You’ve probably heard of blue light blockers. While blue light blockers were only known among biohackers & circadian nerds a few years ago, they’ve become a lot more common with the rise of home office.
And rightfully so! They come with many benefits and help people who need to work in front of screens or anyone to protect their circadian rhythm from the fatal effects of artificial light. Those blockers come in different forms, such as blue light filter apps on PC, Mac & Android, or blue light glasses.
In this post, we’ll look at what the problem is with artificial blue light and how blue light blockers can help. Also, I want to show you the best apps & glasses and give a little guidance on how to best use them from an evolutionary standpoint of quantum health.
Why is artificial Blue Light harmful?
The question why blue light is harmful cannot be answered in black or white: blue light is not harmful per se. As part of the complete spectrum of natural daylight, it is a necessity and fulfills many important tasks:
- It makes you awake
- converts certain substances in the eye into neurotransmitters
- causes the release of cortisol – the natural morning caffeine kick. Only without the caffeine.
Blue light is just an important component of daylight and as such a powerful signal to our metabolism. Also, other spectrums in full light seem to work synergistically with blue light and protect against some concerns. The real issue lies with artificial blue light emitted by screens, household LEDs, and fluorescent lamps. This light exists in isolation and hereby outside the light spectrum.
Artifical Blue Light causes Circadian Dysfunction
One property of blue light is that it potently activates certain cells in the eye called intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs)1https://webvision.med.utah.edu/book/part-ii-anatomy-and-physiology-of-the-retina/melanopsin-expressing-intrinsically-photosensitive-retinal-ganglion-cells/. Quite a mouthful, isn’t it?
The job of these cells is to tell your brain it’s daytime and therefore be awake. The absent signal tells it’s getting dark because there’s no more light coming in. Ergo, time to sleep.
This input of blue light inhibits many circuits, the best known is the release of melatonin. Melatonin is an important hormone secreted in your pineal gland and the mitochondria. It’s job is to initiate the sleep cascade, but also autophagy, and act in a circadian fashion. You can read here more about the circadian rhythm and get my guide for the best sleep of your life!
In short: Blue light strongly opposes sleep. This leads to circadian disruption and misalignment of the internal clock. When you stare at a screen, before sunrise or after sunset, your body thinks it’s still broad daylight.
Indoor Lighting isolates Blue Light
Indoors blue spectra dominate strongly, since:
- Artificial lights are rich in blue and white light. They do not emit a full spectrum.
- Windows are made to block heat. Thus, they potently filter infrared spectra from daylight. They also attenuate many other color components. The light that passes through becomes unnaturally filtered.
In addition, modern humans tend to live indoors for ever longer periods of time. As a result, we lack many vital spectra of natural light that our body needs. Especially the light is too weak, and we miss out on UV & red light. This uneven spectrum leads to uncountable metabolic and biophysical problems in the body.2To mention are circadian disruption, too little vitamin D & ß-endorphin, loss of semicondution, missing nitrogen production from the skin, lack of hexagonal EZ water, and many many more..
Modern LED Lamps flicker to save Energy
Flicker stresses the Eyes & creates EMF
Blue light, especially from screens, LEDs, and fluorescent tubes, flickers.
What that means is that the bulbs don’t burn all the time, but switch on and off every millisecond – this is not perceptible to our eyes. However, if you have a smartphone with a time-lapse camera, you can experimentally film an LED and you will see it.
On one hand, this flicker saves a lot of power, on the other hand, they are a huge problem similar to strobe lights or AC currents. Flicker stresses your nervous system and damages retinal cells. Screen work is closely related to eye problems like macular degeneration.3https://www.viewsonic.com/library/tech/how-flicker-free-monitors-contribute-to-eye-health/ + Static and Flicker Perimetry in Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Blue Light creates Radical Oxygen Species
In addition, blue light generates radical oxygen species (ROS) – normally this is a cellular signal, but it is also downregulated by the full sunlight spectrum. That’s why blue light entering the eye and even the skin(!)4Blue light-induced oxidative stress in live skin + Blue light irradiation-induced oxidative stress in vivo via ROS generation in rat gingival tissue causes reactive molecules to form. No Bueno!
That’s why some biohackers pretty much always wear blue light blockers indoors and even sit under artificial lights solely with long clothing. I would advise the same – or fanatically get rid of all standard LED lights.
How do Blue Light Blockers, Blue Light Glasses & Blue Light Filter Apps help?
First things first – blue light blockers, meaning glasses or apps, block the blue light spectrum. Had to be said!
Blue light glasses come in a variety of lenses, some only block a portion (often ~60-90%) others the entire blue spectrum (100%). The lenses should look orange-red in color.
Apps do it differently – the good ones let you set a color temperature, specified in Kelvin. That way you can create a bright red screen (is around 1800K). Cool enough, good blue light filter apps like Iris can also greatly reduce the flicker rate with certain tweaks to the screen brightness.
Both help by eliminating the blue spectrum – one technical, the other ‘analog’. Apps bring the added benefit of being able to optimize the flicker rate if you don’t have a screen that is low flicker by design. And even then, the additional optimization brings benefits.
What is the Best Way to use Blue Light Blockers?
Blue light glasses & blue light filter apps are very useful, yet they remain a crutch.
- Neither fixes the fundamental issue – that is too much blue light and not enough natural full spectrum daylight.
- Neither do they eliminate the problem of excessive screen time.
Still, we have to be realistic and acknowledge that many are forced to work on PCs. Time reduction is not always feasible. So optimization is the keyword here – and that includes blue light blockers. Another tip on the side is to work outside in the full spectrum of natural light, this way you greatly depress the harmful effects of blue light and come into the benefits of the former.
