Get enough Daylight

Do you ever come out of an important meeting and struggle to remember where you’ve parked the car? Or perhaps when you need to rush out the door, those pesky house keys of yours are playing hide and seek again?!

If this all sounds a little too familiar, I may be able to shine some light on why that might be the case! According to a 2018 research study, it is suggested that spending too much time in low light conditions could alter the structure of the brain and negatively affect your learning and memory!

Ok, so this was a study carried out on rats, but the outcomes support previous research that shows that getting enough natural light has benefits on work performance,  wellbeing, mood, and sleep to name just a few. These two groups of rats spent 4 weeks of their waking hours in 2 different light conditions (Dim Vs Bright). The group that were exposed to bright light did well on a spatial memory test, while the group exposed to dim light performed poorly. The Dim Light group also lost about 30% of capacity in the hippocampus, a critical brain region for learning and memory.

Over the past 100 years, we’ve moved to spend much more time indoors and have increased our consumption of artificial light, especially during our evening hours, increasing the risk of developing circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders which are caused by the misalignment of our natural body rhythms and exposures to light and darkness. With Winter fast approaching us, and therefore fewer daylight hours available, we need to make sure that we’re getting the balance right between natural light, artificial bright light, dim light and darkness.

The challenge this week is to increase your exposure to natural light, especially in the morning, when it is shown to have the most benefits. Aim to spend about 30 minutes outdoors between 8am and Noon. How about starting the working day off with a walking phone call or meeting?  Could you then work closer to a window, or break up your day with a few trips outside to stretch your legs and get some fresh air and sunlight? It’ll all add up. Enjoy a coffee or eat a meal outdoors, meet up with friends outside, exercise in the park, and enjoy family fun in the garden.

Give it a go to see if it ‘lightens’ the load on your brain and helps you find those keys a little faster!

Have a lovely week. Keep developing good habits.

#HealthyHabits

Sources:

Dim Light Makes Us Dumber, 2018 Study Suggest

Effects of light on human circadian rhythms, sleep and mood (2019 Review)