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Blue light from screens is something we encounter today and every day. But if we are overexposed to it, we can start to suffer from various problems. If you'd rather prevent them, the ideal solution is to get special blue light blocking glasses.

 

 

Blue light - is it really bad for us?

Blue light is part of the visible spectrum, the range of colours we are able to perceive. It is electromagnetic radiation with short wavelengths and high energy - it scatters very easily and penetrates the retina of our eye. Most of the blue light we receive during the day comes from the Sun. This is natural to us, and healthy. It keeps us active, improves our cognitive function and controls many important processes in the body - among other things, it very closely influences the rhythm of wakefulness and sleep.

But nowadays, blue light also shines on us from modern technology and various devices, including smartphones, computer monitors, tablets, book readers, televisions and fluorescent and LED lighting. It gives our bodies a false signal that it is still daytime. The body then doesn't make melatonin, our biorhythms are disrupted, and sleep problems are rampant. Whether we're talking about general insomnia, frequent night wakings, or the inability to fall asleep quickly.

 

 

What are blue light filter glasses

At first glance, blue light blocking glasses are different from dioptric or sunglasses. As the name suggests, they have specially tinted lenses, whether yellow, orange or red, to block blue light. The colour of the lenses then determines what percentage of blue light the glasses can filter out. While our near-clear ones are 30%, the orange ones always block 100% of it.

Computer glasses against blue light

Clear lens glasses are designed to be worn all day while working at the computer. They are equipped with a special filter that blocks about 30% of blue light, more precisely the most intense part. The rest of the blue light is allowed to work on us, in order not to lose energy and to be productive enough.

But computer glasses also have other advantages:

• they help reduce eye strain
• prevents eyestrain or burning
• can partially prevent headaches
• improve colour contrast

 

 

What red sleeping glasses are good for

It is advisable to avoid blue light completely for about 1.5-2 hours before bedtime. Why, you ask? Simply because it keeps us awake and active - it suppresses the production of the "sleep" hormone melatonin, which makes us feel tired, helps us fall asleep easily and is one of the most powerful antioxidants in our body. It is therefore advisable to wear orange or red tinted glasses in the evening and before bed. These can break down 100% of blue light.

 

It all started in 1993, which played a significant role in the birth of red light therapy itself. In 1993, Quantum Devices (Barneveld, WI) developed a light-emitting diode (LED) for NASA for use in plant growth experiments.

 

 

In space, life, whether plant or animal, does not thrive as well as it does on our planet Earth. NASA scientists, therefore, have been trying to find an efficient way to grow plants in space conditions so that astronauts can have food for long-distance space missions. At the time, however, lighting technology for this purpose was limited to conventional tungsten or halogen bulbs, which were not ideal for spaceflight. They give off a lot of heat and consume a lot of energy.

 

 

For this reason, the use of LEDs (Light-Emitting Diode), which are very energy efficient and emit virtually no heat, even though they emit light that can be ten times brighter than the Sun, was considered. Some scientists involved in the project were initially sceptical and thought the idea of using LEDs to promote plant growth was far-fetched. However, experiments have indeed shown that the red wavelengths from LEDs can boost energy metabolism in cells and thus accelerate plant growth and photosynthesis. With the experiment a success, NASA then created a plant growth chamber (Astroculture3) that uses LEDs to grow plants aboard spacecraft. In October 1995, LEDs made their first appearance on the Space Shuttle Columbia, on the second mission of the US Microgravity Laboratory Spacelab.

 

 

But that's not the whole story! One interesting by-product of this experiment was the discovery that scientists who were frequently exposed to intense red light saw rapid and unexpected healing of their skin lesions. This was a great finding because the microgravity environment is very challenging for astronauts' health. During mission periods, astronauts experience a threefold higher rate of injury and wounds heal more slowly in orbit. So any new way to improve their health was extremely interesting and motivating for further research.

 

 

NASA subsequently began studying the use of LEDs to increase human cell metabolism and stop bone and muscle loss in astronauts. The research spread to other scientific groups, which gradually confirmed other positive effects on human health. In recent years, the technology has also reached the wider public, who can benefit from red light therapy from the comfort of their own homes. We are grateful to NASA scientists for the discovery of photobiomodulation, because without them we probably wouldn't be writing this article right now.

 

 

Sources:

NASA - Lighting the Way for Quicker, Safer Healing

A NASA discovery has current applications in orthopaedics

Effect of NASA light-emitting diode irradiation on wound healing

In the second half of August, specifically on 20-22 August 2021, one of the biggest fitness events in Czech Republic - Big Summer Games 2021 - took place in České Budějovice. It was a competition inspired by the world CrossFit events, where the best athletes from different categories competed. And as you can probably guess from the name, MITO LIGHT® could not miss such a great event!

 

 

The competition field was really packed. There were over 300 competitors across 6 categories. The whole weekend was also full of entertaining side events such as arm wrestling, weightlifting exhibition, a visit from Karlos Vémola, Anabolic Horse public training and more.

  

 

Recovery zone for athletes

The athletic performances of all the competitors were really impressive, but also very exhausting. That's why we prepared a recovery light zone in our tent, where the athletes came to regain strength and energy between competitions. In addition, the category winners received various MITO LIGHT® products.

 

 

We were also visited by many spectators who could test the power of photobiomodulation literally on their own skin, view all our products and ask us any questions. We were pleased with the great interest of all the competitors and spectators who visited us at the stand and we hope to see you there again next year!