As part of the October sleep challenge, we’ve talked all week about how light impacts our sleep. We’ve avoided the heavy science talk, but today we’re directly referencing a medical study. If you want to read the paper in all its scientific glory, here’s the link.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3047226/
They tested 116 healthy people, 18-30 years old, by exposing them to either room light or dim light in the 8 hours before bedtime. They reported these results.
“Compared with dim light, exposure to room light before bedtime suppressed melatonin, resulting in a later melatonin onset in 99.0% of individuals and shortening melatonin duration by about 90 min. Also, exposure to room light during the usual hours of sleep suppressed melatonin by greater than 50% in most (85%) trials.”
Translation: Those exposed to room light were less likely to fall asleep as fast or sleep as long.
In their conclusions they basically said that room light makes your body think the night is shorter. They also stated this can impact sleep, body temperature regulation, blood pressure, and sugar levels. All that, from leaving the lights on.
Go back to previous days on the blog to see specific steps you can implement quickly to prevent these negative effects and sleep better.