Better Tech, Better Sleep Pt. 2

 (Continued from Part 1)

The human body is an amazing thing but through our evolution and technology progression, we have “interrupted” some of the basic functions needed for good sleep.

First, check out this study and do a little google dive into some of the information to get a better understanding of what os coming next.

Smarty pants sleep study.

So in a nutshell... Our eyes have RODS and CONES. Most of our cones (~64%) are red-sensitive which through evolution are a HUGE reason why our ancestors associated the end of the day (sunset) with sleep. There's a lot of science that is in that statement but that's the gist. We see the red sky, the red color is hitting our red cones, the comes tell our brain that sleep is coming, brain drips melatonin which helps us wind down and go to sleep. 

**PSA-Melatonin doesn't make you fall asleep. It just tells your body, “hey... You should go to sleep”. You also need to take it about 3-4 hours before you want to go to bed. Look it up.**

This worked for a long time. Then came the light bulb and sleep was ruined forever. Now we can stay awake all night and work in places we couldn't before. Yay!

So technology has brought us to amazing places... Like this blog. Unfortunately, the light emitted by most screens and lights has a wavelength that stimulates the blue-sensitive cones in our eyes. Guess what? The light can go through our eyelids! This stimulation supersedes the red-sensitive response and makes us either stay awake or wakes us up in the morning (sunrise). 

Sunrise vs Sunset

So that’s why you read things like “no devices an hour before bed”. They disrupt your brains signals to GO TO SLEEP!

So what do we do? I’ll tell you what we do… we use the same tech that keeps us awake, to make us fall asleep. I’ll share what I’m using and what’s out there in the finale… PART III!!

(Continued…)