How to enable/disable the Blue Light filter:
Turn on/off from the Quick Panel:
The Problem With Blue Light
Studies, such as one done by Harvard, have repeatedly warned that using gadgets in the evening affects both the quantity and quality of our sleep. It’s a often-told techology tale that is true.
Sunlight also contains blue light, which is vital during the day. It’s what helps to keep us awake and alert, and is an integral part of how sleep cycles work.
But exposure to blue light at night is negative, as it effectively tricks your brain into thinking that it’s still daytime. It suppresses the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that is produced at night and prepares the body for sleep, as one NHS study shows.
What Does a Blue Light Filter Do?
Most blue light filtering apps work in a similar way. They do nothing during daylight hours, but after sunset place a red overlay on the screen to change its color temperature.
This gives everything a red hue, which takes a little getting used to. But it also cancels out the negative effects of the blue light, and massively decreases glare. Even if you’re skeptical about it improving your sleep, you will immediately notice a reduction in eye strain when using your phone in a dimly lit room.
Blue Light and Your Health: PROs
If you’re trying to make the most efficient light bulb or computer screen, you want as much blue light as possible. But when it comes to your health, remember, blue always goes better with red. The blue light you get from natural sunlight can be good for you because it comes with the full light spectrum, including therapeutic red and near infrared light. Natural blue light is especially important for regulating your vital circadian rhythm, the term for your body’s asleep-awake cycle.
To explain, let’s jump to your brain. The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is a little part of your hypothalamus that acts as the body’s master alarm clock. [3] The SCN controls your sleep cycle, and when it gets a healthy dose of blue and red light during daylight hours, you sleep better. You’re also more alert, and have better hormone levels, body temperature, immune function, and digestion. [3] If you stay inside too much and don’t get enough natural light during the day, odds are your sleep isn’t as well regulated and you’re more tired than you should be.
Blue Light and Your Health: CONs
It’s great during the day when your body expects it, and helps your brain communicate effectively to the rest of your body. But now we live in a blue-lit world where our electronics and home lighting hit us with blue light at all hours. Our bodies just weren’t designed for round-the-clock blue light.
Getting blue light at dark times of the day messes with our body’s natural cycles. That’s why watching TV, or scrolling on your phone right before bed, can make it harder to sleep. Your body is getting all that blue light and the color is essentially telling your brain it’s the middle of the day, right before you try to shut down for the night. Your SCN doesn’t know, or care, that you have to wake up early for work tomorrow, it’s partying like it’s noon when you stare at a bright screen in the dark before bed. [3]
In addition, we're learning more about how melatonin is the hormone responsible for regulating the sleep/wake cycles in the brain. Not surprising, blue light directly inhibits our body’s melatonin flow, hurting our ability to fall asleep, in addition to negatively impacting the quality of the sleep we get. [4,5] Poor sleep over time can become a chronic condition, and exhaustion can make it much harder to overcome other health challenges. There are so many people who don’t get enough sleep and feel the negative consequences every day. Most of these folks have no idea that the artificial blue light they’re surrounded by all the time is one of the biggest hurdles to restful sleep.
What Can You Do About Harmful Blue Light Exposure?
Feeling blue from poor sleep and lack of energy? Here are some practical ways you can cut back on your artificial blue light exposure and improve your body’s natural rhythms.
- Block Blue: Find some blue light-blocking eyewear and software for your devices that limits your blue exposure. [6]
- Add Red: Lower color temperature lighting like amber and red wavelengths are good choices after dark lighting.
- Go Darker at Night: After the sun sets, keep your surroundings darker so your body can wind down before bed. Reading real print is better than a screen. Blackout window coverings and sleep masks work for many people because they block out unwanted light at night.
- Catch the Sunrise: Romantic sunsets get all the love, but a great way to reset your circadian rhythm is to get up early and watch the sun come up
