Welcome to part 2 of a 3 part series about the effects of light on the body.
Part 2:
In Part 1 we acknowledged the growing chronic disease epidemic that’s begun to seriously affect our children. To better understand its scope and severity, we looked at some data and found drastic declines in youth mental and physical health in the relatively recent past.
Then we popped the 4.5 trillion dollar questions: What’s causing this and how do we stop it?
Not neglecting the other toxins we ingest daily from the environment (food, water, air, commercial products etc.) and our other unhealthy behavioral choices, we proposed that the evolutionarily inconsistent way we interact with light is likely the main driver of the chronic disease epidemic.
We’re confident in making this assertion given:
The body of emerging evidence that shows how basic and consequential light is for human health; natural sunlight and light/dark cycles control possibly the two most fundamental pillars of health in the circadian rhythm and cellular health. Simply put, these dictate when our bodies do what (on a daily basis) and how well they do it.
Subjective observations that many people are unwell, which is reflected in behavior and appearance. We explored this occurring in our children through the iPad Kid phenomena where we concluded that tech use and quality of behavior are inversely proportional.
The correlation between the advent and rise in chronic disease with the emergence and scaling of electricity, artificial lighting, and the tech developments since the early 1900s. Now this tech governs our lives, keeping us inside. In moving out of the sun we’ve flown too close to it.
So far we’ve talked about the main reasons we need sunlight, but what happens when we fly one step further in the face of nature and substitute it with man-made light, especially at night? Below we explore how this harms us and what you can do to protect yourself in a world built on these useful, yet toxic technologies.
In the third and final piece, we’ll see exactly why our children are more susceptible to these tech-induced damages which will better explain the graphs, stats, and behavior we saw in Part 1.
The Many Dangers of Artificial Light
From infrared to visible to ultraviolet light, the entirety of the sunlight spectrum we receive seems to be needed for optimal health as we see benefits from each, down to the specific nanometer. However, problems arise when we isolate parts of this spectrum, specifically with blue and UV light.
Though these types of light also carry more relative energy, they are specifically harmful when isolated because we are adapted to receive them along with lower energy, healing red and infrared lights which make up around 50% of sunlight. These longer wavelength, less energetic lights seem to only have positive effects when isolated, which is why red light therapy devices are generally safe compared to tanning beds or vitamin D lights that only use UV.
As you’ll understand from our discussion on ionizing vs. non-ionizing radiation below, energy levels don’t perfectly scale with effect or damage, as there are documented biological effects from relatively low energy radiation sources like those emitted by the Earth, Sun, or our phones. Rather, it’s more about how well evolutionarily adapted we are to use them. Take this fungus that feeds on gamma radiation leftover from the Chernobyl Disaster for example.
Living in The Cave
Nobody is using UV tanning beds 24/7, but everyone is living inside 90+% of the time which starves the body of the light it needs and replaces it with foreign frequencies. Ask yourself how much time you spend inside vs. out; even if the pros and cons of sunlight and artificial light weren't as consequential as we claim, that figure is still pretty embarrassing. Do your part to change it, get outside whenever possible.
Note: this 90+% figure was recorded by the EPA in the late 90s before smartphones, social media, and all the rest of it, meaning the number can only have gone up since.
(from Masterclass)
Though remote work and new tech like the Daylight Computer can and will change this to some extent, most of us have to work inside. It’s best to work in front of a window to give your brain the best idea of what time it is, but most windows take out major portions of the light spectrum while leaving visible light, particularly blue, virtually unaffected. We can confirm this using a spectroscope to measure exact wavelengths, or just by looking at the light coming through an open vs. closed window on a sunny day—you’ll notice the window light is slightly more blue.
Glass and lenses always filter light, but this problem is exacerbated by modern energy efficient windows that employ coatings or gasses between the panes to reduce heat transfer, further bastardizing the light in the process. This principle goes for car windows too and is why sunglasses, glasses, and even contacts aren’t ideal. Open a window when you can, ditch the filters.
The Problem with Screens and More Mitigation Practices
It might seem a bit neurotic and over the top because of how much time you’ll envision yourself doing this, but because our indoor spaces are blue-light biased we recommend wearing yellow tinted blue light blocking glasses during the day when on screens and inside under artificial light. To be clear—this is not necessary when using screens outdoors.
You can also change your lightbulbs to more closely resemble full spectrum sunlight and use a software that reduces blue light on your screen. That said, when using LED-backlit screens, there is no way to completely escape blue light as it is what’s responsible for both the brightness and range of colors available on screen.
