Junk light impacts photoreceptor cells in your eyes, which can disrupt the communication that happens between your eyes and your brain. This is especially problematic at night time because junk light suppresses your body’s ability to produce melatonin, the sleep hormone that you need in order to fall and stay asleep. Junk light also emits a unique glare that impacts your retina, which can cause eye strain, headaches, as well as mental and physical fatigue.
Junk light may contribute to and, or be linked to many chronic health conditions, including but not limited to:
- Eye strain
- Headaches
- Brain fog
- Short-term memory loss
- Problems sleeping, due to melatonin suppression
- Stress and anxiety, due to cortisol suppression
- Symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder or depression
- Endocrine disruption and a poor immune system
- Female hormonal/menstrual cycle disruption
- Weight gain
- Agoraphobia (anxiety disorder)
Because overexposure to junk light is so closely linked to sleep deprivation, it can indirectly have other long-term impacts on your health, such as:
- Heart disease
- Diabetes
- Mood disorders
- Cancer
- Alzheimer’s*
*Insufficient sleep can lead to an increased development of a toxic protein in the brain called beta-amyloid that is associated with Alzheimer’s disease. When we sleep, the brain naturally cleanses itself of this toxic protein, but when we offset sleep the brain is unable to carry out this process effectively. (Business Insider)