Jun 18, 2020
The Dark Side of Blue Light: How I Protect My Eyes & Skin
Biohacking, blue light, digital detox, eye care, skincare, holistic health, wellness
So interesting, what I choose to “invest in” as a 45-year-old minimalist and Chinese Medicine doctor slightly obsessed with holistic wellness. Suffice to say, it’s not random or impulse driven…but rather, carefully selected after plenty of contemplation, research and triple-time overthinking :).
When I finally “go for it” with a biohacking tool and end up delighted, I love sharing my finds here. (Still in progress, but I’ve also begun curating a small shop to gather my recommendations in one place.)
Anyway, my latest biohack is resting on the bridge of my nose…protecting my eyes and the delicate surrounding skin from blue light damage. Spoiler: I’m thrilled with my BLUblox glasses.
A few notes before I dive into the benefits I’ve “seen” thus far:
- As of last summer’s vision test, my eyesight is better than 20–20, so my pair is non-magnifying…but they have magnifying and prescription ones too.
- I embrace my nerd-dom so love this pair, but they have tons of styles if nerdy isn’t your thing.
- They also have special ones for combatting seasonal affective disorder AND a spectacular sleep mask that’s on my wish list.
Blue Light
What the heck is blue light anyway? And why am I wearing non-magnifying glasses despite having better than 20–20 vision? I’ll touch on the science below. First, here’s the shortlist of what’s better for me since getting BLUblox glasses:
- Fantastic sleep. Specifically, I’ve been waking rested without an alarm at 7am rather than 5am. It’s like I levelled up the spectacular benefits I saw for sleep after giving up alcohol. This is coming from a life-long insomniac. My insomnia is totally gone.
- Better “energy management.” By this, I mean evening out the highs and lows during a day — basically, cultivating consistent calm. I apply mindfulness practice to this too, but the glasses help tremendously.
- Less anxiety. As with sleep, issues here were already minimal since giving up alcohol. Still, the glasses make it so I have to “work less hard” to stay calm and steady.
- No more blurry, tired eyes after being on my laptop all day. That’s HUGE and what prompted me to research BLUblox in the first place. Total game changer. I’m no longer squinting to read on screens come 5pm.
- Knowing the delicate skin around my eyes is protected. Vanity. Pure vanity 🙂.
Science-y stuff
To learn more about blue light and the perils of digital devices (and artificial lighting generally), definitely head over to BLUblox. I’ll pull a few quotes to give you a sample.
Also, I want to underscore that this company is Doing. It. Right. There are loads of people selling blue light blockers lately…but BLUblox’s rigorous testing and fine-tuning R+D is extra.
The Dark Side of Blue Light
“We know that the shorter the wavelength of light the higher the amount of energy it contains. Blue light is found at the very beginning of the visible light spectrum, meaning it contains intense amounts of energy. Blue light ranges from 400–495nm.
The light found in digital devices and light bulbs contains far more blue compared to other colours in the spectrum, meaning our eyes are receiving too much unbalanced blue light. This blue light penetrates the eye and over the course of a day will cause digital eyestrain.
Digital eyestrain is characterized by dry itchy eyes, headaches and fatigue. Digital eyestrain can also progress into macular degeneration over time.
In winter, the sun does not come out as much as the summer months which leads us to use more artificial light sources. This contributes to S.A.D by keeping our cortisol levels (stress hormone) chronically high as excessive blue light raises your stress hormones. Coupled with lack of sunlight this can lead to stress, anxiety and depression.”
A Case of the Blues…and Greens
“Our body clocks and sleep-wake cycles are entrained by blue and green light. In the morning when we see blue light from the sun it tells our brain that it’s daytime and to make us feel alert and awake. When the sun sets and it becomes dark the removal of blue and green light tells our brain its nighttime. This sends a signal to the brain to secrete melatonin (sleep hormone) which then makes us feel sleepy and eventually sends us to sleep.
Green light that disrupts our sleep is found between 500–550nm and is just as influential at disrupting our sleep than blue light. In modern society, after dark, we now switch on our cell phones, watch TV or turn on our house lights, which all contain blue light. This blue light sends a message to the brain telling us it’s daytime, so we do not need to relax or feel sleepy.
Exposure to blue and green light from digital devices, TVs and light bulbs after dark is disrupting our sleep. Harvard University has shown that exposure to blue and green light after dark disrupts our sleep and increases our risk of type-2 diabetes, depression, heart disease, anxiety and cancer.”
Beating the Blues
“To effectively combat the negative effects of artificial blue light during the day, it’s essential to wear blue light filtering computer glasses. These glasses filter out harmful blue light from digital devices allowing you to beat digital eyestrain.
To beat S.A.D along with depression and anxiety, it is paramount to wear mood booster glasses that contain a light-yellow lens. This helps reduce the stress causing wavelengths of blue light whilst brightening up your view on the world.
In order to get the best night’s sleep, it’s a must to block blue and green light after dark with red lens blueblocker glasses. This way melatonin can be produced effectively and diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and depression can be avoided.”
Sale + Code
Again, to learn more (including why you still need protection if you’re using blue light apps on your phone or laptop!!!), head over to BLUblox and poke around their blog. There’s tons of free learning to be had.
While there, check out their Lumi Light Bulbs too! (Personally, I’ve just started keeping all artificial lights turned off, but spoiler: LED Lights are horrible for our eyes, hormones and health!)
If you’re ready to make your own biohacking investment, shop my link with the code EOFY25 for 25 percent off during their Financial End of Year Sale (thru June 26 only). Also get free shipping worldwide for orders over $100.
Happy biohacking! xo, Dana
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