How artificial lights are messing with our internal body clocks and delaying our ability to go to sleep

Do you change your night-time habits as we go into winter?

As the days shorten and nights lengthen at this time of year, do you take heed of your natural rhythms or do you dismiss your instinct for sleep?

Most of us go to bed too late and make few changes in our bedtime routine with the seasons. When it gets dark, we just turn on the lights and carry on as usual, even if we feel sleepy.

Have you ever thought about how artificial lights, increased screen time and a disregard for changing levels of darkness are actually effecting your ability to go to sleep?

Sorrel's Sleep Series

As it starts to get dark, a sleep-inducing chain reaction starts in the body producing a hormone called

Melatonin that readies us for sleep. It makes us feel drowsy and lowers our core temperature which helps us go to sleep.

Melatonin is stimulated by darkness and suppressed by light. So called the 'hormone of darkness' as levels of Melatonin rise with sunset and drop as the sun rises, it helps us to feel sleepy at night and awake in the morning and plays a crucial role in our internal body clock, our circadian rhythm. This is our repeating 24-hour cycle that regulates our daily habits - like when we feel sleepy or alert or hungry and adjusts our core body temperature.

The signals that tell us it is time for bed are completely thrown off by artificial lights. Electronic screens, LED and fluorescent lights emit blue spectrum light that mimic daylight. So at night, turning on the lights and looking at a screen is tricking us into believing night is still day and inhibiting our production of melatonin.

According to Matthew Walker's 'Why We Sleep', man-made light sets our internal body clock back by 2 to 3 hours. It is literally messing with our natural ability to fall asleep. Add in the advent of blue LED light and we are suppressing the release of night-time melatonin by twice the amount of old incandescent bulbs. Walker mentions a study that saw reading on an iPad before bed, suppressed melatonin release by over 50 per cent compared to reading a printed book. The findings also saw iPad use effecting quality of sleep and how alert we feeling during the day.

What if you followed your natural rhythms, could you get your sleep back on track?

How to stop impacting your natural sleep rhythms and tune into your circadian rhythm:

• Get plenty of natural morning light especially at the start of the day

• Dim the lights in the evening - warm mood lighting is best - as this helps signal to the body that it's time for bed

• Avoid screentime an hour or more before bedtime to allow melatonin release, turn screen brightness down and use blue light filters

• Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even at the weekend, to help regulate your internal 24-hour clock

• Use blackout blinds or eye masks if you are sensitive sleeper

Lucinda Miller has some great tips for boosting melatonin levels in her 'Brain Brilliance' book. Alongside lowering artificial lights in the evening and getting plenty of natural morning light, she recommends:

• Eating foods rich in Tryptophan which is turned into serotonin and then into melatonin after dark Examples of tryptophan-rich foods are: turkey, chicken, bananas, avocados and cashew nuts

• Taking Epsom salt baths and eating foods rich in magnesium

• Melatonin is primarily made in the body but small amounts are found in cherries. Miller suggests eating plenty of cherries or supplements with sour cherry variety Montmorency in the evening

  
  

Miller's book is especially focussed on neurodivergent children who find it hard to make enough melatonin and therefore have particular issues with getting to sleep. Her tips are worth trying but if you need more help with your nutrition, talk to a professional nutritionist.