Get your light right! The health benefits of nature and sunlight
Get your light right! The health benefits of nature and sunlight
Taking steps to improve your health and wellbeing can sometimes feel like hard work. Looking after ourselves can be ‘another thing’ on our to do lists, plus there is a perception that keeping well requires spending money on gym memberships, extra veggies, mediation apps and such like.
So here comes some good news… one of the most important things you can do to dramatically improve your wellbeing doesn’t cost you a thing and it’s available everywhere – natural daylight!
Exposing your eyes to natural light helps regulate your circadian rhythm, which is your body’s inbuilt natural 24-hour cycle. That makes is easier to wake up in the morning and fall asleep at night and, overall, you are likely to feel and function better! When this rhythm is disrupted, not only can it result in fatigue, but it can also cause a raft of health issues, increasing the likelihood of developing cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and gastric ulcers.
Try these two things:
Aiming for at least 10-20 minutes on a sunny morning or 20-30 minutes on a cloudier day is a good place to start. If you can’t do that long, 5 minutes is still better than nothing at all.
Morning light also helps to set the time that your body will naturally start to produce melatonin in the evening, so that you then feel sleepy and ready for bed at the right time.
Make it happen
Set an alarm or reminder on your phone to get outside in the morning until it because a normal part of your routine
Eat your breakfast or have your first cuppa or coffee outside
Walk to a bus stop that is further away than your normal one to get additional time outside in the morning
If you are working from home, try taking a call outside in the morning, or do your first hour of work outside
If you are dropping kids off at school, park further away so you have a longer walk and more time to expose your eyes to light to and from.
An hour or two before you want to sleep, dim the lights in your house, put your phone and screens on night mode and do whatever you can to increase the amount of time without screens prior to bed.
What time is best?
When it comes to light, timing matters.
Exposing your eyes to natural light in the first hour or so of waking helps the internal clock in your brain (called the Suprachiasmatic nucleus) know it’s daytime. This signals your body’s ‘awake’ phase so you’re more likely to feel alert and focused.
Aiming for at least 10-20 minutes on a sunny morning or 20-30 minutes on a cloudier day is a good place to start. If you can’t do that long, 5 minutes is still better than nothing at all.
Morning light also helps to set the time that your body will naturally start to produce melatonin in the evening, so that you then feel sleepy and ready for bed at the right time.
In the evening, your eyes become much more sensitive to light, so artificial light exposure at this time can result in the suppression of melatonin – which you really don’t want to happen as you need it to feel sleepy! Reducing your exposure to light an hour or two before sleeping will help you feel more sleepy.
Will bright indoor lights do in the morning?
Unfortunately, artificial light will not cut it first thing. Your average indoor light bulb emits around 100 or so lux (a measurement of light intensity/brightness), whereas even on a cloudy day outdoors it is nearer 10,000 lux and when it is sunny, more like 100,000 lux, so natural outdoor light is best to wake up your brain, even in the rain!
What about sunglasses?
It can be tempting to grab your sunnies and put them on when you go outside in the morning, but this is a habit to break. Sunglasses block the light from reaching the back of your eye which is needed to send the signals to your brain about it being daytime. So, ditch them for your early morning walks or the school run and save your sunglasses for later in the day when it is actually sunny.
Can light help with daytime fatigue?
Tired in the daytime? Skip the extra coffee, grab a glass of water and then head outside! It is not just the fresh air that will make you feel good, exposing your eyes to natural light can also boost serotonin, your body’s natural antidepressant as well as fight those feelings of fatigue.
Bonus benefits
As well as supporting your circadian rhythm, being outside in nature has other benefits too! Research indicates that people who spend more time in nature report feeling happier, calmer and having lower levels of poor mental health; in particular lower depression and anxiety.
If you can be active outdoors, you get the benefits of exercise too! Plus, you make Vitamin D when you skin is exposed to sunlight which is important for all sorts of things from keeping your bones healthy, to supporting your immune system.
