According to a National Sleep Foundation poll, about 95% of Americans use an electronic device within one hour prior to going to sleep. On top of that, 89% of adults and 75% of children, have at least one electronic device, such as a television, tablet, or smartphone, in their bedrooms.
Light from Electronic Devices Interferes with Your Sleep:
The master clock in the brain is in the hypothalamus and is called the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN). The SCN synchronizes to the light-dark cycle of your environment when light enters your eye. You also have other biological clocks throughout your body and those clocks subsequently synchronize to your master clock and establishes what are called circadian rhythms. Being exposed to even a small amount of artificial light while sleeping throws these balances off by reducing melatonin production. Melatonin helps to regulate healthy sleep patterns. Healthy sleep is essential for good health.
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Somewhere between 50-1,000 lux is the activation range within which light will begin to suppress melatonin production. 50 lux is not much light at all. Even the light from your computer screen or smartphone is enough to interfere with your circadian rhythm and melatonin production. Wavelength is important. Red and amber lights will not suppress melatonin as much and blue, green and white lights will. So if you use a clock in your bedroom, make sure it has red LEDs, not blue or green.
Whether you have a light on for an hour or for just a second, the effect is the same. It would be nice if your melatonin production resumed when you turn a light back off, but unfortunately, it doesn't. So remember, when you turn the light on at night, you are seriously short changing your melatonin production.
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Sleep Facts:
1. Children who use electronic media at night go to bed later, get fewer hours of sleep per week and report more daytime sleepiness.
2. Adolescents with a television in their bedroom go to bed later, have more difficulty falling asleep and have a shorter total sleep time.
3. Sending texts or e-mails after initially going to bed increases daytime sleepiness among teens, even if it's done only once a week.
4. People exposed to radiation from their mobile phones for three hours before bedtime, had more trouble falling asleep and staying in a deep sleep.
5. According to the 2014 Sleep in America Poll, 53% of respondents who turn electronics off while sleeping rate their sleep as excellent, compared to just 27% of those who leave their devices on.
6. If you want to protect your melatonin, when the sun goes down you could shift to a low-wattage bulb with yellow, orange or red light. Dr. Russel Reiter suggests using a salt lamp illuminated by a 5-watt bulb in this color range.
Interrupted or impaired sleep can:
1. Dramatically weaken your immune system
2. Accelerate tumor growth
3. Cause a pre-diabetic state, making you feel hungry even if you've already eaten.
4. Seriously impair your memory and problem solving, as well as to think clearly the next day.
Consider implementing the following change for an improved night's sleep, from Dr. Joseph Mercola:
1. Turn off your electronic gadgets and keep them out of your bedroom. Avoid watching TV or using your computer/smartphone or tablet in the evening, for at least an hour or so before going to bed.
2. Make sure you get BRIGHT sun exposure regularly. Your pineal gland produces melatonin roughly in approximation to the contrast of bright sun exposure in the day and complete darkness at night. If you are in darkness all day long, it can't appreciate the difference and will not optimize your melatonin production.
3. Get some sun in the morning. Your circadian system needs bright light to reset itself. Ten to 15 minutes of morning sunlight will send a strong message to your internal clock that day has arrived, making it less likely to be confused by weaker light signals during the night.
4. Sleep in complete darkness, or as close to it as possible. Even the tiniest glow from your clock radio could be interfering with your sleep, so cover your clock radio up at night or get rid of it altogether. Move all electrical devices at least three feet away from your bed. You may want to cover your windows with drapes or blackout shades, or wear an eye mask when you sleep.
5. Install a low-wattage yellow, orange, or red light bulb if you need a source of light for navigation at night. Light inthese bandwidths does not shut down melatonin production in the way that white and blue bandwidth light does. Salt lamps are handy for this purpose.
6. Keep the temperature in your bedroom no higher than 70 degrees F. Many people keep their homes too warm (particularly their upstairs bedrooms). Studies show that the optimal room temperature for sleep is between 60 to 68 degrees F.
7. Take a hot bath 90 to 120 minutes before bedtime. This increases your core body temperature, and when you get out of the bath it abruptly drops, signaling your body that you are ready to sleep.
8. Avoid using loud alarm clocks. Being jolted awake eachmorning can be very stressful. If you are regularly getting enough sleep,you might not even need an alarm.
9. Be mindful of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in your bedroom. EMFs can disrupt your pineal gland and its melatonin production, and may have other negative biological effects as well. A gauss meter is required if you want to measure EMF levels in various areas of your home.
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