How to use Blue Light Glasses the Right Way
Blue light glasses should, first of all, be tested and certified. The lenses must look orange to red:
- In terms of strength, I would recommend a block rate of 70-90% for screen work during the day.
- The 100% is meant if you are exposed to artificial light before sunrise5Here, however, exposure should clearly be avoided. Don’t look at the cell phone, rather eat on the balcony for breakfast or do other things. If this cannot be arranged – due to a late sunrise, such as in winter, use the 100% glasses, or if you are exposed to artificial light after sunset.
The easiest way is to banish electronics after both times and leave lights out. Understandably, this is not so easy in winter, when it is dark at 6 p.m. – here the 100% blue light glasses are highly recommended. This way you avoid circadian disruption because even little light like that from the neighbors’ apartments or street lights can do this.
Ein Tipp für's Homeoffice:
Nutze bei Bildschirmarbeit Blaulichtblocker. Hier erfährst Du, wie!
@ancestrallyhealthy Und zwar: Blaulichtblocker! 💻 Iris (PC/Mac) /Twilight (Handy) sind die besten Apps! #didyouknow #gesundheit #health #gesund #licht #blaulicht
♬ Originalton – anvestrallyhealthy – Ancestrally Healthy
If you work in front of a screen during the day and sit inside, be sure to put one on. Then blue light blocking glasses are very useful. However, make sure to take breaks. Even 5 minutes under daylight do work wonders. Or open your window and let the light in. You should also spend your lunch break outside. All of these tips will help your body get more full spectrum light and mitigate the harmful effects of screen light.
If you sit outside, I strongly recommend not using blue light blocking glasses. The full spectrum of daylight will take care of the problem for you.
The correct use of a blue light filter app on PC, Mac or Android
Blue light filter apps are ingenious and easy to use. However, it has to be said in advance that the choice of the screen already makes a lot of difference. There are products optimized for eye protection, and their flicker rates have been greatly improved.
Still, they’re far from optimal – and that’s where an app like Iris comes in:
- It can completely remove the blue spectrum
- The flicker rate is also further optimized, through adjusted brightness values.
You should set the screen as red as possible, often the color temperature value is around 0-1500K. You should set the screen much brighter during the day, as this reduces flicker. In the evening, on the other hand, you need to lower the brightness so that you can just barely see the screen. Fortunately, the programs can be programmed this way and have predefined settings.
My phone is bright red and very dark all day. Besides, it is always in flight mode. My PC and laptop are orange-red and bright during the day, and bright red and dark in the evening. I keep this setting when I work outside on the laptop.
What are the best Blue Light Blockers?
There are many blue light blockers available. Amazon in particular is awash with Alibaba glasses from China, and there are many programs. Windows, for example, has a blue light blocker feature itself, which nevertheless leaves out the flicker and only reddens minimally.
I’ll show you my two clear favorites here – EMR-Tek, a US company for blue light glasses, and Iris, probably the best-developed app for all major operating systems.
Blue Light Blocking Glasses by EMR-tek
EMR-tek* is a US company that sells blue light blockers as well as red light therapy panels.
On the website, you can find a lot of knowledge about blue light & blue light protection. The techniques of the glasses are transparent and clearly explained.
Price-wise, the glasses from EMR-tek* are in the upper segment with common models around ~70-90€. In comparison, Amazon glasses cost around 30-40€. This is a premium, but for me out of the question for quality and certified test results. Especially since such glasses are a one-time purchase. As long as you do not sit on it….
Blue Light filtering Apps on PC, Apple & Android by Iristech
Iris* is a freemium program for screen light optimization for all common platforms and operating systems. Freemium because there is a limited, free version and a full version for around ~€15.
Iris is heavily in development and comes in different versions depending on individual preferences. I recommend the full version* for 15€, which is simply called ‘Iris’.
- It can optimize the screen brightness and thus the flicker.
- You can also set the color temperature in Kelvin.
- Besides that, you can set pauses and timers as a productivity app.
With the complete version you get the possibility to switch between the saved programs. The free version only works via manual input. Iris comes with a lot of presets, so don’t worry if you are not so tech-savvy. You can easily switch between the presets with a button click and they have names like:
- ‘Biohacker’ =color version & bright red
- ‘Read & Write’ =gray scale
- ‘Sleep’ =bright red & dark
- ‘Health’ =orange-red & light
Technology is a Blessing, yet it comes at a Price
Like pretty much everything in life, nothing comes for free – or as with the current buzzword of ‘inflation’ economists say ‘There is no such thing as a free lunch’. This is also true for tech. Technology brings many blessings and innovations that could not have been imagined a short time ago.
Nevertheless, these technologies are a deep cut. From an Ancestral Health perspective, they bring the way we have evolved over the last million years further apart from the fact of how we live today. Indoor environments and artificial lights are a major issue that unfortunately gets little attention in public discourse. Because of its powerful effects, light is one of the most important pillars in the field of quantum health. Even before the times of the home office it should be a huge topic and every office worker, even everyone who uses a screen, should hear about it in order to be able to make decisions for themselves.
That’s why I hope this post Blue Light Blockers & the Consequences of Blue Light, can help you make an informed decision. My recommendation is clearly to avoid indoor life, office work and artificial light. However, this is unrealistic for many, and if it is absolutely unavoidable, blockers are the best choice.
Fußnoten & Quellen
- 1
- 2To mention are circadian disruption, too little vitamin D & ß-endorphin, loss of semicondution, missing nitrogen production from the skin, lack of hexagonal EZ water, and many many more.
- 3
- 4
- 5Here, however, exposure should clearly be avoided. Don’t look at the cell phone, rather eat on the balcony for breakfast or do other things. If this cannot be arranged – due to a late sunrise, such as in winter, use the 100% glasses
