Lighting for Health and Wellbeing

Who doesn’t feel better after a good night’s sleep? It’s one of our favourite topics of conversation and when we haven’t slept well our personality and demeanour change which is noticeable to those around us. So it’s in everyone’s interest for us to sleep well and reap the many and varied benefits of a good night’s sleep.

So why don’t we sleep? The chances are it’s because modern living and its relative pressures and stresses are shaping our habits and interfering with our sleep. Since humans began to walk on this earth we have been governed by the sun rising and its setting. Now however, with a 24-hour society, we are constantly encouraged to artificially extend our days into the dark hours just to get everything done or to find time to have fun.

This pressure may seem manageable however, the real story is not so clear. Noticeable increases in serious health problems such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, dementia and autism, to name just a few, has been attributed to out of sync circadian rhythms or as it’s more commonly known, our body clock.

The body clock regulates many hormones including cortisol and melatonin which in turn regulates how alert we feel and body temperature. The changes in intensity and colour temperature of natural daylight happen seamlessly across the course of the day however, we cannot ever hope to fully reproduce this with artificial circadian light.

We are however, much closer to this utopia than ever before as the evolution of LED has enabled light to be produced which is significantly closer to natural daylight than ever before. Close enough in fact to actually effect the body’s response to light. So we can now help address the balance between spending too much time indoors and our bodies need for light to set its clock.

So if you want to ensure you are helping your body be as healthy as possible then read on about the key role the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN) plays in our health and well-being and how best to harness the power of light.