Sleep researcher Glenn Landry wears sunglasses at night to ease his body into a sleep-ready state, reports Bustle.
Sleep researcher Glenn Landry recently explained to CBC that too much light exposure at night can interfere with the body’s circadian clock, which is our natural sleep rhythm. “We have artificial sources of light available to us 24 hours a day,” said Landry, who is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Aging, Mobility, and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at the University of British Columbia. “We’ve got our laptops with us, and we’re doing email and we’re watching TV late at night. And so we’re getting light at night, [which] impacts our circadian rhythms, our daily biological rhythms.”
Landry actually wears sunglasses himself at night to ease his body into a sleep-ready state before he actually closes his eyes. He explained, “Beginning at eight at night, two hours before [the] time I want to go to bed, I wear sunglasses. Not because my future’s so bright, but because I’m trying to avoid light. I’m trying to tell my clock that this is the end of the day.”
And apparently monitoring our internal clock is more important as we head out of our 20s. Teresa Liu-Ambrose, a research chair in physical activity, mobility, and cognitive neuroscience at UBC who oversees Landry’s research explained to CBC that sleep is increasingly important for our health when we get older.
Great post!
My light hack: For years I’ve colored the green or blue device lights on the wireless phone, dehumidifier/vaporizer (depends on the season,) etc. with red nail polish to diminish the amount of transient light in my bedroom. I even treat the LED night light in the bathroom with a couple of coats. Impractical for TV screens, gaming devices, computers or electronic reading devices but helpful when waking in the middle of the night.