We, again, recommend the Daylight Computer which can be used outside without glare issues and eliminates the blue light problem by harnessing ambient light or using red light for a backlight. It has a similar look to E-Ink displays, but responds much faster.
Another problem the Daylight Computer solves is the flicker problem; as opposed to sunlight or incandescent bulbs which provide a steady stream of light, LED lights constantly turn on and off at rates imperceptible to the human eye. This has negative effects on our brain and eyes, namely eye-strain, headaches, epilepsy, and anxiety.
These are just a few of the ways tech harms us beyond circadian disruption which has been linked to everything from insomnia to various mental illnesses, obesity, diabetes, and many cancers. Refer to Part 1 for a refresher on how this rhythm works, but the main idea is that blue light tells our brain it is daytime because it occurs naturally in daylight (why the sky is blue), suppressing melatonin and increasing cortisol while darkness does the opposite so we can sleep.
Optimizing Circadian Lighting
All light at night suppresses melatonin to some extent, but both color (wavelength/frequency) and brightness (lux) matter. This is because melanopsin, the photopigment in the retina that sends light information to the central brain clock, has an absorption peak of around ~480 nanometers (blue). Additionally, delays in melatonin release sees to vary person to person, but it has even been documented at just 6 lux! For reference, a bright summer day can reach up to 100,000 lux, typical indoor lighting is only a few hundred lux, and a candle 1 meter away is around 1 lux.
This means the name of the game to protect your circadian rhythm is finding the dimmest, reddest light bulbs you can tolerate past sundown, donning your choice of dark red or orange blue blocking glasses, turning off the screens or using nighttime filters, or—the best option—using candles.
I don’t want you to burn your house down and I don’t expect you to go full caveman, I just want you to be aware of these facts and to remember: bright and blue natural light during the day, dim and red at night if needed.
Photoreceptor Damage in the Eye and Beyond
It’s important to note that melanopsin and other opsins (light sensitive proteins) have also been found in the skin as well as internal tissues like fat and blood vessels, indicating there’s more than meets the eye with how we sense light.
It’s speculated that light detected by the skin plays a role in setting our peripheral organ clocks as opposed to our central brain clock which is set through the eye. It also makes sense that the brain, eye, and skin are connected in this fashion because they’re formed from the same tissues called during embryonic development.
Blue light in isolation has also been shown to damage our photoreceptors and mitochondria, which need certain parts of the natural light spectrum to regenerate and work properly, especially over time. When you think about blue light in this context, it is perhaps the most pervasive environmental toxin we deal with.
This also gives us clues as to why our rates of myopia and skin cancer are so high despite evidence that UV sunlight is actually protective against skin cancer because we use it to produce vitamin D. The good news is that being outside prevents and repairs our eyesight and red light therapy has been shown to be therapeutic in treating melanoma.
View/expose your body to natural light as much as possible, especially at sunrise and sunset for the healing effects of red and infrared light.
Now onto the other half of the problem.
EMF: The Invisible Ocean
For many, worrying about electromagnetic fields affecting your health lands you in the same camp as crystal hippies and conspiracy theorists because they are the means by which all of our communication technology works. You’re exposed to them right now as you read this and they are generated whenever an electric current is, meaning they’re just about everywhere (literally in your walls) and therefore they can’t be harmful just like the experts at the WHO say, right?
If EMF concerns are real everyone would be sick. Seeing the effects or related ills is not so simple.
EMFs degrade mitochondrial function—similar to the lack of natural light and abundance of artificial light—and can therefore have effects on many different systems and tissues over time which can make it hard to pin down one set of diseases. That said, there are also some specific, proven harmful effects of EMF and therefore should be something on everyone’s radar if their goal is longevity and vitality…and fertility. Before we get into those, let’s set our terms straight and see what we actually mean by EMF.
Native EMF
Some EMFs are natural and ever-present on Earth. Sunlight—all light—is a type of EMF and we map it on the electromagnetic spectrum just like other sources of electromagnetic radiation (radio, microwave, X-ray, etc.).
(NASA)
Other sources of native EMF that we may have adapted to use at cellular levels are the Schumann Resonance and Earth’s magnetic field. If these do have benefits to human health, we seldom experience them from being indoors, not connected to the Earth.
Non-Native EMF
Contrast these natural sources we and our evolutionary ancestors have had eons to adapt to with unnatural, non-native sources of EMF (nnEMFs) that came on the scene in the late 1800s/early 1900s when the lightbulb and electric grid were created and rolled out.
Now we have bluetooth, wifi, mobile network communication technology (3G, 4G, 5G, and soon 6G), and appliances everywhere that all produce nnEMF to varying degrees in terms of range and strength.
