I do my best to get right to the point. 🙂
For the question “what Is The most relaxing light color for sleep?”
The answer is red light.
Sleep is the most important thing to me because sleep (or lack thereof) determines…
- my susceptibility to disease
- my energy levels
- my drive to get things done
- my longevity and
- my health span
Sleep is my #1 priority, this is why we’ve installed special circadian light bulbs in our home and I wear blue light blocking glasses during the day (yellow), after sunsets (orange) and 2 hours before bed (red).
The short answer is red light is best for sleep but not because they’re something special about red light that causes you to fall asleep, its precisely because it’s lacking something.
What is red light lacking?
Red light is lacking the wavelength and color temperature that studies have shown to suppress melatonin. There are specific colors that block your body from releasing this hormone.
Why is this the case?
It’s because Nature has intended us to be in darkness when the sun goes down.
When our bodies detect darkness, it will release melatonin. Melatonin is not just a sleep hormone but it’s a powerful antioxidant that’s meant to quench the fire of oxidative stress.
Melatonin also sets your circadian rhythm for the day. Your circadian rhythm is innately tied to nature and it’s something that must be done daily, just like eating, pooping and sleeping.
When the sun is out there’s a mixture of all the different colors that are intended for human biology. There’s blue light from the sun but its mixed perfectly with yellow, green, violet, purple, red, orange and all the colors.
Not only are all of those colors mixed into a perfect ratio with each other but they’re also at the correct irradiance that we need for whatever time of day it is.
There’s a lot happening on the surface of your skin when it comes into contact with ultraviolet A, ultraviolet B, visible light, near infrared, mid infrared and far infrared.
I’ll just highlight one of the hundreds of physiological processes that happens when sunlight hits your skin.
During the day, when UVA light hits your skin, your liver produces a hormone called 7-dehydrocholesterol. This then produces “pre” vitamin D hormones like lumisterol, toxipherol etc. These hormones go down their own pathways that are needed for the body.
Then your body converts those using primarily magnesium and copper to the storage form of Vitamin D which is called 25OHD. There’s over 14 different forms of 25OHD. Then through more conversion steps, it converts to the active form of Vitamin D 1,25D. From there it travels throughout the body attaching to receptors on cells called VDR, RXR which all require vitamin A in the form of 13-cis retinoic acid and copper.
When these receptor cells get activated via 1,25 vitamin D, each of them either turn on or off over 1,500 genes.
So this is just one thing that happens when sunlight hits your skin.
This is why I don’t recommend wearing sunglasses or sunscreen and why I do recommend grounding to the earth when outside.
The creation of the modern light bulb (although amazing) was one of the worst things we could have done for our health as a society.
When it’s daytime, we should be getting moderate sunlight.
When it’s nighttime, we need to be in total darkness.
That’s the way God and nature intended it to be.
Man in his attempt to be little gods, created alien suns (light bulbs) in order to subvert the timing mechanism God gave to us (the actual sun).
Let’s talk about what is the most relaxing light color for sleep and what affects these colors have on our melatonin production, circadian rhythms, our sleep and our health.
Blue Light
Wavelengths approximately between 450-495 nanometers.
Blue light from man made sources is the big one that you want to avoid. We know that blue light can shift circadian rhythms and reduce melatonin. Studies have shown that blue light also increases oxidative stress in the eyes leading to blindness.
Blue light from the sun is in a perfect ratio with the other color spectrums as well as irradiance or lux. The brightness is exactly what your body needs. White light coming from LEDs or fluorescent lightning not only has a flicker rate that damages your nervous system but it also contains a high amount of blue wavelength sans red, yellow and orange to balance them out.
The other notable factor aside from flicker rate, kelvin, color temperature and irradiance of blue light is the high frequency of wavelengths. This causes huge spikes and huge dips in their emissions which increases intensity and this can lead to vision issues. This intensity is not calming or relaxing. It definitely doesn’t make you feel sleepy that’s for sure.
I wrote an article titled The Best Lights for Sleep that you might find interesting.
Avoid all blue light bulbs as well as light coming from computer devices and cell phones. Use special software to block that light and wear blue blocking glasses whenever you use these dangerous devices.
Green Light
Wavelengths approximately between 495-570 nanometers.
Although the green light coming from devices and LED indicator lights don’t suppress melatonin as much as the blue wavelength of light, it still does suppress it more than orange or red colors. Remember, when God makes the sun go down at sunset, humans are not meant to receive any light at all. Embrace the darkness for optimal sleep.
Yellow / Amber Light
Wavelengths approximately between 570-590 nanometers.
Yellow or amber light is more in alignment with nature when it’s after sunset. It’s still not natural or optimal. Firelight contains a good blend of color spectrums. There are incandescent light bulbs you can get that emit a yellow or amber hue to them. Since I’m more of a purist I have the minimum amount of red lights on in my home to get around at night.
With that said yellow or amber light does affect melatonin but may not in some circumstances affect circadian rhythms.
Yellow is not the most relaxing light color for sleep but it’s definitely a step in the right direction. If you’re new to the impact of light on sleep (or your partner is) I’d recommend getting yellow bulbs for your house as a bridge to see how you like them. Try them for 30 days and you’ll notice a difference.
I also wear yellow blue blockers during the day when I’m on the computer until sunset. It blocks excess blue light but also protects my eyes from oxidative stress.
Orange Light
Wavelengths approximately between 590-620 nanometers.
Orange light is where you want to get to. It’s a great transition from yellow to orange, especially inside. Once your partner starts noticing the effects of light on sleep, orange will be the next logical progression. Women seem to be more impacted by the color frequency of light than men which I find interesting.
If you swap out yellow bulbs for orange, you can put the yellow ones in your garage or if you have an outside patio they work great there too. That’s what we did and it helps when I let the dogs out to go pee at night.
Orange light does not seem to have that much of a negative impact on melatonin and didn’t seem to impact circadian timing that much either.
Red Light
Wavelengths approximately between 620-750 nanometers.
Red lights is where we’re currently at. Inside all we have are circadian light bulbs. Even then I turn most of them off (while I’m wearing my red glasses) because irradiance and brightness of any color of light still has a biological effect.
Red light is the most natural of all light to have after sunset. But remember, any light even if it’s red is NOT NATURAL.
With that said it appears as though red light does not affect melatonin or circadian rhythms.
Conclusion
Just because we can do something doesn’t mean it’s natural or helpful. We can make red light at night but it’s still not what God designed for us. The most biologically friendly way to use light after sunset is to use candle light or firelight. If you cannot do that, use dim or minimal red light for as little time as possible, while wearing red glasses up until you go to bed.
I’m telling you, do this for 30 days and you will notice huge differences in your deep sleep and REM phases of your sleep cycles.
So what’s the most relaxing light color for sleep?
Hands down….
Red light.
Now go get some bulbs and start sleeping better tonight.
Questions:
- Did you know how the color of light impacts sleep?
- Have you tried red lights before and what did you notice?
- How long did you try them for?
Comment below.
