Blue light filter: tips on how to sleep better and protect your eyes

In today's digital world, we are more and more surrounded by screens in our professional and everyday lives. This includes blue light, which can have a significant impact on our health. In this article you will learn how harmful blue light is, how you can avoid it and even use it positively for yourself, so that you are optimally prepared for a restful sleep.

Do you know that? You've been at your desk all day, staring at your laptop, and now you're lying on the couch in the evening, still wanting to watch TV. The film becomes a minor matter from time to time because you are still busy answering your messages on your smartphone. At some point you go to bed and scroll through social media. Your body cannot really think about falling asleep, but your head tells you you have to! The alarm clock will ring soon!

In the morning you find it difficult to get up and you resolve to go to bed earlier. If you insufficient sleep you can get during the day not performing at your best And you notice that: You are somehow sagging, feeling exhausted, tired and your concentration suffers. Sufficient and restful sleep is essential for optimal health. So you have to Prepare optimally the day beforeto do your best the next day. We have already learned a lot about the right one in our Academy Sleeping environment and sleep hygiene tells, today we are concentrating on the topic of blue lights. Because blue light has a great influence on your sleep and could be the disruptive factor for your sleep problems.

 

What is blue light

Blue light is an area of ​​light for your eyesthat is visible, but appears to you more white than blue. Blue light is found in LEDs, for example, and is mainly built into your smartphone, tablet, laptop and television.

Visible light has a wavelength of around 400-700 nm. The short-wave blue light is in the range of 420-490 nm. The characteristics of blue light are that it is particularly strongly refracted and has a lot of energy. In the electromagnetic spectrum, light waves resemble a rainbow. The blue wavelengths are most involved in regulating the circadian rhythm.

 

Blue wavelength light primarily stimulates sensors on your retina to send the signals to your brain's internal clock. Thus, your body adapts to the daily rhythm through daylight and darkness. Your internal clock, which regulates your daily rhythm, influences many of your internal functions, including those Preparing the body for wakefulness or sleep.¹

Sunlight and white light contain a mixture of different wavelengths and have a large amount of blue light.² So if you get plenty of light from the sun, you are likely to stay alert and have a better mood and performance.³

In the dark the pineal gland produces the so-called Sleep hormone melatonin, which signals to the body that it is tired and you feel the need to go to sleep. The production of melatonin, however, is strongly inhibited by blue light, so that the duration and quality of your sleep can suffer.⁴ 9 lux of a blue LED can reduce your production of melatonin by 25%.⁵ To get a better idea: The MacBook Air emits approximately 20 lux at a distance of 60 cm, the iPhone X even 100 lux.

 

DEEP SLEEP

If you need further support for the optimal preparation for falling asleep, give it a try DEEP SLEEP with melatonin. Contains natural plant extracts such as hops, Passionflower and lemon balm, minerals such as zinc and magnesium in combination with the natural sleep hormone melatonin, the contributes to a healthy sleep and shortens the time to fall asleep.

 

Effects of blue light

Today we are through the whole artificial light sources exposed to a lot of blue light, which one enormous impact on our body may have. The body adapts to the natural rhythm of the sun. At noon, the sunlight has the highest proportion of blue light and becomes more reddish in the evening. It's getting darker and darker and our circadian rhythm realizes it's getting evening and we're slowly getting tired because our bodies are more Melatonin produced.

If we are exposed to a lot of blue light, especially in the evening, symptoms can arise. For example, blue light can lead to these disorders:

• sleep disorders
• Eye fatigue
• Age-related macular degeneration

 

sleep disorders

Blue light can therefore have a significant impact on your sleep and prevent your body from getting really tired and you even late at night do not fall asleep even though you have to get up early the next morning. The artificial blue light can even cause Your whole biorhythm thrown upside down becomes. It is hardly surprising why so many in our digitalized society suffer from sleep problems.

 

Eye fatigue

But how harmful is blue light regardless of your sleep problems? Blue light is very energetic and dazzles more than other light. This can lead to long-term eye fatigue and headaches. In addition, symptoms such as impaired vision or dry and irritated eyes can also occur.

 

Age-related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) can be a result of exposure to harmful blue light. Be at AMD Destroyed cells in the retina of your eyes and can not resolved will! This makes AMD one of the most common causes of eye diseases that lead to blindness.

  

Tools: You can do this to avoid blue lights

There are now many different tools that you can use to avoid blue light and thus optimally prepare for your sleep.

 

What does a blue light filter do?

A blue light filter reduces the amount of blue parts on the screen of a device, for example on your smartphone. In addition, with a blue light filter, the digital strain on the eyes is reduced so that you do not suffer from tired eyes as quickly if you work a lot on screens.

This will help you avoid or reduce blue light:

• Glasses with a blue light filter
• Dim light
• Install apps and programs
• Read books in print

 

Glasses with a blue light filter

Glasses with a blue light filter are one simple and effective way to block blue light. They are also quite inexpensive. Studies show that people who wear glasses with blue light filters produce as much melatonin in a lighted room or when using electronic devices as if it is dark.^{6, 7}

Another study compared people who did not wear blue-light-filtering glasses 3 hours before going to bed with people who put on glasses. It turned out that those who wore glasses had significantly improved sleep quality as well as mood.⁸ Shift workers were also found to wear blue light filter glasses a lot sleep better The konnte.⁹

 

Dim light

If you don't want to wear glasses or don't want to invest in them, you can also reduce your light in the rooms where you are in the evening by dimming it. If your lights don't have a dimming function, you can get dimmable sockets and convert some of your lamps.

 

Install apps and programs

If you hang around your smartphone a lot, sit a lot at the laptop due to your job or are exposed to other screens, you should install apps and programs on your devices that filter blue light.

Some laptops and computers already have a function that allows you to filter blue light. In Windows 10, for example, it's night mode. Otherwise you can use the program f.lux to install. This will automatically adjust the color and brightness of your screen to your time zone. In other words, when it's dark outside, the blue light on your screen turns into a faint yellowish-red tone - the warmer the color, the less blue light.

Most new smartphones also have a blue light filter option installed, otherwise there are also numerous download options here in the app stores.

 

Read books in print

A book is best read when you feel the paper and can open it page by page. Reading calms you down before you go to sleep and with the printed version you are doing your eyes a favor. If you can't do without your eBook reader before going to sleep, then you should also think of a possibility with a blue light filter to better prepare your body for sleep.

 

How to use blue light positively

As you may have noticed yourself, you can interpret the disadvantages of blue lights in the evening and during the day in your favor. It is also important to expose yourself to a lot of blue light during the day. The best way to do this is to go outside and get some sunlight.

During your working hours or in everyday life, blue light can be your

• alertness
• Performance
• evening fatigue
• difficulty concentrating

verbessern.¹⁰ As already explained, this is due to the inhibited melatonin production.