Do you spend most of your time indoors, with poor incandescent of fluorescent lighting?
Are you aware of the wide range of effects this has on your mental and physical health?
Consistent lack of natural light can affect not only your mood, but your vision, your mental awareness, concentration and productivity, and can even cause seasonal depression, eye strain and fatigue.
When it comes to your work, studies have shown that poor lighting in the workplace triggers headaches, stress, fatigue and strained watery eyes, not to mention inferior work production.
The lighting you use in your home and workplace also affects your sleep patterns and your mood:
- Melatonin, the “sleep hormone”, increases with decreased light (even if it’s only 3PM), which explains why decreases Melatonin is found in those with insomnia.
- Serotonin, the “feel good” hormone, rises with exposure to bright light, and falls when the light decreases (Lancet, 2002).
When you spend most of your time indoors, either at home or at work, natural sunlight becomes a precious commodity.
Luckily, you can use the next best thing for your physical and mental health:
Full Spectrum Lighting.
What is Full Spectrum Lighting?
Full spectrum lighting is the closest thing to natural light you can achieve indoors.
Full spectrum light bulbs cover the electromagnetic spectrum from infrared to near ultraviolet, or all wavelengths that are useful to plant or animal light.
Sunlight is considered full spectrum, even though it changes with time of day, latitude and atmospheric conditions.
The full spectrum light box, desk lamp or bulb will contain a full spectrum of color, and infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths (some bulbs will not have UV rays, though According to Dr. Mercola, moderate levels of UV are not only safe, but essential to good health.
Also, fluorescent bulbs are the only type of bulbs that can produce full spectrum light.
Who Can Benefit from Full Spectrum Lights?
Here are those who can really use full spectrum lights at home and work:
1. People Suffering from SAD (Seasonal Depression)
Bright light therapy (at 10,000 LUX) is scientifically proven to alleviate symptoms of seasonal depression, and may be the best natural treatment for Seasonal Affective Disorder and mild depression.
Clinical studies have shown that bright light therapy is just as effective as the common drug Fluoxetine to relieve seasonal depression.
All you need is to spend 30 minutes in front of a light box or a full spectrum lamp every morning (while you’re reading, writing or just eating) to relieve SAD symptoms dramatically.
Why not simply go out in the sunlight?
Columbia University has found that the strongest therapeutic effect requires exposure to artificial bright light in early morning (6:30 AM, for example) when it’s still quite dark during winter.
Marked improvement is usually observed within a week, if not sooner, and symptoms usually return in about the same amount of time when the lights are withdrawn.
Clinical trials at the Columbia University have found:
With over 100 SAD patients who used a 10,000 LUX system with UV-filtered light diffusion and angular tilt, for 30 minutes each day, about 3/4 showed major improvement of depressive symptoms”
2. Students and People who enjoy hobbies at home
Full spectrum lighting was proven to improve mental awareness, concentration and productivity.
According to the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, poor lighting is one of the major environmental dangers at school that our children are subjected to.
Research shows that reading is the most visually stressful task for students (Liberman 1991).
Stress causes a contracted visual field in the eye that can lead to a decrease in information processing and learning ability (Liberman 1991).
People who spend hours reading, writing and studying can suffer from eye strain and fatigue and can greatly benefit from full spectrum lighting.
If you enjoy sewing, drawing or crafts you’ll find the improvement in color clarity and vibrancy quite obvious, and enjoy improved vision, greater contrast and less eye strain and fatigue.
The recommended light system in this case is a set of fluorescent bulbs installed in a box or a desk lamp with diffusing screen, and set up at a table or desk top.
Here are my reviews for the 2 best 10,000 LUX desk lamps in the market.
3. Older Individuals
Older people generally require more light than those who are younger just to perform the same tasks comfortably.
Proper lighting can allow the elderly to function more independently by improving social contact, appetite, mood, self-confidence, and anxiety levels.
4. Office Workers
As mentioned before, the quality of lighting in your workplace can greatly affect your concentration, mental awareness and productivity.
Also, natural light was even found to increase attention and alertness during the post-lunch dip – We could all use that (Light, Sight, and Photobiology 1998).
Since the closest thing to natural light is presumably full spectrum light – Bringing a full spectrum desk lamp to your office may be a very good idea.
5. People Recovering from Illness
Research has found that exposure to bright light affects the natural clock of patients in hospitals.
In certain illnesses, the circadian rhythms play an important role in people’s well-being.
Alzheimer is one example: Alzheimer patients who are exposed to bright lights during the day have improved circadian rhythms and are less prone to depression. (Light, Sight, and Photobiology 1998).
Also, improving the mental well-being of patients improve their recovery rates.
The Complete List of Natural Full Spectrum Lighting Benefits
In summary, here is the full list of (only proven) health benefits of full spectrum lights:
- Improved vision while working, studying and crafting, less eye strain.
Reduced seasonal depression
Reduced Hyperactivity and repetitive behavior
Greater school achievement, improved concentration and mental awareness.
Recommended Full Spectrum Lights
You have many options when it comes to full spectrum light therapy for your home and work:
Full Spectrum Light Boxes
A full spectrum light box system has a set of fluorescent bulbs installed in a box (which comes in different sizes) with a diffusing screen.
Most of light boxes filter out all UV rays.
Treatment consists simply of sitting close to the light box, preferably in the morning, for 15-30 minutes, with your eyes open but without looking straight at it.
It’s important to orient your head and body towards the lights.
Through our research, the Naturebright Suntouch full spectrum light box is not only very good, but is also low-price compared to other ones, and is highly recommended.
Full Spectrum Desk Lamps
Another option, which is more aesthetic in my opinion, is a full spectrum desk lamp.
They are smaller in size, adjustable, lightweight and portable. They are perfect for reading, writing and crafting.
in the market.
Full Spectrum Light Side Effects and Risks
Obviously, you don’t need a prescription to full spectrum lighting and side effects, if any, are minimal.
Lights boxes can cause, in rare cases, headaches, eyestrain/irritation or nausea at the beginning of the treatment but these fade after a few days.
According to Columbia University, some people may feel a disturbing sensation of visual glare under bright lights, which can be resolved by using a tilted device, such an adjustable desk lamp.
Light therapy hasn’t been evaluated during pregnancy.
Do the Lights Cause Tanning?
Most of these home systems completely filter out UV rays, so the answer is no. Occasionally, people with very sensitive skin show redness under this type of light.
The proven health benefits of full spectrum lighting indoors, at the office and at our children’s schools should be known to everyone.
For SAD sufferers, students, office workers and people who enjoy crafting – Having a light box or a full spectrum desk lamp can be life changing.
You can bring the closest thing to natural light into your home and work to lift your spirits, improve your vision, your mental awareness and concentration and reduce seasonal depression – Easily.
What about you? Do you have any full spectrum lights at your home or work? Share your experience with us – The good and the bad – In the comments below.
To your health & happiness,
PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog.