Colored Eyeglasses Help Avoid Obesity
There is a new approach to losing weight and avoiding obesity. This is accomplished by wearing eyeglasses for a few hours before bedtime. It sounds far fetched, but is based on the discovery that sleep deprivation and obesity go together. The glasses allow melatonin (the sleep hormone) to flow in advance of going to bed. Sleep comes more quickly and deeply.
University Heights, OH (PRWEB) May 26, 2006
A recent large study of the relationship between sleep deprivation and obesity shows that those who sleep less than 7-9 hours a night have a higher risk of being obese. Those who sleep 4 hours have a 73% higher risk of being obese and those who sleep 6 hours have a 23% higher risk. This is according to a recent study at Columbia University.
Physicists at John Carroll University have come up with a new way to get more and better sleep. It has been known for years that the sleep hormone, melatonin is only produced by the pineal gland when the eyes are in darkness. By using artificial light in the evening before going to bed, people are depriving themselves of the thing that will help them sleep, melatonin. In 2001 it was discovered that different colors of light have different effects on the pineal gland. It is the blue component in light that causes melatonin suppression. By blocking the blue light from the eyes for a few hours before bedtime, the melatonin will begin flowing in advance of bedtime. By the time the head hits the pillow there is a generous supply and sleep comes very quickly. Sleep is also deeper and the body slows down. Even the kidneys slow down so there is less need to get up during the night. People who haven’t slept well in years report deep and restful sleep by using the glasses.
By blocking just the blue light there are plenty of other colors so one can watch television, read or work on a computer. The colors are a little strange at first but one adapts to it fairly quickly. The special glasses block only the critical wavelengths in the blue and not the rest of the spectrum. Not all blue blocking glasses have this feature. To be sure they are blocking the critical colors the glasses are checked with a spectrometer.
It will be years before clinical trials of the glasses are completed to confirm that they help people avoid obesity. There is no need to wait for the results. It took 30 years before everyone agreed that smoking causes lung cancer. Wearing glasses in the evening is not difficult or expensive and is guaranteed to help in getting a good-nights-sleep. Greater safety is one benefit. Drowsy driving is just as bad as drunk driving but much more common. Having more melatonin has been shown in both animal and human experiments to enhance good health. Glasses are available at the web site www. sleepglasses. com.
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