Did you know that insufficient sleep increases mortality risk by up to 13%?!
Getting a good night's sleep on a regular basis is KEY to being healthy.
Many people have difficulty sleeping and have no clue how to improve their sleep naturally.
-Technology-
By now, many people have heard that using technology before bed is bad, but have zero idea why.
Our body is naturally in sync with the sun rising and setting. As it gets dark, our body releases melatonin which tells us that it is time to wind down and go to sleep.
Well that was until we started exposing ourselves to blue light at night…
The sun naturally emits blue light during the day. Modern technology that we use such as LED lights in the house, phones, TVs, computers, and tablets all emit blue light.
With our exposure to blue light, our body doesn't release nearly as much melatonin. Lower levels of melatonin can lead to difficulty falling asleep.
So what can we do about this?
Ideally, we stop using technology 2 hours before bed. However, many people can't or won't make this change. Instead you can wear blue light blocking glasses 2 hours before bed and they help drastically reduce the blue light exposure.
Unfortunately, many of the blue light blockers on the market don't actually block blue light effectively.
A recent study out of the University of Arizona looked at 50 popular brands of blue light blockers and found that nearly half of them blocked less than 50% of the blue light and some of them blocked 0% of blue light.
The blue light blockers that they found to work the best was a brand called Swannies - https://tinyurl.com/27sjjtc4
Ironically, this is my favorite brand of blue light blocking glasses and what I recommend for my clients.
When purchasing blue light blockers, see if the brand provides actual data showing how much blue light they block. Chances are, the $20 blue light blockers on Amazon won't block the same amount of blue light as a brand like Swannies.
Another thing you can do is be mindful about the lighting in your home at night. LED light bulbs emit blue light so if you are in a brightly lit home at night, your body will think it's still daylight out.
While I'm not telling you to walk around in your home in complete darkness, you can turn off lights that aren't necessary to reduce blue light emission.
You can also use red light bulbs in nightlights and lamps at night.
Red light does not emit any blue light, and actually helps stimulate melatonin production.
Making these simple, yet effective changes can have a HUGE impact on the quality and amount of sleep you get.
A few other sleep hacks:
You also want to make sure that your bedroom is pitch black. You'll want to avoid any light coming in through windows or from other rooms.
65-68 degrees is the ideal sleeping temperature for humans
Be consistent with bedtime and keep a regular sleep schedule
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