Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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I use a cpap at night to sleep and my husband has noticed that I am sleeping with fewer issues at night now that I am on this diet. Even with cpap and prescribed allergy nasal spray and pills I would snore and struggle at night before going on this diet. So diet has improved my sleep and I am off allergy meds. I also think this may explain why my Fibromyalgia pain is receding too since with better sleep my muscles are able to repair.

I also have no lights visible in bedroom at night and have blackout drapes. I have night light in bathroom if needed. These things have helped as well.

But now I have learned that the wonderful full spectrum light bulbs we use that are suppose to cheer us up and give out better light are also not helping our sleep at night. There have been studies of nurses who work at night who have much higher incidence of breast cancer. It has to do with our sleep cycles and how if they are messed with light it affects so many aspects.

I have put dimmers on light switches to lower light at night which helps some but the blue light is still there so you need to either get these pricey yellow light bulbs or pricey sun glasses from lowbluelights.com. Has anyone implemented removing blue light spectrum at night and done it cheaply and how did it work out? Please share.

When you remove the blue light I think it is 420-470 nanometers it allows melatonin to start producing in the brain which helps sleep. So doing this an hour or several before bedtime really helps you get better sleep. Even the smallest amount of blue light can negate it so it has to be constant. Our Paleo ancesters went to sleep when it was dark and didn't push the sleep cycle as we do. Later they hung around camp fires which is not the bright light we are used now. Also children with Austism may benefit from restricting blue light since they are very sensitive to sounds and light.

I have seen these yellow and amber and orange lens sunglasses that filter out the blue spectrum but not sure which ones to try. I also wear glasses so fit overs would be required. I hear for folks who have poor eyesight that the orange lens works the best. Amber maybe too dark. Yellow lens seem like the would be weird to look through. The blue light comes across in watching tv and computer screen as well. I also been looking at cheaper Cocoon fit over glasses you can buy on Amazon.com.

Does anyone know of other companies that makes the yellow light bulbs that take out the blue light? This company lowbluelights.com is run by very old professors who are not that business savvy and they never return emails and don't answer the phone and they don't understand how to market products like disclosing measurements for fit over glasses. I think they have good idea but the way they implement it could be vastly improved. They also don't make any dimmable florescent yellow bulbs which is where we are all headed in the next two years whether we want to or not. Nor do their florescent cfl bulbs say they can work in enclosed fixture either. I thought about the yellow bug lights but I don't think they are made the same way and limit the blue spectrum totally.

Update: Read my comments to Stephen down below I was able to track down Eschenbach and Cocoons that sell orange lenses that block out total blue light spectrum. It even says so on their site and they both list the nanometers their different lenses cover. Orange is 520nm which is what I am going to get and plan to order the cocoons online direct for 29.95 + s&h they have more sizes for fitovers for my glasses.

edited Oct 28 2010 at 21:28

asked Oct 27 2010 at 18:44

Hydrangea
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There are some comments with recommendations about cheap orange lenses in this thread: paleohacks.com/questions/318/… – Shebeeste Oct 28 2010 at 1:12

Here's a similar thread: paleohacks.com/questions/3986/… – Shebeeste Oct 28 2010 at 1:14

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"They also don't make any dimmable florescent yellow bulbs which is where we are all headed in the next two years whether we want to or not." You might be, but I certainly am not. I have a stash of light bulbs that will outlive me and leave some left over for my kids. I refuse to have any of those crappy CFL's in my house, ever. – gharkness Oct 28 2010 at 20:11

I expect that getting 20 minutes of daylight exposure in the earlier a.m. and eliminating electronics in the period before sleep is more effective than worrying about wavelengths of lightbulbs. Although I do think dimming incandescent bulbs is a good idea. – Don Sep 4 2011 at 14:36

Nah, led lights are the future, not CFLs. Led lights can be very frequency specific, which has obvious advantages here. – Jamie Sep 30 at 2:25

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Ambimorph · Answer 1 · 2010-10-27 18:58:05Z UTC

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Relatedly, f.lux will reduce blue coming from your computer screen in the evening. http://www.stereopsis.com/flux/

answered Oct 27 2010 at 18:58

Ambimorph
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	Just installed it and very cool idea. Here I was thinking I needed to buy expensive cover for monitor. – Hydrangea Oct 27 2010 at 19:22
	Also installed it - I cannot (yet) get used to the strange, warm appearance of my screen. It has changed my iMac from a really cool device into a flaming hot one! May end up un-installing... – andrew Oct 28 2010 at 17:00
	Since this post, I've bought blue blocking glasses: amazon.com/gp/product/B000USRG90/… They seem to be very effective in allowing me to get drowsy quickly. – Ambimorph Dec 29 2011 at 14:38

