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To break it down, our retina is a layer at the back of our eye that reacts to light. It triggers our optic nerves to signal to the brain what we’re seeing. One way the retina responds to light involves a chemical, called retinal. It’s a molecule that changes shape when exposed to light. Here’s the scary part... These researchers exposed retinal within retina cells to different wavelengths. The blue light twisted the retinal so much that it couldn’t change back to the untwisted form. Worse, that buildup of the twisted form damaged the membrane of the retina cell, causing the cell to die. In other words, too much blue light actually kills the cells in human retinas. One more point the researchers tested: It’s not just our eyes in jeopardy. Retinal moves through our bodies, so it can affect different cell types. The researchers tested other cell types as well, including heart cells, nerve cells, and even cancer cells. All the cell types experienced the same result – overexcited retinal killed the cells. And the destruction of these cells could lead to blindness.
1. THEY INTERRUPT OUR SLEEP. Blue light is just one color of light that electronics like laptops, tablets, and smartphones emit. But it’s the one that’s the most disruptive to our circadian rhythm. Think of the circadian rhythm as a clock that signals our bodies the optimal time to do things, like falling asleep and waking up. Blue light also stops the release of melatonin – the hormone that makes you sleepy. Regular readers of my Retirement Millionaire newsletter know that I talk about my own sleep problems due to the blue light from my tablet. To give your brain time to get ready to sleep, do what I do and shut off your electronics an hour before bed. 2. THEY HURT OUR EYES. Nowwe’re learning how it permanently damages our eyes. Here’s the research published in a different 2018 issue of Scientific Reports...
...BUT, DON'T PUT YOUR
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August 2019
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