TLDR?
https://open.substack.com/pub/sgcarney/p/andrew-huberman-gets-paid-to-lie
[ Andrew Huberman Gets Paid to Lie ]
Discussion
I mean look how much Big Pharma money goes to Stanford
Didn’t realize it was pay walled.
The blue light blocker companies paid for all the research that says you need them. Complete conflict of interest.
Very early Huberman had a take on light exposure for sleep that didn't call for them then changed his story when the sponsors showed up. Originally he noted that the circadian setting sensors are not the vision sensors in the eye. The circadian rhythm is set by overhead light not light in front or below you.
I don't know if that video is still up.
Beyond that, your phone is around 1/100th as bright as the sun. Unless you are a cave troll the sun is the brightest bright light signal in your life.
Scott Carney is king of outing health influencers conflict of interest if you want to find out who else is full of shit.
So having the tv on behind you can still cause the same damage as watching tv?
What? Unless you press your eyeballs to the screen your tv is nothing compared to the sun. It also isn't overhead. Your eyes are setting your circadian rhythm by what time of day you on average experience the brightest overhead light.
Bright overhead early in the morning and dim overhead in the evening also help set anchors.
Dim your overhead lights a bit and forget about the TVs light. The thing about TV that keeps you up is the content. An exciting paper book would also keep you up.
Think about it this way, we evolved staring at a campfire most nights. Brightest thing around after dark but below eye level with the overhead light of the sun dimming out.
I get what you’re saying now but does that mean screen light is identical to light from the fires?
The light is definitely different in ways that we can measure. They are both in front or below your eyes and way dimmer than the sun which is the important thing for trying to optimize light for sleep. Again assuming you expose yourself to proper bright light during the day.
Content is why your TV keeps you up. Go ahead and watch Hardcore Henry with the worlds best blue light blockers right before bed and see how that goes for you. Next day watch something you find boring as hell with no blue light blockers and see how you sleep.
I’ve recommended to parents to use blight light filters on iPads for their kids and their sleep has always improved. That’s what confuses me, why does that work on children?
You can't do that without altering their other behaviors. Basically a "don't think about pink elephants" situation.
Also remember that sleep quality without a tracker is very subjective and reporting someone else's sleep quality even more unreliable. Insomnia specialists often find patients who swear they never nap asleep in the waiting room before a visit.
They were young kids like 2 years old. They had no idea what I was doing with the screens. Their sleep cycle was more regulated. They started to wake up consistently around the same time and go to bed around the same time. Nothing else changed.