According to one expert, early morning light is like “eating lunch at a regular time to prepare your body to be hungry for dinner at a predictable time."
By Matt Fuchs — Research suggests that morning sunlight keeps our daily biological cycles running smoothly, which helps ensure good sleep at night. This raised my interest because, like a streaky shooter in basketball, I’ve always been an unreliable sleeper: I sleep well for a few weeks and then, just when I think I can’t miss, my hot streak ends with three or four nights of staring at the ceiling.
Morninglight seemed like a simple and promising strategy to bring more consistency to my slumber game. Light is the cue in the environment with the strongest effect on our bodies’ 24-hour cycles, or circadian rhythms. When looking at bright screens at night, we get the wrong signals and fall out of step with these rhythms. Over time, this increases the risk of chronic diseases like cancer. Conversely, when our “light diets” support our rhythms, we’re healthier and happier — light itself has an antidepressant effect. Plus, morning light exposure has shown improvements in deep sleep, overall sleep quality and clear thinking when awake.
Early morning light is like “eating lunch at a regular time to prepare your body to be hungry for dinner at a predictable time,” said Michael Grandner, director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona.