the harmful blue light in the evening/night.
Also consider digital appliances, stand-by buttons on oven, stove, fridge/freezer, alarm etc.:
• stick light-blocking tape over these small blue and green lights as they also disrupt melatonin during the night.
A bright future?
Light can be seen as a nutrient because our cells have receptors for particular wavelengths. When a photon reaches the receptor site, various processes in the body kick into motion or are optimized. Therefore, most people feel a sense of well-being and relax when they sit in front of a fireplace, a wood-burning stove or an infrared sauna or take a light bath with the light therapy lamp.
Conditions that can be improved and alleviated with red and infrared light:
• fibromyalgia
• muscle problems
• wear and tear, osteoarthritis
• arthritis and rheumatic pain
• sports and exercise injuries
• healing of surgical wounds
• viral infections
In fact, most things in the body work better when we are saturated with the light we lacked for a long time. We are made to live in sunlight during the day and to sleep really dark at night.
Sources:
1. Level of pain, muscle strength and posture: effects of PBM on an exercise program in women with knee osteoarthritis - a randomized controlled trial https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32157582/
2. Circadian disturbances in Alzheimer's disease progression: a prospective observational cohort study of community-based older adults https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-7568(20)30015-5
3. Nejatifard, M., Asefi, S., Jamali, R., Hamblin, MR, & Fekrazad, R. (2020). Probable Positive Effects of the Photobiomodulation as an Adjunctive Treatment in COVID-19: A Systematic Review. Cytokine, 155312.
4. covidlighttherapy.com
5. Effect of photobiomodulation associated with exercise on pain and functionality of patients with knee osteoarthritis: a pilot study https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-2950/18020027022020
