Have you ever woken up to bright morning skies feeling really energized? A big reason for your mood is the blue light coming from the sun. Among the visible light that we see, blue wavelengths have the most powerful effect on your sleep-wake internal body clock.
Both natural and artificial blue light can boost your alertness and mental sharpness. But too much of it may keep you awake when your body needs to wind down.
How Blue Light Hurts Sleep
Your eyes aren’t good at blocking blue light. So almost all of it passes straight through to the back of your retina, which helps your brain translate light into images.
Exposure to all colours of light helps control your natural sleep-and-wake cycle\circadian rhythm. More so than any other colour, blue light messes with your body’s ability to prepare for sleep because it blocks a hormone called melatonin. This hormone is vital for putting your body in a state for sleep.
Bottom line: You’re less drowsy than usual at night, and it takes you longer to fall asleep if you've had too much exposure to blue light. Unfortunate this blue light emits from our TV's and phones, something we all seem to use of an evening so our brain is tricked into thinking its day time, and that means no sleep time!