Are you having difficulty falling asleep? Do your eyes feel worn out at the end of the day? Your electronics might be to blame. Lately, there’s a lot of talk about the negative effects of “blue light” in the news. Blue light is emitted from phones, tablets, TVs, etc.
Reports indicate this may cause damage to your eyes and mess with your sleep. As you know, sleep plays a big role in relieving stress and also helps your brain process all the things that happened during the day.
Blue Light’s Affect On You
Here’s why blue light is bad for you: it has more energy per photon of light than other visible colors of light (like those reds and greens). This extra energy means that it’s more likely to cause damage to your body.
This blue light can disrupt your sleep hormones, especially melatonin, which can make it hard for you to either fall asleep or stay asleep (and sometimes both!). Blue light can disrupt your body’s natural daily rhythms, especially if you are exposed to it at night. There’s also been a lot of news lately that it can harm your eyesight by causing macular degeneration (premature aging of your eyes).
Protect Your Health
If you’re concerned about this, it can be tempting to buy a pair of blue-light-blocking glasses. The truth is, studies are mixed on how effective they are. It definitely can’t hurt to try a pair. You might consider installing a blue-light-blocking app or filter on your electronics to see if it helps, especially if you’re having a hard time sleeping.
If you’re on the fence, nearly every expert recommends the most effective solution is to cut down on your screen time. Did you know that the average adult spends up to 11 hours a day engaged in technology – reading, scrolling, listening, etc. – and most of us don’t even realize it!
Not only can spending so much time on your devices possibly affect your vision and your sleep, it can cause aches and pains, cause you to be less active (which has a LOT of implications on your health, sleep, and stress levels), and it can affect how your brain works by changing your ability to focus on just one thing at a time.
Take some time to think about how YOU engage with technology every day. I’m going to encourage you to experiment with stepping away from it for a specific, intentional period of time each day, how much is up to you.
Stronger for Today,
The Method3 Fitness Team
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