The Harmful Effects of Light Exposure During Sleep

The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is located in your brain and is part of your hypothalamus. This is where your master "biological clock" resides. Based on signals of light and darkness, your SCN signals your pineal gland when it's time to secrete melatonin, and when to turn it off.

Adequate melatonin levels are important for healthy and restful sleep. When it is dark, your melatonin production increases and when it is light, your melatonin production plummets.

Your physical health and your mental health, as well as your melatonin production, are all intricately tied to this rhythm of day and night.

When you're exposed to bright artificial lighting at night, especially blue and green light that is emitted from TVs and electronic devices, you may have trouble falling asleep, due to suppressed melatonin levels.

Many sleep problems can be resolved, simply by making sure you avoid blue and green light exposure after sunset and sleep in total darkness.

Being exposed to very dim blue or green light during sleep, such as from a clock radio or an electronic device, not only impacts melatonin production, but also impacts your brain function and cognition during the next day.

It is interesting to note that amber and red light doesn't have the same negative impact on melatonin production. Could this have anything to do with that primitive human's main source of light at night, was from fire? Fire emits predominately red and amber frequencies.

Sunlight exposure during the day also strengthens your biological clock and promotes deep and restful sleep. It should also be noted that the brain ONLY properly detoxifies during your deep sleep cycles. Sleeping pills may significantly inhibit the number of minutes of deep sleep and brain detoxification, as well as possibly contribute to various forms of dementia, including Alzheimer's.

The lack of deep and rejuvenating sleep, may also contribute to premature death from multiple causes.

Tourmaline infused blankets, mattress pads and pillowcases also help to produce healthy sleep patterns. The tiny tourmaline particles in these products, convert body heat into far infrared energy. Far infrared has been used for its therapeutic value for millennia. These tiny tourmaline crystals also generate negative ions, which contribute to detoxification, increased blood oxygeniztion and also increase blood flow.

Tourmaline has been shown to increase alpha brain waves, which also promotes deep sleep. It also increases serotonin levels. Serotonin is called the "feel good" hormone. Prozac and Paxil also increase serotonin levels, but with significant potential side effects.

Those drugs slow down the re-absorption of old serotonin, but do not stimulate the production of new serotonin. The body reabsorbs the old serotonin, because it tends to degrade or chemically break down over time. Old serotonin isn't top quality serotonin.

Each blanket has about 5 quintillion tourmaline particles infused into them. A quintillion is 10 to the 18th power! Never mind counting sheep to fall asleep, try counting the tourmaline particles in a blanket. I guarantee that you will fall asleep before you are done counting the particles in one square millimeter of the blanket!

Since they are currently difficult to find, if you would like more information about these tourmaline infused products, feel free to contact my office.

So turn off the lights when you go to sleep at night and get rid of your clock radio if the display lights are blue or green. You can replace that clock radio with one that has red or amber display lights.

If you need a nightlight, I suggest a Himalayan salt lamp, with the dimmer switch on a very low setting. This lamp gives off amber light, which is tolerated by humans much more than blue or green light while they are sleeping.

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