By now most people know that the blue light emitted from our beloved smart gadgets is keeping us awake at night. However, what most people don’t know is that, when it comes to blue light, insomnia might be the least of our problems. In recent years scientists have linked overexposure to blue light to a number of different health issues, including things like blindness, obesity, and even cancer, just to name a few. But here’s the good news. You don’t have to quit your job, throw your cell phone in a river, and go live in the mountains to protect yourself from blue light. All you need to do is get yourself some stylish blue light blocking glasses from Swanwick.
When we talk about blue light, we are talking about the blue hues of the visible light spectrum, between 380 and 500 nanometers. And to be clear, it’s not all bad. In fact, exposure to natural blue light during daytime hours is essential. During the day, blue light signals to your brain that it’s time to be awake, enhancing attention, energy, and mood. However, exposure to blue light at night is scientifically proven to suppress the production of melatonin, a hormone that tells your brain when it’s time to be quiet and go to sleep. When melatonin production is disrupted on a regular basis, it throws off your circadian rhythm, which is the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle. And this can lead to insomnia.
But sleep is not the only thing negatively affected by blue light. Scientists have known for a long time that blue light plays a role in macular degeneration. Now, thanks to optical chemistry researchers and the University of Toledo, we know why.
According to the study, overexposure to blue light triggers a chemical reaction in the eye that produces poisonous molecules that kill photoreceptors in the retina. So in other words, blue light poisons our eyes. Over time this poisoning process causes macular degeneration, blind spots, and other forms of vision impairment.
Think blindness is bad? Well, there’s more. According to Harvard Medical School, there are numerous studies that suggest blue light may play a causal role in things cancer, obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.
Unfortunately, with our addictions to smartphones, social media, streaming services, and the internet in general, human beings are currently exposed to more blue light than any other time in human history. One recent poll of 2,000 U.S. adults found that, on average, we’re spending 17 hours a day looking at phones, laptops, TV screens, and video games. If you assume an average adulthood of 60 years, it means the average American will spend 44 years of their life staring at a screen.
Unfortunately, with so many people working and going to school remotely, and so many other forms of entertainment unavailable, cutting back on screen time probably isn’t an option for most people.
That’s where Swanwick comes in.
Swanwick was founded in 2014 by a pair of brothers from Australia who’d been suffering from insomnia for years. After reading about the effects blue light has on the human sleep cycle, the first products they developed were nighttime blue light blocking glasses so that melatonin production is not affected, and your circadian rhythms are not disturbed.
Designed to be worn when looking at screens only at night, Night Swannies block out the full spectrum of blue light, including the 450-480nm wavelength that suppresses melatonin production. Independently validated sleep studies show users of orange-lensed Night Swannies experience 33 percent increased sleepiness, 34 percent improved ability to sleep, 36 percent improved overall sleep quality, and 37 percent improvement in feeling rested in the morning.
Night Swannies come in a variety of contemporary styles, sizes, and colors, including ones designed specifically for kids, reading, and prescriptions. Click here to browse the entire collection.
Given the recent scientific findings concerning the correlation between blue light and macular degeneration, cancer, obesity, and the rest, Swanwick now has an entire line of daytime blue light blocking glasses.
Day Swannies are designed to be worn all day, but especially when you are using devices with screens during daylight hours. Because we all need some blue light to regulate our sleep-wake cycle, Day Swannies do not block out all blue light. Instead, they only block light from the most dangerous part of the blue light spectrum. That includes approximately 42-80 percent of blue light between 400-450 nanometers, and 22-42 percent of blue light between 450-500 nanometers.
Just like Night Swannies, Day Swannies come in a variety of contemporary styles, sizes and colors, including ones designed specifically for kids, reading, and prescriptions. All Day Swannies have CR-39 lenses, a prescription-grade material that allows for maximum optical clarity. And all Day Swannies block 100% of UV light.
The science is pretty clear when it comes to the danger of blue light. Millions of Americans are poisoning their eyes every single day.
Don’t want to be part of that statistic? Check out Swannies Daytime and Nighttime blue light blocking glasses today. Your future self will thank you.
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