Andrew Huberman· PhD
we need more light during the day and less at night.
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we need more light during the day and less at night.
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Avoid bright light of all colors between 10 pm and 4 am.
2. Avoid bright light (all colors) 10pm-4am
and you want as little light coming into your eyes, artificial or sunlight, after, say, 8:00 p.m., and certainly, you do not want to get bright light exposure to your eyes between 11:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m., and here's why
You basically want to get as much light, ideally sunlight, but as much light into your eyes during the period of each 24 hour cycle when you want to be awake, when you want to be alert. And you want to get as little light into your eyes at the times of that 24 hour cycle when you want to be asleep or drowsy and falling asleep.
during the daytime, you want to get as much sunlight and other types of bright light in your eyes as safely possible. And then you want to avoid light in the middle of the night.
Samer's recommendation is that people get as much bright light exposure as they safely can in the morning and throughout the day for sake of both sleep and energy, but also for enhancing mood and regulating appetite.
So the simple way to think about this is want as much light as safely possible early in the day, morning and throughout the day, including blue light. And you want as little light coming into your eyes, artificial or sunlight after, say 8:00 PM. And certainly you do not want to get bright light exposure to your eyes between 11 PM and 4 AM.
And then in the evening, you want as little bright light coming in through
10 minutes of bright outdoor light within the first hour of waking anchors the circadian phase and improves sleep onset that night.
Morning sunlight exposure shifts the cortisol awakening response forward, improving daytime alertness.
Long-term morning sunlight reduces age-related macular degeneration risk.
Sleep regularity predicts all-cause mortality more strongly than sleep duration.
Tracking deep sleep on a wearable accurately reflects EEG-measured slow-wave sleep.
Caffeine has a half-life long enough that consumption after 2pm measurably degrades deep sleep in slow metabolizers.