Like the natural EMFs, nnEMFS are relatively low energy. Most experts claim they are harmless as they are non-ionizing, meaning they lack enough energy to do DNA damage as opposed to ionizing radiation like some UV, X-Ray, and Gamma radiation—this is why you wear a protective lead covering and your doctor dives behind a bunker when conducting the scan.
But as with natural EMFs that are non-ionizing, yet still proven to have significant effects on our health as discussed above and in Part 1, specifically noting how longer wavelength infrared light travels through our bodies to nourish our mitochondria, studies like this (brain tumors) and this (cell stress) and this (sleep) and thousands of others have shown that radio and extremely low frequency (ELF) waves cause oxidative stress within the cell, leading to dysfunction in the affected tissues over time.
In short, the basis of EMF damage is oxidative stress and mitochondrial function and that ionizing vs non ionizing both impact your health negatively and positively.
Conspiracy Time: Becker and Your Balls
It’s clear that non-ionizing radiation has health effects, but the real ‘conspiracy’ comes when you learn the US government has known about it for decades, yet continues to allow the roll out of new generations of mobile communication without reservations.
In the ‘60s, Navy scientist Robert Becker discovered we can regenerate bone using electricity. At the top of his field at the time, the Navy had Becker assess the potential risks of Project Sanguine, a plan to install a massive ELF antenna across parts of Wisconsin and Michigan to communicate with US submarines around the world.
Becker warned against the dangers, but seemingly because the project would provide them a crucial ability during the Cold War, the Navy wasn’t having it…but neither was he. Becker felt so strongly that this would cause harm to the people nearby that he went on 60 Minutes in ‘77 to warn the public. Protests over ecological and health concerns ensued and the project was delayed and eventually downsized.
It’s clear that our governments and regulatory bodies know about the potential health hazards of nnEMFs, but the consensus view they choose to run with is that if it’s non-ionizing, it's a non-issue as it would be quite the inconvenient truth if not.
Not to get more conspiratorially minded, but a particularly jarring example of nnEMF damage that fuels the fertility crisis and our general hormonal and reproductive malaise—among other ubiquitous factors like xenoestrogens and endocrine disruptors—is how, for men, keeping your phone in your front pocket can cause reduced sperm quality and reduce testosterone production.
To combat this, keep your phone on airplane mode with wifi and bluetooth off when carrying it around. Your future kids will thank you.
nnEMF Damage Mitigation Strategies
The cell phone concern points us to a fundamental concept in physics that is at the core of the damage we take, but is also something we can use to our advantage. This is the inverse square law which states the farther you are away from an energy source, the exponentially less intense and, in this case harmful, it is.
In accordance with this, we want to distance ourselves from nnEMFs as much as possible within reason. You can also measure EMF levels using a handheld EMF meter to expose sources in your environment.
Easy hacks to reduce nnEMF exposure/mitigate damage:
Grounding (another ‘pseudoscientific’ practice) as much as possible, barefoot on the Earth or in natural bodies of water
Keeping your phone or any other electronic device off your body, including not putting your phone to your ear and wearing bluetooth headphones
Turning off bluetooth/wifi and turning on airplane mode when not in use
Considering an ethernet connection for your devices at home which eliminates the need for wifi
Turning the wifi router itself off when sleeping/not in use
Staying away from charging electronics as the EMF field is stronger and larger when plugged in
Unplugging electronics when not in use
Positioning your bed away from in-use electrical outlets and walls with wiring inside
Moving away from high-density urban areas (especially 5G cities/areas) military bases, airports, train stations, cell-towers and other places with high radio frequency exposure
I want to underscore that the harmful effects from blue light and nnEMF, while serious, occur over time. My advice is meant to serve as a comprehensive list of possible mitigation strategies and though the more you employ the better, being overly neurotic about them may cause more damage by unnecessary stress than the actual stress of the toxin itself. It’s your call, but always better to be safe than sorry.
Considering the evidence presented above and the increases in disease we’ve seen over the years, and sharply for our kids during the pandemic when they were forced inside, we urge you to at least consider the possibility that we’ve moved too fast without the proper checks and balances on our technology and the lifestyle it promotes. Unchecked growth is cancer.
Now that you understand why we need natural light and the health risks associated with tech use, along with some ideas on how to avoid them, let’s explore why our childrens’ developing brains are more susceptible to them.
Stay Tuned for Part 3
Let's make The Solarium the parallel ecosystem we can trust.
Elite Health is Clean Living,
-Jessica
Comments