Stephen-Aegis · Answer 2 · 2010-10-27 18:55:32Z UTC

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Uvex Safety Glasses off Amazon. $10 go for orange for best blue block

answered Oct 27 2010 at 18:55

Stephen-Aegis
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	Good to know. Didn't see any orange ones but yellow ones. No measurements given to see if they fit over my glasses but will contact manufacturer. So do feel like you are walking around in a yellow or orange bubble at night? Was it hard to adapt? – Hydrangea Oct 27 2010 at 19:21
	Nah barely noticeable drop, slightly dimmer but still great visibility – Stephen-Aegis Oct 27 2010 at 19:26
	I wish I could give more than one green check to my question since you too also answered my question well. – Hydrangea Oct 27 2010 at 19:26
	Well just got off the phone with Uvex supervisor there. The yellow safety glass do not block out any blue light. They only block up to 400 nanometers. The blue spectrum from what I have been able to find out so far is 420nm to 470nm. Finding out the nanometers on the lenses is important. Sorry. It was worth a try. – Hydrangea Oct 27 2010 at 19:54
	Mine are dark orange not yellow... Hmm – Stephen-Aegis Oct 27 2010 at 20:25

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KC · Answer 3 · 2010-10-28 01:06:33Z UTC

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Partially related to the sleep quality. I gave up grains for the better part of 3+ months and the most interesting side effect is sleeping all the way through the night. I'm 45 and don't ever remember sleeping like that. Even as a kid I'd wake up a couple of times a night.

answered Oct 28 2010 at 1:06

KC
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We had gone gluten and dairy free for 3 years prior with my family because a daughter had Celiac and we didn't respond anything like the way we have responded with Paleo. When daughter moved out we went back to gluten and dairy and then I realized we were in much worse shape. I was looking for answers and stumbled on Paleo. For us the combination of all the things we eliminated really worked for us. I am glad to hear others are sleeping better on this diet. – Hydrangea Oct 28 2010 at 1:37

Dan · Answer 4 · 2011-09-04 14:31:55Z UTC

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Skip lowbluelights.com and try www.heatinc.ca, I ordered from them yesterday (9/3/11).

answered Sep 4 2011 at 14:31

Dan
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Happy Now · Answer 5 · 2012-02-21 11:14:54Z UTC

If you find c-7 xmas lights, they fit into nightlight bases, and standard base c-9's will fit into a normal light socket.

About 25 cents each, and they can be found in the same orange/amber triple ceramic coating as the other standard size blue blocking bulbs, but without the big ol' pricetag.

They will be much dimmer because they are low wattage bulbs, but that sounds like a good thing to me.

Jamie · Answer 6 · 2012-09-30 02:38:30Z UTC

Why not just use yellow novelty bulbs?

I am working on sorting a combination of dimmed novelty bulbs in lamps, and amber electronic candles.

I already use f-lux, and have often been using candles in the evening. The candles definately promote tiredness. Dim and yellow is definately the way to go, because light level and light spectrum both contribute to melatonin release, and initiation of the sleep cycle.

I figure the most paleo evening light is fire (its amber, its dim, its not consistant in brightness). Unfortunately you cant just build an open fire in your living room (unless you actually want to burn your house down, or choke on fumes). Even those fumeless gel fires suck the co2 outta your house to dangerous levels.

So for now, until I am mega rich, its candles or e-candles, and the odd dimable novelty bulb filled lamp.

Tervitused · Answer 7 · 2012-10-02 00:43:21Z UTC

Hydrangea, this is an old thread, but just in case...

I think the UVEX glasses you referenced above were just their ordinary orange or yellow which just block UV. You want either the UVEX Skyper SCT Orange safety glasses or you can use their Ultraspec 2000 SCT-Orange, which are designed to fit over glasses. You can find the regular style here and the Fit over style here. In both cases they are ~ $9.

Just so you can confirm that the blue and some green light is blocked, here is the spectral analysis for the SCT Orange tint used in both products. You will find it near the end of the file. Many other tints are also provided, and while some also block the relevant wavelengths, most of them probably restrict too much light for the purposes intended here. SCT Espresso could also work, but I would stick with SCT ORANGE.

Contrary to what has been already posted on this page, your approach is on a good theoretical footing and appears to be effective for improving sleep rhythm. The pigment melanopsin found in some non visual photoreceptors on the retina aborbs light in the wavelengths you cited. When activated, the receptors transmit the signal which inhibits melatonin production, and therefore sleep. Interestingly, once it has absorbed the light, the pigment can be reset by longer wavelength red light. However, its not clear to me that this other property can be exploited for better sleep. It is true that just about any visible light of strong enough intensity will disturb sleep, but blocking blue light a few hours prior to bed will help your sleep by initiating the production of more melatonin. The glasses and bedroom darkness go a long way toward better sleep and are less cumbersome than enforcing 10 to 14 hours of total darkness. I recommend that you give it a try.

If you are interested in more information you can check out Psych education.org. And here's a compelling case study of a patient who didn't use such glasses, but instead agreed to exist in total darkness for 14,and later 10, hours a day to treat rapid cycling bipolar disorder with disturbed sleep. He did this for a period of three years with great success.

Good luck!

My sleep quality has improved on diet but want to remove blue spectrum light at night.

7 Answers