Now that you have your blue blocking glasses, it’d be nice to know when to wear them. How and when you wear blue light glasses is everything.

Blue light glasses have to be worn correctly if you want all the benefits, especially when it comes to sleep.

It is similar to taking melatonin. Many people take melatonin wrong and it doesn’t work. If you take melatonin correctly it works wonders, if you take melatonin incorrectly you’ll likely see no benefit (in terms of sleep).

It’s the same with blue light glasses, timing is everything.

Back in 2012 when I first started learning about light and sleep, I purchased my first pair of blue blockers. At that time I had all the same questions you probably have. I just knew they were good for sleep but that’s it.

I didn’t understand how they worked or why they worked.

Over the years I’ve read over a hundred studies on light. I’ve read books about light and listened to many lectures to learn as much as I can. I’d like to share here how blue light glasses work and when you should wear them.

What Blue Blockers Are Doing

The goal with blue blocking glasses is to mimic nature as much as possible. You need to mimic the right kind of nature for them to be effective.

What is the “right kind of nature” you ask?

It’s the natural environment you live in. Believe it or not, your mitochondria knows…

• Your altitude
• Your distance from the equator
• Your longitude
• The time of year
• The season
• The time of day

How is this possible?

It’s possible because the photons of light that enter the retina of your eye, travel through the central retinal pathway to the pineal gland and hypothalamus in your brain. Once there a tiny cluster of neuronal cells called the suprachiasmatic nucleus receives this input of light.

Stepping back for a moment, every cell in your body has anywhere from a few hundred to a few hundred thousand mitochondria. These mitochondria create 4th phase water or structured water, energy (ATP) and light (super low light) and exhaust as a result. But they also create melatonin in the body.

Many people don’t know this but melatonin is not just created in the pineal gland, it’s created in every cell of our body.

But back to light.

I know it’s hard to believe that our mitochondria tracks our location and knows the environment we live in. But what if I snapped my fingers and transported you to the top of Mount Everest. Within 1 or 2 seconds, you would instantly be shivering and unable to breathe.

Your mitochondrial sends out a magnetic field in complex 5 called ATP synthase. This complex has a spinning nanomotor that turns at 9,000 revolutions per minute. Your body is constantly sending out a radio signal to know the environment you’re in.

We want our blue blocking glasses to mimic nature. If it’s light outside we want that light to be hitting our naked eyes so we receive their correct environmental signal.

As the sun begins to set, the color temperature changes along with the wavelengths and frequency. This is measured in what’s called Kelvin.

What you want is the same color temperature to hit your eyes as what’s in your local environment.

How I Wear My Blue Light Glasses

Daytime

During the day if I’m inside I’ll wear my yellow blue blocking glasses. If I’m on a computer or looking at a cell phone, I’m also wearing them. If I’m indoors not looking at a device and the windows are open, I will not wear any glasses.

The reason why I wear yellow glasses during the day, when indoors is because they do let some blue light through the lens. Blue light from the sun is healthy and helps our body regulate circadian rhythms. Blue light from devices will suppress melatonin and cause blindness.

Having some blue light during the day (from the sun) is okay. But just note that if you’re looking at a laptop or cell phone, there’s a flicker rate happening that your nervous system detects but your eyes do not. This flicker rate can lead to oxidative stress in the eyes leading to macular degeneration, myopia, cataracts etc. For this reason I’ll always run Iris Tech on my lap top.

If you are interested in technology that emits zero blue light, I would look into Daylight Co.

Sunset

Ideally you’re watching the sky during sunset each night. Watching the sunset is almost as important as watching the sunrise. After the sunsets, I’ll turn my Iris Tech settings to 0 Kelvin, meaning my screen is emitting zero blue light. The screen is now orange.

It’s at this time that I’ll turn on the red lights in my office. I’ll then take off my yellow blue blockers and put on my orange blue blockers (I do this with eyes closed, even a few photons of light can suppress melatonin production).

Even though my entire house has red light bulbs inside, I’m still wearing my orange blue blocking glasses. This is because there are things around our home that emit green light. We have dog collars that when fully charged emit a green light (known to also suppress melatonin), and the clock on our stove is digital and green.

I have a device that creates ozone water and that emits a blue light. For situations like these, I use Junk Light Dots to cover most of them up. But I wear the blue light glasses anyway.

Nighttime

I consider the nighttime to be right after sunset up until about 2 hours before bed. This is my evening where I really focus on winding down. I wear my blue light glasses during this time without taking them off even for a second. Any light hitting my eyes after sunset must be filtered.

It’s very rare that any unfiltered light hits my eye after the sun goes down. This is critical because we know that it takes a lot less light that previously known to suppress melatonin levels in the body.

