Why Love YELLOWS
Good light
Light is one of the most important factors in our environment. We actually create energy from light not just food and it is is a vital nutrient for our health.
Every cell in our body is light sensitive and the quality of light we expose ourselves to affects us.
Sunlight is fabulous! It contains perfectly balanced amounts of red and blue light and our bodies have evolved to thrive in it.
Red light is great for us, it regenerates the cells in our bodies - increasing energy levels, stimulating DNA synthesis, activating the lymphatic system, lowering oxidative stress, increasing blood flow/circulation and reducing inflammation.
Our eyes contain by far the highest number of light-sensative mitochondria in the body and junk light effects our body primarily through our eyes. Skin is also vulnerable to junk light.
Junk light
"Junk light is as bad as junk food" Dave Asprey
Blue light is also known as High Energy Visible light (HEV) because it has the highest energy in the light spectrum. In sunshine it plays an important role helping boost alertness, memory and improve mood a well as playing a vital role in the bodies circadian rhythm.
When taken out of its balanced spectrum, it's damaging, causing degeneration. In sunlight, blue light exposure is repaired by the regenerating red light.
In modern lighting the red light isn't present and the damaging blue light is in much greater intensity than our bodies are made to cope with. This results in degeneration.
Blue light is becoming so common and used in high doeses. Exposure comes from computers, smartphones, TV and LEDs.
We used to use incandescent lights which did a good job of replicating sunlight. Whilst these light bulbs weren't energy efficient, as much of the energy was converted to heat, the effects on our vision and health are serious. By 2020 it is predicted that 90% of our lighting will come from LEDs. It is law, in Guernsey and the UK, that, for any new build, lighting comes from LEDs.
Listen here to a Dr Mercola podcast stating blueblockers are a must to protect against blue light.
Eyesight
Scientists are predicting a rise in cases Macular Degeneration because of the way we use lighting and screens. Macular Degeneration is the most common cause of vision loss in the Western world and currently its effects are irreversible.
Our eyes are much more vulnerable to blue light than they are to UV light. The cornea and lens of the eyes are very effective at blocking UV rays from the sun, less than one percent reaches the retina. However, virtually all visible blue light passes through the cornea and lens and reaches the retina.
Blue light penetrates into the eye deeply and can reach the retina where the macular is found. Without the presence of regenerating red light, this can result in degeneration.
The conclusions from a peer-reviewed 2018 study are quoted
"In summary, retinal photodamage caused by a conventional light source can become chronic if exposure is high and long enough. In contrast, the use of blue-blocking filters can significantly alleviate the functional loss of retinal photosensitive cells. Therefore, these filters might be an effective mechanism to protect us from ocular pathologies." The study can be here.
Sleep and jet-lag
Blue light interferes with the production of melatonin, tricking the brain into thinking its daytime. This disrupts sleep which affects every aspect of body and brain function.
Wearing Night YELLOWS in the hours before bedtime when using lights, TV's, phones, tablets, computers and e-readers should help to reduce sleep disruption.
The overhead lights on airplanes are harsh bringing your hormones down. Wearing YELLOWS on a plane with a baseball cap and when you land before the bedtime in your new time zone should help to reduce jet lag caused by junk light and time zone changes.
Diabetes and Weight Loss
We are programmed to eat under natural light. When darkness comes, our hormones programme us to sleep and not feel hungry.
In sunlight, blue light is more present in the morning telling us to wake up and letting us know it's time to eat. Being exposed to blue light in the evening confuses our bodies into thinking it's time to be awake and it stimulates our hunger.
There is a growing body of evidence that suggests a link between blue light exposure and insulin resistance and elevated fat deposits, increasing the risk of diabetes.
Wearing a pair of YELLOWS when you eat under artificial light should help lower the insulin resistance effect of eating under blue light.
Limiting carbohydrate intake if you eat under artificial light is a good practice. Ideally we want to eat outside under natural light and especially when you want to increase your carbohydrate intake.
Wellbeing, energy and anti-aging
When exposed to junk light, the body is in a stressed environment and needs more energy to process it. This results in reduced energy and concentration, poor decision making and performance.
Protecting your eyes should support energy and a general feeling of wellbeing as well as preventing sore eyes and blurred vision associated with digital eye strain.
Wearing YELLOWS around screens, may also protect the delicate skin around eyes from signs of ageing caused by the increased oxidative stress.
Studies have show that exposure to LEDS actually shortens lifespan and causes brain degeneration in fruitflies. This ties in with the Blue Zone populations that live to a greater age who typically spend much of their time outside away from intense artificial light.
Other major effects on our health
Conditions that are made worse by modern light include nearly all the diseases that are starting to dominate our health systems:
- Degenerative diseases - using blue light after dark causes a reduction in the production of melatonin. Melatonin is crucial in lowering the risk of cancer and other degenerative diseases.
- Fertility and hormonal problems - blue light interferes with core hormones that make you what and who you are. We are seeing an increase in hormonal imbalances, infertility, birth defects and autism and it is believed that bad light plays a role in this.
- Mental health - melatonin is responsible for reducing inflammation in the brain and blue light increases oxidative cell stress. These both have an affect mental health.
- Skin cancer - the flicker of LEDs causes an increase in oxidative stress on the cell membrane in the skin, as well as the eyes, which is believed to lead to an increased risk of skin cancer. Studies have shown that there is a huge increase in recent years in the occurrence of melanoma in those that work indoors under artificial lighting.
There are a number of other environmental issues that effect these issues, however light is far more important than ever previously understood.