As Lugavere notes, light has a huge impact on our sleepand, transitively, our health. "Bright light at the end of the day can have an opposite effect," he explains. Meaning, while light may be considered a form of medicine, when used at the wrong time it can have the opposite effect, he says. That's not to say you need to wear an eye mask everywhere you go once the sun goes down; dim light is totally fine. After all, "A hunter-gatherer would be exposed to a campfire and the moon and stars in the sky," Lugavere notes. That dim light won't reach 1,000 lux, so it shouldn't be cause for alarm.

What does reach 1,000 lux is that artificial, fluorescent light we expose ourselves to every time we watch Netflix or scroll through social media before bed. According to Lugavere, that's the type of bright light that interrupts our circadian rhythms: "By exposing your eyes to extremely bright light at night, you're actually pumping the brakes on melatonin at the time of the day when you want melatonin to be properly expressed. That's how light can act as a pro-aging agent," he says.

If that doesn't make you want to rethink your nighttime routine (or, at the very least, invest in a pair of blue-light-blocking lenses), we don't know what will. If light is a form of medicine, make sure you have a healthy doseand remember to always strive for balance.

Read the rest here:

Yes, Light Is A Form Of Medicine: Here's Why + The Dosage You Need - mindbodygreen.com