Why You Should Wear Blue Light Blocking Glasses Every Night For Optimal Sleep And Recovery
Artificial blue light is bad for sleep, heres how to beat it and sleep better. Plus, best blue light glasses Australia
We know the power of light for signalling to our body clock or circadian rhythm when it is time to wake and when it is time to go to sleep. We have spoken about the different effects sleep hygiene practices like getting direct sunlight a short time after waking and minimising light exposure in the late hours of the day can do for improving your sleep and energy levels in our article Better Sleep, Best Recovery - Everything You Need To Know About Optimising Sleep For Performance. One of the ways that biohackers and sleep experts have been hacking sleep for years now is by wearing blue light blocking glasses at certain times of the day/night in order to block harmful blue light from entering the eyes and disrupting the natural release of sleep triggering hormones like melatonin.
Do blue blockers actually work or is it just a fad? This was definitely a question we initially had before doing our own research and testing of our Ocusleep Blue Light Blockers.
In this article, we will show you the science behind blue light and what blue light blocking glasses do to help minimise the harmful effects of using digital devices like phones and tablets and will give you every reason to wear blue light blocking glasses every night. We also show you the best blue light glasses Australia has to offer - Block Blue Light Glasses - designed in Australia.
What Is Blue Light?
Without getting too sciency, light comes in different forms across a spectrum, some of which are visible to the human eye, some aren’t. Blue light falls into the category of light on the spectrum that is visible to the human eye along with colours red, orange, yellow, green and violet. Light on the spectrum in the category of invisible to the human eye includes infrared and ultraviolet.
Blue light can come in both natural and artificial forms. The truth is, blue light gets a pretty bad wrap all round but it is not all bad. Blue light is also emitted naturally from the sun and is an essential part of the light spectrum that we take in for optimal health. Blue light can also be found artificially in the multiple electronic devices we use like phones, laptops and tablets as well as in lighting fixtures like LED lights.
So what is the difference between blue light from the sun and blue light from devices you might ask? Well, when we go outside and are exposed to the natural type of blue light from the sun, we are simultaneously being exposed to the full spectrum of light along with the blue light.
Not only that, the timing that we would be getting exposure from natural blue light would be times in the day when blue light exposure is beneficial and as nature intended. It is when we isolate the blue light and get exposure in the later hours of the day that blue light becomes a risk for affecting sleep and recovery as the light signals the brain and body that it is time to be alert and awake rather than transitioning into sleep by producing sleep supporting hormones like melatonin.
Why Is Blue Light Harmful To Sleep?
While natural blue light in the morning and throughout the day from the sun is beneficial and safe, concentrated and artificial blue light from using phones, working on the computer, bingeing netflix on the TV and maintaining highly lit rooms can all contribute to poor sleep hygiene.
Sleep hygiene is something we have spoken about in depth in our articles and is the process of optimising the conditions for getting the best sleep possible to optimise muscle recovery, healing, mental capacity and more. Blue light is harmful to sleep hygiene because of its ability to block or suppress the production of melatonin which is essential in our smooth transition into sleep.
Because melatonin, known as the sleep hormone, is produced by the pineal gland in the brain when our circadian rhythms are operating as intended, blue light can disrupt this 24 hour clock and throw our body into longer periods of wakefulness when we would usually be winding down.
When we have set optimal conditions for sleep, after the sun sets we would usually begin to secrete melatonin in a way that would eventually trigger a deep and restful sleep.
When we expose the eyes to blue light when our usual spectrum of light intake would be more so red and infrared at time around sunset and into the night, we are tricking the brain into believing it is still daytime, shunting the usual signal to produce the melatonin.
What experts know for sure is that this intake of blue light is damaging to our sleep and our health, but the fact is, most of us are addicted to using devices, phones, TV’s laptops at all hours in the day and night.
In a perfect world we would say cut away all blue light emitting devices after sunset and turn off all internal lighting sources in the house. This isn’t exactly a reasonable task considering our lifestyles and the need to use these devices for work and desire to use them for entertainment for most people.
