Living a modern life with little or no access to sunlight and excessive artificial light decouples our connection to the ultimate power source of this planet (the sun) and ruins our cells’ ability to function properly.
- Jason Bawden-Smith (In The Dark)
My deep fascination and passion for optimal health have led me to discover the immense effect LIGHT has on us as humans. Not all light is equal and after years of watching, reading, listening and observing from numerous respected physicians, neurosurgeons, lighting engineers, holistic health experts and so many more from around the globe, I’ve noticed a resounding agreement in the importance of avoiding artificial light and getting adequate sunlight exposure. The level of understanding of the biophysics involved doesn’t mean you can’t simply apply principles and practices into your life that integrated effectively for the long term can and will have profound effects in every area of your life.
This relatively unknown hidden feature will turn your screen red with 3 simple steps. Red being the antidote to the dopamine, DHA draining, circadian misaligning addictive blue light that emits from all smartphones.
Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Display Accommodations
Toggle Color Filters ON > select Color Tint > drag Intensity & Hue to the farthest right of the screen
Click back twice and scroll to the bottom of Accessibility > enter Accessibility Shortcut and select Color Filters as a triple click of the home button shortcut.
That’s it! Now all you have to do is triple click your home button to toggle on and toggle off the red screen.
Using the RGB spectrum below you will see when you triple-click your home screen the red circle will be only visible, blocking out all the green and blue light from your device, the two spectrums well known and studied to disrupt circadian rhythms (sleep quality). Ideally, I would recommend toggling this feature on from sunset if not wearing effective blue/green blocking glasses, or at the very least 1–2 hours before bed.
For the large majority of human evolution we were only ever exposed to fire (amber/ red) or starlight at night, hence mimicking our natural environment as close as possible is vital to be able to thrive in this world.
When your eyes have to function in unnatural spectrums of light, it stresses your mitochondria, slows down your energy production, increases free radical production, and can damage mitochondria.
- Dave Asprey (Head Strong)
Due to the growing public awareness of artificial blue light, Apple released a feature in the iOS 9.3 update called “Night Shift” as a measly attempt to combat the incredibly detrimental effects blue light is having on our health. On surface, this looks like a great feature and will give you some minor relief on the warmest setting, but taking a closer look again with the RGB spectrum above will show the minimal amount of the blue spectrum is filtered out. For some this might suffice or couldn't care less of the state of their eye health, but for folks who genuinely care about their health and wellbeing like myself, I have discovered the best blue blocking software option available for smartphones, and it’s FREE (*2021 update* may not work with some new versions of iOS)
Iris tech created by the brilliant Daniel Georgiev made what Apple should have made. Iris has been my choice of blue-blocking software for my MacBook and iPhone for a while now, with full control and customization of the settings. I personally drag the color temperature as far left as I can handle, at least until the blue circle disappears, and only ever disable it for a brief period to edit photos or if I need to see colours properly. Otherwise trust me the weird orange/ amber glow grows on you and becomes the familiar, whereas the offensive, harsh, clearly unnatural spectrum of blue becomes the unfamiliar. Your sleep, your eyes, and your overall general health will greatly benefit.
Instructions and download for the 0.0.3 iOS version is available here
Desktop versions available here*
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