No blue blockers? What the blue blocking glasses companies don't want you to know.....

I will start this email off by saying: I LOVE my blue blockers, and have worn them religiously for the last (almost) 5 years. At this point they are like a Pavlovian signal to my nervous system to wind down - so you probably won't see me going without them anytime soon.

However - I do get a lot of feedback from people who are new to this work that they: 1. Don't like wearing them. 2. Get headaches or don't feel well when they wear them (rare but does happen) or 3. Have young kids who won't wear them.

So in today's article I will talk about how to set up your home for those who refuse to wear them (🚨spoiler alert: you will have to make some legitimate changes to your lighting).

There was also a bit of confusion from a poll I did a couple weeks ago about prescription blue blockers that I will clear up as well.

New here? ​Check out my $7 Cortisol Course​ the​ $5 Seasonal Eating Course​ or​ Get Lesson one from my Hydration Mastery Course for 99 cents​ 

 

Can you avoid blue blockers & clearing up some confusion:

First - as promised - let's clear up confusion on prescription blue blockers. Clarification (as I have gotten many messages about this):

1 - The prescription lenses you get from ​RA Optics ​or ​VivaRays​ are great

2 - The prescription lenses that are CLEAR that your eye doctor installs are not great as they do not block enough blue/green to be effective after sunset (​click here to watch an excerpt from a video where this is discussed further​).

3 - Any blue blockers you wear during the day - you want to go outside and take breaks from as they will naturally suppress cortisol.

 ​Click here for a video I did about my routine for blue blockers in the winter​ 

And ​Click Here ​for my free PDF guide to using blue blockers

First let's talk about the science of blue blockers & WHY someone would even want to wear them in the first place:

Blue blockers are designed to filter out disruptive wavelengths of light, particularly blue light (450-485 nm) and green light (500-550 nm), which are known to suppress melatonin and interfere with your body’s natural circadian rhythm.

In the evening, exposure to these wavelengths from screens, LED lights, and other artificial sources can trick your brain into thinking it’s still daytime, delaying sleep onset (blue and green light of these wavelengths essentially tell your brain to make cortisol & raise blood sugar and insulin in the absence of food) and disrupting hormonal balance.

By wearing blue blockers in the evening, you can protect your eyes from these disruptive frequencies, allowing melatonin production to rise naturally. This supports better sleep quality, improved appetite & energy regulation, hormone balance and overall circadian health.

It's important for people to understand that the "blue blocking industry" is highly unregulated, and there are companies out there selling products that don't actually block 450mn - 550mn.

I recently invested in a new ​spectrometer​ (I had an old used one that broke a while back) so I could do more testing of different bulbs & blue blocking glasses. Stay tuned for more of my findings!

Understanding LUX in the evening as well:

In addition to your evening environment being void of blue/green light between 450mn - 550mn - keeping LUX (or brightness) below a 10 - the 3 hours leading up to bed is also very important.

If you missed the article I wrote on lux last week - ​click here to review​.

While a spectrometer is very pricey, and would be impossible to duplicate in an app - you can measure LUX with ​MyCircadianApp​ to check to see if your evening environment is dim enough.

So to sum up: You need to evening environment to be void of blue/green & dim enough (I recommend the 3 hours leading up to bedtime).

How to avoid wearing blue blockers?

This will be hard with a busy modern family, but it is possible (at the end of the day - its easier for me to just wear blue blockers than try to control everyone 🫣) - but so many have asked me about this that I want to provide some solutions:

Here are some lighting solutions (it is important to understand that TVs - phone screens & other lights must be ​off​ for these solutions to work effectively)

 

UV Bug Zapper:

Yes we have these through the house (and they are kind of fun 😂). These are great for someone who doesn't like red light - and likes a certain ambiance of purple in the home.

As you can see from the ​spectrometer​ reading above - these are below the 450mn range & would not disrupt your circadian rhythm.

 ​Click here for mine​ 

 

Red light panel on infrared only:

This is from my ​EMR TEK firewave​ using the LED only setting to just get infrared light, and we set ours on the counter in the kitchen near the stove.

We also keep ours on through the day & in the evening as a source of infrared ambient lighting (keep your distance and ​measure lux ​to make sure it's not too bright).

 

Blue light blocking bulb

As you can see - this one has a bit of green light - so it might not be as great of a choice as the other options ​(click here for this one)​.

 

Incandescent bulb

This would not pass the test as there is still some blue and green (also these are illegal in some states now 😓).

However - these are a great option if you can use them during the day ​(click here for the one above)​ 

 

Salt lamp (with incandescent bulb)

This one is not at the top of my list as these can be harder to get with incandescent bulbs & they are not very bright (hence the dark photo 😂).

However - they are super relaxing! This one is one I bought from a local mom & pop store - but ​here's one​ I found that seems comparable.

Gold standard (but not always practical) would be candlelight or fire light.

To sum up:

If you want to avoid wearing blue blockers in the evening, make sure that your evening environment is void of blue & green light (between 450mn - 550nm) - AND dim enough (10 lux and below) - the 3 hours leading up to bed.

For me - the blue blockers help me relax (it could be mental also at this point & a Pavlovian cue) & I end up wearing them even though I set my home up with these lights to support my toddler & disabled teen.

I hope this article has been informative! Please feel free to forward to a friend or family member who you feel could benefit!

READING THIS ON THE WEB or forwarded from a friend? Don't miss future articles & get access to exclusive discounts and freebies -​ click here to subscribe!​​

Enjoy my content & want to support me? Leave a tip! (No pressure at all - This newsletter will remain free).

Enjoy my work and want to support me? Leave me a tip! Thank you so much for your consideration ❤️

$5.00 Sarah's tip jar Enjoy my work and want to support me? Leave me a tip! Thank you so much for your consideration ❤️ Send a tip

 

Enjoy the rest of your day!

In Health 🌞,

Sarah