16 February 2011
Media Release
Natural Light – Good For Your Home, Good For Your Health
New Zealanders are aware that introducing more natural light into a home will mean a healthier home, but are you aware that it will also mean a more healthier you?
As humans we are very responsive creatures, changes or affects in our external environments can have a correlating effect on our internal environments – or in other words, our body’s and our health. Light is something we are most responsive to. Its’ not only our eyes that adjust to different lights, the whole human body is designed to make changes according to the lighting and light cycles we are exposed to.
Would you believe it, but it is actually our energy levels that are affected most by the quality and distribution of light we are exposed to? Just as plants use the sun for their respiration cycle, humans rely on the sun to regulate metabolic functions. Our bodies rely on the cycle of the sun to keep us ‘in sync’ with our own internal regulator known as circadian rhythm. This rhythm or cycle relates to the time of day in which certain neurotransmitters in our bodies are released, telling our bodies how to feel - in particular how much energy we should have.
Lack of accessibility to natural light causes negative effects in this biological cycle. In fact traditional indoor lighting can actually over-ride the process of the circadian cycle, causing the wrong neurotransmitters to be released affecting your mood and energy levels. When the correct neurotransmitters are released, they tell your body what time of day it is and ensure that your body is processing with sufficient energy for that time. In the morning, ideally your body produces chemicals and processes to say it has woken and to prepare for the day. At the end of the day when the light becomes dimmer, your body starts producing chemicals to shut it down so you can sleep and your body can repair and re-energize over night. Over exposure to artificial lighting can over-stimulate your body, encouraging the wrong chemicals to form and interfere with how your body should be performing. Likewise you can start producing too much of certain chemicals due to the light stimulation, and this can either zap you of energy at the wrong time of day (think mid day at the office) or cause an increase when your body should be trying to shut down (over active when getting ready for bed?).
Once your energy cycles are tampered with, your body is facing a downward cycle of disaster in regards to your health. Just like an out of tune car quickly deteriorates in all areas, an unstable metabolic system will start causing issues all over your body that may or may not seem related.
Bringing natural daylight into your home is an essential way to ensure that your body is not affected by disruptions and disturbances caused by artificial lighting or dim dark rooms. Bring the outdoors indoors, filter natural UV light into your home and notice the changes in your energy levels, and the changes in your day to day health. A more radiant home really can mean a more radiant you!
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