Mar 27, 2020
How a Pair of Glasses Forever Changed my Sleeping Pattern
Do you ever wonder why its so damn difficult to fall asleep sometimes? Ever just slosh around in your bed until the wee hours of the morning thinking ‘maybe if I just switch sides or find the colder part of the pillow I’ll be able to fall asleep’? Yah me too. What I never asked myself was ‘why?’. If you were only able to get three or four hours of sleep the night before, it can be quite frustrating attempting to diagnose the root cause of that…
As we speak, the answer is literally right under your nose. Or right in front of your eyes. One word. Screens!
Artificial vs Natural Blue Light and the Effect it Has on Our Brains
There are two types of light that are produced in nature. One being starlight (in planet Earth’s most obvious case, sunlight), the other is firelight. What’s not natural are phone screens, tablet screens, laptop screens, TV screens… but it doesn’t stop at screens. Mankind is also the proud producer of streetlights, house lights, headlights, including those beloved halogen lights. You ever courtesy flash someone your brights so that they’ll turn off their’s but then they turn on their actual brights point blank, temporarily blinding you? The thing all of these wonderful inventions have in common is artificial blue light.
Blue light IS naturally produced by the sun and is super beneficial for contributing to our energy levels and regulating circadian rhythms throughout the day. Its wavelength is short relative to the rest of the light spectrum; between 380–500 nanometers. The shorter the wavelength, the more energy its packing. Artificial blue light, also known as blue-violet light, ranges from 380–450 nanometers.
Getting blue light after the sun goes down will generally leave you feeling a bit wired. Especially since, if the sun is already down, that blue light is almost certainly artificial. Considering we’ve only been exposed to artificial blue light since the dawn of fluorescent light bulbs, our bodies have yet to evolve to be able to effectively process it.
As a result of not being able to process artificial blue light, something peculiar happens inside our brains. We stop producing melatonin, the necessary hormone that aids in sleep. When melatonin isn’t sufficiently produced we’re inhibited from entering into our deepest and most rejuvenating form of sleep, REM sleep. When our bodies don’t get enough REM sleep our brains slow the production of vital neurotransmitters and chemicals like serotonin and dopamine. The lack of these contributes heavily to anxiety, depression, and fatigue. Its a vicious cycle!
Well… YOU ARE IN LUCK
There’s an incredible company out of Australia called BLUblox. They make glasses… But not just any glasses. These ones block blue light. More importantly they block artificial blue light. The lenses vary depending on how much of the spectrum you want to block. I currently own their Sleep+ lenses. These block the entire spectrum of blue light, which was what I needed since I was such a night owl. I’m currently wearing them… Check em out!
I put these bad boys on as soon as the sun goes down, and I sleep like baby. I’ll be asleep by 11 PM. I’ll be up at 5 AM, in the gym by 6, and ready to seize the day. All because I got some good REM sleep! Such a great investment. It may sound a bit extreme but my quality of life, my energy levels, and ultimately my vibration have drastically improved since snagging this miracle pair of spectacles.
Also, the folks that make these definitely have swag because every style is super rad. They also make great gifts. I got a pair for every member of my immediate family this Christmas.
It’d be remiss of me not to share with you the source of this information. If you’ve never listened the The Life Stylist Podcast with Luke Storey, I encourage you to do so. Dude is a biohacker extraordinaire. He’s full of insight, uses all sorts of fun gadgets, devices, mechanisms, superfoods, etc to improve his quality of life and I must say, the guy is pretty enlightened. He has a store on his website where you can purchase products from all the brands that he reps. It’s pretty extensive and quite the rabbit hole. He also gives promo codes for mostly everything so that you can receive a discount.
I sure hope you can find value in this! I sure did. Who couldn’t use better sleep? Shoot me a Tweet with some of your pointers! https://twitter.com/Nick_Odio
Looking forward,
Nick Odio
By the way, I’m on the lookout for paid gigs so if you’re picking up what I’m putting down or know someone that might, feel free to email me at youalreadyknodio@gmail.com. I love to learn and will dive deep into all things esoteric. Some of my areas of expertise include but are not limited to cryptocurrencies/digital assets/distributed ledgers, health & wellness, biohacking, global affairs, music, sports, business, science, and travel!
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Nick_Odio
Follow me on Instagram: @youalreadyknodio
Sources:
Here are some links to Luke’s podcast, his store, and the Blublox website.
https://www.lukestorey.com/lifestylistpodcast
