Using light to control brain function and improve general health

This is perhaps one of the most underrated interventions for making major changes in our health and wellness. In this episode, Dr. Andrew Huberman and Dr. Samer Hattar discuss the effects of light on the body as it pertains to our circadian rhythm, brain function, mood, appetite, and mental health.

They give practical tools to rapidly adjust to jetlag, shift work, and resetting your clock after a late night of work, or socializing.

This is one of those podcasts which is essential for us to understand optimal health. It is one of those major missing pieces that most people overlook, but have such a profound impact on us.

Our bodies and biology evolved as a result of exposure to the sun and we are intimately connected to it. If we think about it logically, any changes in exposure to natural light will affect our biology. For example, using your phone at night, without having the proper filter and dimming setting on it, will signal to your circadian clock system that it is daytime and that will have a detrimental effect on your sleep/wake cycle and even mental health. This makes your melatonin (our sleep hormone) crash, where it should be high during the night.

Nowadays in our society, we have become very disconnected from natural light because we are spending more time inside buildings and having evolutionarily inappropriate exposure to light in the nighttime from our technological devices like phones and televisions.

Understanding how important and significant light is, might just be the final piece of the puzzle if you are having trouble with sleeping, mood, and mental health.