Be extremely careful how you protect your eyes during this time. If I watch a funny clip on Instagram or even a show with my wife after sunset, I will always be wearing my blue light glasses.

2 Hours Before Bed

I generally go to bed around 10pm. That means around 8 pm I’ll put on my red blue blocking glasses. These glasses are wraparound so no blue light can get in around the sides. They block 100% of green and blue wavelengths of light that are shown to reduce melatonin.

When I put on my red glasses, I’ll take off my orange ones with my eyes closed and I will not open them until my red glasses are actually on.

I don’t technically need to do this because all the lighting in our home is red circadian bulbs but I want to be extremely particular about what light comes into my eyes after sunset.

Around 8 or 8:30 is when I’ll take my 50mg of melatonin. I generally take it at the same time as when I put on my red blue light glasses.

The reason I time it this way is because melatonin starts being secreted when the body is in darkness. It’s not darkness that’s the only indicator for the body to release melatonin but the absence of blue light that increases cortisol and decreases melatonin.

I time the taking of the melatonin when I’m blocking 100% of blue and green light. This is in alignment with nature and nature’s principles.

Common Questions

What if I wake up before sunrise?

If you wake up before sunrise and your indoors, use red or orange bulbs for lighting while wearing your orange blue blocking glasses. When the comes up over the horizon, by all means watch the sunrise!

Should I wear them while driving

If you wear them while driving it could be a major hazard. I don’t recommend it. I’ll just tell you what I do. If I’m the one driving (not my wife) and it’s after sunset, I’ll wear my yellow blue blocking glasses if it’s a short or long drive. I want to be able to see what color the stop and go traffic lights are. Never wear red blue blocking glasses while driving under any circumstances. I generally don’t wear orange blue blocking glasses either while driving.

Can I wear them outside?

You don’t want to wear blue blockers outside particularly during the day. You want the natural rays of the sun to penetrate your eyes and brain. This will help your circadian rhythm for the day.

With that said, there are always caveats. If you’re outside and it’s after sunset and there are streetlights or stadium lights on (maybe you’re at a sports game or concert) I would either wear yellow blue light glasses or orange.

I would wear yellow if it was an event I would be at for hours before bed. This would allow me to stay awake and not get too sleepy during the event.

If I was not going to drive home, I would wear my orange blue light glasses within an hour or so before leaving the event. If I were going to drive home from the event, I would continue wearing my yellow blue light glasses until I got home. Then I would put on my orange or red glasses on depending on how much time would pass before bed.

What if I go to the movies?

If you go to the movies during the day, I would wear my yellow blue blocking glasses. If you go the movies after sunset (and you will not be driving home) I would wear my orange blue blocking glasses. If you’re going to the movies after sunset and you will be driving home, I personally would wear my yellow glasses.

There have been times I’ve gone to the movies at a 5:30pm show and the sun sets at 6:00. Since I was in the theater during sunset (and I went with a friend) I took both pairs of glasses and simply changed them a little after 6:00pm.

Does it help if I wear them just for a few minutes?

It depends on how you use the term “help”.

If you take them on or off, it’s not going to be as effective for sleep than if you wear them continuously throughout the evening all the way until you go to bed. The reason is that even 15 seconds of exposure to blue light can suppress melatonin production for a few hours. You don’t want melatonin to be suppressed for any reason.

If you are wearing them to protect against the high frequency blue wavelengths of light that cause oxidative damage to sensitive ocular tissues, then anytime you can filter light to protect your eyes, it will help.

Do I wear them during the day?

Depends on if you’re inside or outside. If you’re inside, it depends on whether or not you’re looking at a device or if the windows are open or closed. If you’re in an office working under fluorescent or LED lights during the day, you’re going to want to wear yellow blue light glasses.

On the other hand if you’re inside your home with no lights on during the day with the windows open, there’s no need to wear them as natural sunlight can come into your space.

Windows block UV and IR light which is not healthy.

If you are outside and it’s daytime, I don’t recommend wearing blue blocking glasses.

Conclusion

It all sounds pretty complicated but really all you’re doing is copying nature. Windows filter light in unnatural ways that cause skin cancer and alter circadian rhythms. Sunglasses, contact lenses and reading glasses also alter the God given frequencies of the sun.

So when do you wear blue light glasses?

Answer: Anytime you’re looking at a screen (day or night) and anytime after sunset.

I wear them all day long and match the color of the sun as the day progresses. This is how you align yourself to nature. I also make sure to get outside as much as I can during the day with no sunglasses on.

Questions:

• Have you ever tried wearing blue light glasses?
• What was your experience?

Comment below!