Sleeping in a moderate light increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Your body can’t rest appropriately in a light bedroom, increasing the heart rate.
Exposure to even moderate ambient light during nighttime sleep harms your cardiovascular function during sleep and increases your insulin resistance.
“The results from this study demonstrate that just a single night of exposure to moderate room lighting during sleep can impair glucose and cardiovascular regulation, which are risk factors for heart disease, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome,” said senior study author Dr. Phyllis Zee, chief of sleep medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine physician.
“It’s important for people to avoid or minimize the amount of light exposure during sleep.”
There is already an indication that light exposure during daytime increases heart rate by activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which increases heart to do fundamental challenges of the day.
Dr zee said:
Zee’s top tips for reducing light during sleep.
“Don’t turn the lights on. If you need to have a light on (which older adults may want for safety), make it a dim light closer to the floor.
Color is important, Amber or red/orange light is less stimulating for the brain. Don’t use white or blue light and keep it far away from the sleeping person.
Blackout shades or eye masks are good if you can’t control the outdoor light. Move your bed so the outdoor light isn’t shining on your face.”
