Check out a recent post one of our happy customers, Matt Moore (who also has a big personality and uses some colourful language on occasion - so if you're easily offended - this blog post isn't for you!) posted on Facebook about why blue light blocking glasses are key to a better night's sleep:
"What exactly the fuck are blue blocking glasses"?
I'm glad you asked.
Humans have evolved with the natural day night light cycles of our beautiful little space rock.
Now in the visible light spectrum, we get exposed to all sorts of colours, but blue light is the light that we are most attuned to.
When we get exposed to blue light, it triggers something called Cortisol to be produced. Cortisol is our main stress hormone and is necessary for us to function. Without cortisol, we wouldn't go to work and without cortisol we would probably shit our beds every morning.
So cortisol in the right amounts is required for us to function normally, but it is balanced by something called melatonin. Melatonin is produced when there is a lack of light and it makes us sleepy and puts our bodies into repair mode.
So with the cycles of the sun, we evolved to have natural cortisol / melatonin cycles, something we refer to as circadian rhythms.
This worked really well for us for a really long time until we fucked it all up with electricity. Now we have extended our day cycles artificially and that is bad.
Any source of light puts out blue light, but what puts out fucken loads of blue light best are our screens. Think about walking past your neighbours windows when they are watching TV at night, the main glow you see is a blue colour.
(I only walk past my neighbours windows at night during movember when I have a moustache and I'm legally allowed to be creepy)
When you get too much screen time, your body continues to pump cortisol, which keeps you awake.
This leads to it being pretty damn hard to fall asleep, too much stress, eye strain and heaps of other bad shit. Ever not been able to sleep so you check your phone? Ever all of a sudden realise that its 3am?
Now I run most of my business off of a screen. In fact, I am looking at a laptop, phone, tablet or tv for about 10 hours a day on average by my estimations. Sometimes as much as 18 hours a day.
So I have been on this blue light blocking train for a few years now. While my personal study on these glasses has a sample size of one, I can tell you that if I forget my glasses, I'm going to have a bad time.
I get really fatigued in my eyes and usually pretty damn irritable. Also I'm terrible for scrolling social media at night and not sleeping, something that I have found feels has less of an impact on me if I pop the glasses on.
So if any of this resonates with you, maybe some blue light blocking glasses may be a quick and easy fix to a chronic problem. Or maybe you just want to look smarter so you need glasses that aren't prescription.
If so, check out Empire & Co Eyewear for a solution that looks great and are very comfortable in bed.
Matt Moore
Matt is Australia's leading Obstacle Racing Trainer - he specialises in helping people achieve more than they ever dreamed possible through Obstacle Racing (and doing it with a smile on your face and a lot of laughs along the way).
Check him out on FB:
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