EXPOSURE to light while sleeping may be harmful to cardiovascular health, a new study has found.
Recent research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of the Science shows that sleeping with even a small amount of ambient lighting may be detrimental to your health.
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Some harmful effects include increased heart rate while sleeping, decreased heart rate variability, and increased insulin resistance in the morning, the study’s authors note.
“The results from this study demonstrate that just a single night of exposure to moderate room lighting during sleep can impair glucose and cardiovascular regulation,” Dr. Phyllis Zee, chief of sleep medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a co-author of the study, said.
Dr. Zee added that those types of implications can increase one’s risk for heart disease, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.
For the study, the team monitored patients who slept in moderately lit and dimly lit rooms over the course of one night.
The team then assessed how their bodies responded throughout the night and into the next day.
Subjects who slept in the moderately lit rooms went into a heightened state known as sympathetic activation.
Our body’s autonomic nervous system activates our sympathetic nervous system during the day to prepare us for activity and regulate our stress levels.
At night, our parasympathetic nervous system is supposed to be activated to help us rest and digest.
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“Even though you are asleep, your autonomic nervous system is activated. That’s bad. Usually, your heart rate together with other cardiovascular parameters are lower at night and higher during the day,” said Dr. Daniela Grimaldi, a co-first author and research assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern.
Furthermore, the researchers saw insulin resistance in participants from the moderately lit room the following morning.
Insulin resistance is when cells in your muscles and fat can’t properly access glucose from your blood for energy, causing your pancreas to create more insulin.
This results in your blood sugar going up over time, which can potentially lead to type-2 diabetes.
“These findings are important, particularly for those living in modern societies where exposure to indoor and outdoor nighttime light is increasingly widespread,” Dr. Zee said.
“If you’re able to see things really well, it’s probably too light.”
How can you protect your health?
It’s crucial for people to avoid or minimize the amount of light exposure they receive during sleep, according to Dr. Zee.
Blackout shades or eye masks are a good option for limiting the amount of outdoor lighting you’re exposed to.
If you need to use a light for whatever reason, then using smart lightbulbs and setting them to a red hue might be your best option.
According to one study, basking in red light in the hours before bed can support a healthier sleep.
“The study showed the effectiveness of red light therapy exposure in increasing melatonin levels – a hormone associated with controlling sleep – and boosting the quality of sleep,” neurobiologist and head of research at Emma sleep, Dr. Verena Senn told T3.
She added that red light’s lower brightness and warmer hues also help your body relax, which can lead to a better night’s sleep.
Many smart lights, such as those manufactured by Wiz, come with pre-installed color schemes that are meant to promote sleep – these can be found in the app you use to set up your bulbs.
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