The Best Light for Sleep

Our light exposure and sleep cycle are inextricably linked. Artificial light can keep us awake by disrupting the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle and melatonin production. Blue shades of light on electronic screens can hinder sleep. A dark evening under the stars can help us sleep soundly all night. Some individuals struggle to fall asleep with any light whatsoever. Blackout curtains, anyone? Is it possible that there are shades of light that help us to sleep better? The color of light plays a crucial role in creating a restful sleep environment, with calming colors like red and amber enhancing sleep quality. Let’s look at the best kind of light for sleep.

Our Body’s Sleep Cycle and Sleep Quality

Our body’s sleep cycle, also called our circadian rhythm, affects our appetites, moods, and brain waves. Staying on the same schedule for sleep can often correct trouble with falling asleep at night. A schedule helps because your body starts to expect sleep at the same time every night. Hormones such as melatonin prepare your body for the expected slumber. Electronic devices emit blue light, which can disrupt the sleep-wake cycle by suppressing melatonin production. Your circadian clock uses light and dark, particularly blue and green light, to prepare you for wakefulness and sleep.

According to The Sleep Foundation, “light exposure at night can hinder transitions between sleep cycles, reducing the quality of sleep. Too much light can cause repeated awakenings, interrupting the sleep cycle and reducing time spent in deeper, more restorative sleep stages.”

When your schedule is topsy turvy, as someone who works night shifts 3 days per week, your body’s sleep cycle gets confused. With irregular sleeping habits, you can bring on mood disorders related to your body’s disturbed sleep rhythms.

According to Nature, “Most epidemiological data show that shift workers are at a higher risk for depression, such that night shift work is associated with increased psychological strain in the short-term. In the long-term it may increase the risk of mental illnesses, particularly depression.”

How Blue Light Affects Our Sleep Cycle

Your circadian rhythm is a crucial factor when trying to sleep. Light has a powerful effect on when you get sleepy and when you feel most awake. When you understand how light affects your sleep schedule, you can manipulate your light intake to feel more awake when you need to concentrate or work.

You can also use lack of light to feel sleepy when it’s your bedtime. Green light emitted by certain light sources can disrupt sleep quality by inhibiting melatonin production and affecting the body’s internal biological clock. To help yourself feel sleepy, you’ll want to reduce light exposure, especially green light, for 2 hours before bedtime.

If you need to stay awake later than usual, bright light can help keep you awake longer without sleepiness. However, you may also feel the need to sleep later the following day. Staying up later each night is how your sleep schedule can slowly change to staying up and sleeping in late each day.

It is also essential to expose yourself to bright light within an hour of waking from slumber if you are on a schedule you would like to keep.

The Worst and Best Red or Amber Lights for Sleep

Exposing yourself to white light or blue bright light during your early wakeful hours can help to improve your mood and keep you awake and alert. However, exposure to white light before bedtime can disrupt circadian rhythms and inhibit melatonin production, negatively impacting sleep quality. Alternatively, the best light for falling asleep is no light at all for the 2 hours before you want to sleep. However, this is not a practical way to live in our society in 2021. Introducing the right color light, such as warmer hues, is important for creating a restful sleep environment. Our schedules are light-filled way past dusk with our smartphones, TVs, and fluorescent lights.

If you can reduce bright light in the 2 hours before bedtime, you may fall asleep easier. The blue light from our screen time is often the most crucial factor to avoid. Avoiding cool light colors like blue is essential for maintaining good sleep quality. Exposure to blue light before bedtime can keep you from falling asleep. Blue light exposure during sleep can keep you from staying asleep.

In the 2 hours before bedtime, set your screens to the dimmest level. You can also download apps on smartphones that reduce the blue light on your screen. Reducing blue light can help relieve eye strain and prepare your body for sleep. You can also try wearing dark wraparound sunglasses with a red or orange tint. Additionally, using red or amber lights and night lights can create a calming environment conducive to better sleep quality.

Using red LED lights does not affect your circadian sleep rhythm. These lights, due to their low color temperature, do not disrupt the sleep cycle and can stimulate melatonin production. You can purchase light bulbs that have a red tint for use at night. Yellow and orange light only have a minor impact on sleep cycle rhythms. Yellow light, in particular, can provide a calming ambiance suitable for bedtime lighting.

Use Artificial Light to Your Advantage

The CDC offers some good tips to start with if you feel like light is disrupting your sleep.

• If you have trouble falling asleep, keep the light levels dim for the 2 hours before you want to go to sleep. Using warm light colors, such as red or orange, can promote relaxation and melatonin production, which aids in falling asleep. Remember, light helps you sleep better when it is conducive to relaxation. You can wear dark sunglasses (wraparound ones work best) if it is hard to control the light in the area. That should help you fall asleep more easily.
• If you are getting sleepy too early in the evening, you can go into a well-lit area to reduce the sleepiness. (However, if you are sleep deprived or fighting an infection, go to sleep early and catch up on needed sleep.)
• Bright morning light will shift the time for sleep earlier, so you will tend to get sleepy and fall asleep earlier in the evening and will wake up earlier in the morning.
• If you wake up too early and cannot fall back to sleep, make sure you keep the lights very dim until you want to wake up.
• If you cannot wake up early enough, go into a brightly lit area when you get up (for example, eat your breakfast outside or next to a sunny window).
• If you have to get up in the middle of the night, keep the light level very dim.

We Can Help

At Enticare, our ENT specialists treat all kinds of sleep problems. We specialize in sleep disorders and understand how best to help you get a good night’s sleep again. If you are struggling to sleep each night despite your best efforts, we can get you back on a path to resting well. Our experience shows us that you can wake up feeling refreshed and ready for your day again. Contact us with questions, make an appointment, or schedule a sleep study today and find out how we can help you.