The truth is, we don’t live in the caveman era anymore and devices and lighting have become a fact of life. So how can we block harmful blue light from affecting sleep? If you are interested in biohacking and your health you probably would have already come across blue light blocking glasses, however most of them up until now have been disastrously unfashionable and ugly.
How To Block Blue Light - Buy Blue Light Blocking Glasses
There are so many scientific studies confirming the efficacy of blue light blocking glasses and proving that they actually work to block the harmful blue light that suppresses melatonin release.
Because we know you have already come to the conclusion that you can’t completely stop using devices and lighting after sunset to prevent artificial blue light from making you sleep bad, buying a pair of blue light blocking glasses is the way forward.
How do blue light blocking glasses work and do they actually work you might ask? We were initially sceptical ourselves before coming across hundreds of studies supporting the use of blue light blockers to minimise artificial blue light from affecting sleep quality.
The benefits of blue light blocking glasses are noted in this blue light lense study that “Blue-light filtering spectacle lenses can partially filter high-energy short-wavelength light without substantially degrading visual performance and sleep quality. These lenses may serve as a supplementary option for protecting the retina from potential blue-light hazard”.
What Are The Benefits Of Wearing Blue Light Blocking Glasses?
Artificial blue light exposure contributes to sleep issues like insomnia. The good thing is, science shows us that blue light blocking glasses have also been noted to be beneficial for insomnia. In the study, wearing amber vs. clear lenses for 2 hours preceding bedtime for 1 week improved sleep in individuals with insomnia symptoms.
These findings have health relevance given the broad use of light-emitting devices before bedtime and prevalence of insomnia. The answer to blocking blue light is simply to buy amber lenses which represent a safe, affordable, and easily implemented therapeutic intervention for issues surrounding sleep, like insomnia, that may arise or be exacerbated by blue light exposure.
Aside from helping with insomnia symptoms, blue light blockers can countermeasure the effects of evening screen exposure, aid in the treatment of attention deficit disorder, be beneficial for the sleep of workers on a permanent night schedule, and may be beneficial for use in the prevention of postpartum depression. The benefits of blue light blocking glasses are extensive and well studied.
It is quite obvious that in improving our ability to fall asleep and stay asleep, using blue light blocking glasses is a major life hack on so many levels. Improving sleep in any way has huge downstream effects on muscle recovery, memory and learning, executive function, mood and mental health, performance and energy levels.
What Are The Best Blue Light Blocking Glasses?
Block Blue Light Glasses are the best blue light blocking glasses we have tested to date. We know a lot about sleep after years of our own research and testing and have tried our fair share of blue light blocking glasses in the process. Block Blue Light glasses are designed by eye doctors and parents.
As they mention on their website: “This all started when we noticed our own children having trouble falling asleep after long days and evenings on screens, particularly during remote learning.
Even after this period of time, we realized that electronic devices are always going to be a part of our daily lives and wished there was something we could do to help not only our children, but everyone who uses these devices regularly.
So, we turned to one of the things we know best, science”. Ocusleep have the best stylish blue light blocking glasses that can be tailored to prescription requirements and sizing.
What About The Best Blue Light Glasses Australia [2023]?
The fact about many health and wellness products is that unfortunately there is usually not a big selection that are designed or made in Australia. There is a blue light blocking glasses brand that is dominating the market due to high quality and well priced blue blocking glasses on offer that have suitable options for day and night blue light blocking.
Block Blue Light Glasses are by far the best blue light glasses Australia 2023 and we have also been testing a set of their night shades out for the last 12 months. One thing we have genuinely noticed is that when wearing the blue light blockers at night while watching TV or working on the computer we seem to become tired and transition into sleep far easier and faster than we would without wearing the blue light glasses.
How To Choose A Quality Pair Of Blue Light Blockers?
