The Cook and The Coach
  • BLOG
  • WHO WE ARE
    • SUCCESS STORIES >
      • HOME
  • BUILD A BUSINESS!
  • New Customer Resources

Let There Be Light... But Not Too Much!

7/13/2016

0 Comments

 
For the longest time humans used the sun as their only source of light.  Then came fire.  Then came the lightbulb.  Then came TV.  Then came the iPhone!  Nowadays it is hard to avoid electronics that emit light.  If you are living among humans it is the norm.  
Picture
The point of this post isn't to give you a history lesson on how light came to be, but to actually share with you more detail into how light affects our health.  I've heard a lot of health minded folks talk about the effects of light and how it correlates with your hormone cycles.  When I got a little pop up on my phone this past week I figured it would be a good opportunity to share something I learned and also share a bit about how light can influence your health.  

Circadian Rhythm

This term refers to how your hormones cycle up and down and how you go from being wide awake to sleeping liking a baby.  The main hormones at play here are cortisol and melatonin. These two hormones work inversely with each other.  When one is high the other is low and vice versa.  

Cortisol is often referred to as a stress hormone or fight or flight hormone.  This can give people the thought that it is a bad thing but this hormone is needed to function.  It is a rise in cortisol in the morning that tells you to wake up.  As the day goes on your cortisol levels should decrease and with that brings on a rise in melatonin.  Melatonin is the key player in making you sleepy and getting a good nights rest.  It often is used in supplement form to help people with insomnia and other sleep disorders.  

Health Impact

It is this daily shift and balance of hormones that make up your circadian rhythm. This can affect all areas of your health.  A lack of sleep can affect a person's weight in a negative way...and obesity thus increases a person's chance of getting pretty much every other disease out there.  Melatonin disregulation can also increase chances of certain cancers.  The World Health Organization has even classified shift work as a probable carcinogen because of the disruption of to a person's circadian rhythm.  

Artificial Light's Impact

Being exposed to light, especially blue light, later in day is also associated with disrupting a person's circadian rhythm.  Thus increasing risk factors of everything explained above.  When you are staring at a TV screen, iPad, or smart phone late at night you are basically sending daylight type light into your eyes and brain which suppresses melatonin and increases cortisol. Another thing that can play into this imbalance is staying indoors all day long.  By limiting your exposure to natural sunlight your body doesn't get that dosage of light that tells your body that it is time to be awake and alert.  Yeah your computer screen at work gives you a fake light but nothing beats the real thing.   

Solution Time

If you struggle with sleepless nights, waking up tired or low energy levels during the day you could likely have a circadian rhythm that is out of balance.  

Here are 5 things you can do to help your cause and get your circadian rhythm back in balance.  
  1. Go for a walk early in the morning!  Getting exposed to natural daylight early in the morning will give your body that shot of natural light that says: WAKE UP, it's daytime!!!
  2. Using blue light filters on your devices or in the form of glasses.  Check out the images below to see how I recently turned on a filter on my iPhone.  
  3. Having a pitch black place to sleep is key making sure your body knows it is time to sleep.  Even light that trickles in through your curtains and alarm clock can influence the quality of your sleep.  
  4. Turn down the lights at night!  There is no need to sit in fully illuminated room at 10:00 p.m.  
  5. Set a screen curfew.  I know this one can be challenging since many people are used to sitting in front of a tv, laptop or tablet at night.  The closer your curfew is to when the sun naturally goes down the better.  If you can't set a curfew or are just stubborn refer to tip 2!  
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    The Cook & The Coach

    Healthy is a LIFESTYLE.
    Not a destination. 

    We want to help you build that lifestyle which will then help you 

    **  have CONFIDENCE
    **  become STRONG (mentally          and physically)
    **  lose fat
    **  have more ENERGY

    and finally

    LIVE FULLY!

    RSS Feed

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    3 Day Refresh
    Accountability
    Asian Flavors
    Avocado
    Baby Food
    Baby Led Weaning
    Bacon
    Beachbody
    Beets
    Black Beans
    Black Beans
    Breakfast
    Brownies
    Brunch
    Busyness
    Chicken
    Christmas
    Coaching
    Coffee
    Curry
    Dairy Free
    Desserts
    Dinner
    Do It Yourself
    Eat Local
    Eggs
    Faith
    Fish
    Fitness
    Fit Pregnancy
    Food
    Food Substitutions
    Fruit
    Gluten Free
    Goals
    Gratitude
    Grilled Vegetables
    Guacamole
    Gumbo
    Health
    Healthy Desserts
    Healthy Desserts
    Healthy Eating
    Healthy Fat
    Holiday Eating
    Ice Cream
    Jesus
    Jicama
    Kale
    Life On The Road
    Low Carb
    Low Carb
    Macros
    MakeANewMealMonday
    Meatball
    Minneapolis
    Motivation
    Muffins
    Network Marketing
    Nutrition
    Opportunities
    Paleo
    Pancakes
    Party Snacks
    Pesto
    Photography
    Pizza
    Pork Tenderloin
    Positive Mindset
    Pregnancy
    Prenatal Vitamins
    Pressure Cooker Meals
    Ravioli
    Restaurants
    Restaurants To Try
    Risotto
    Roasted Vegetables
    Roulade
    RV
    RV Life
    RV Remodel
    Salad
    Salmon
    Seasonal Meals
    Shakeology
    Slaw
    Sleep
    Soup
    Spices
    Squash
    Stress
    Superfood
    Tacos
    Thai Food
    Thanksgiving
    Travel
    Trust
    Turkey Sausage
    Uptown
    Vegan
    Vegetarian
    Walleye
    Water
    Weight Loss
    Weirdvegwednesday
    Willpower
    Workouts

    Archives

    November 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013

About Us

Picture
Dan and Laura Suedbeck have embraced an entrepreneurial lifestyle.  They are constantly challenging the status quo and challenge others to do so too.  They believe that you don't always have to change your situation, sometimes you just need to change the lens you view the world through.  Their focus is helping people  find purpose and passion with their lives all while getting healthy.   Click here to find out more about them.  

Contact Us

Affiliate Disclosure
​Privacy Policy
​Terms of Service