The quality of both the lense and frame of blue light blocking glasses differs across the hundreds of brands available now. Blue light blocking glasses are very common and accessible nowadays but they are definitely not all created equally. It is also worth taking into account the warranty and returns policy of the blue light blocking glasses you are looking at. Let’s break down the things to consider when buying the best blue light blockers for sleep:
Lense Quality
The best blue light blocking glasses for better sleep are those with amber, orange or red lenses. Some companies sell blue light blocking glasses with clear lenses, but the truth is they don’t actually block blue light properly.
Clear or yellow lenses mostly just limit eye strain but do not actually block blue light enough to have a positive effect on sleep indicators. We have been using Block Blue Light glasses for the last couple of months and Block Blue Light Nightfall Taylors lenses contain a formulated pigment that blocks all blue and part of the green light spectrum, allowing our body to release its natural melatonin and make us sleepy.
Frame Quality
As always, there are varying levels of frame material and construction quality. Some glasses are made from cheap plastic that breaks easily and has no flex. Although blue light blockers glasses will generally be getting used inside the home in quite benign environments it is still important to have a strong, quality frame to avoid breakage and have a lasting pair of blue light blockers.
Size and Shape
Choosing the right size and shape blue light blocking glasses is important as it enables them to stay on your head without slipping off! It is worth checking your usual sunglasses size and comparing it to the size offered by the particular brand of blue light blockers you are considering. Block Blue Light offers a number of different sizes in stylish design.
Price
Blue light blocking glasses can be bought for anywhere between $25-$200. We wouldn’t really be comfortable buying a pair of blue light blocking glasses over $100. Most blue light blocking glasses can be bought for about $85 and anything above that price generally comes down to design, quality and technology.
Who Should Wear Blue Light Blocking Glasses?
Considering the widespread use or overuse of blue light emitting devices like phones, laptops and tablets at critical hours when light should be minimised, everyone should really be using blue light blocking glasses to ensure they are reducing the harm caused by blue light.
We understand that everyone loves a Netflix binge at night after a long day and people also have commitments working in late hours using devices. The aim of blue light blocking glasses is to allow you to continue using digital devices at night while minimising the amount of blue light that is taken in by the eyes and reducing the harmful effects it has on our sleep.
The effects of blue light are non-discriminatory and will affect everyone, so blue light blocking glasses are suitable for children, teenagers, adults and elderly.
Sure, if you do not use any devices that emit blue light in the evening hours and you take care to dim or turn off lighting after sunset then blue light blocking glasses might not be 100% necessary.
For the most part, the majority of people are heavily addicted to devices for entertainment and work so it almost goes without saying that everyone should own and don a set of blue light blocking glasses every night.
Is It Bad To Wear Blue Light Glasses All Day?
Put simply, yes, it is bad to wear blue light blocking glasses all day. As we mentioned earlier in this article, blue light can come in natural forms when getting light from the sun. In this case, blue light is good and actually necessary so it would be detrimental to be blocking all blue light all of the time.
The benefit of blue light blocking glasses mostly comes from blocking it from artificial sources later in the day and at night when we wouldn’t naturally be getting blue light exposure.
There are a variety of blue light blocking glasses lenses that can be worn at different times to suit the requirements of blue light blocking like these Computer Glasses and Gaming Glasses for Daytime Use from BlockBlueLight.
Final Word On Blue Light Blocking Glasses
The main benefit of wearing blue light blocking glasses is that it allows us to continue to use devices and lighting while minimising the effects that artificial blue light has on our sleep.
We are hell bent on giving you the best ways to optimise muscle recovery by improving lifestyle and sleep factors that do so. It is no secret anymore that blue light is harmful to our health in its artificial forms and we highly recommend buying a pair of blue light blocking glasses like the Block Blue Light Blue Blocking Glasses we have been using every night to hack our sleep.
As always we recommend doing your own research to ensure you are satisfied with the benefits of using blue light blockers every night and we certainly recommend seeking medical advice if you are considering blue light blockers for a medical issue.
At the end of the day, we have seen significant improvements in our ability to fall asleep fast with blue light blocking glasses while maintaining our use of devices and lighting, so this is a game changer for recovery.