“Light pollution is a serious threat to many types of wildlife. Each year, artificial light causes disruption of behavior, injury, and death to thousands of migrating birds, sea turtles and other reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and invertebrates.” Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation. Animals use the presence or absence of moonlight as as a directional guide. For instance, when baby turtles hatch on the beach, they instinctively follow the white light of the moon back to the ocean. If there are white LED lights on the street and in parking lots, the baby turtles may head toward it instead of the ocean. In fact, there is a mandate in many areas of Florida that require wildlife friendly amber lighting. I was in Mexico Beach, Florida and noticed their street lights were all amber instead of white to be wildlife and turtle friendly. I loved it! I felt more relaxed and less agitated. Wildlife isn’t the only ones affected, humans are also affected by artificial white lighting at night. Even human beings are not immune to the effects of artificial light. “As a species, humans are diurnal (which means that we are awake during the day, and sleep at night). Diurnal species feel safer in lit areas while they are awake. But physiologically, humans need a dark cycle too. During the night, in darkened conditions, humans produce melatonin, a necessary hormone that helps the body’s cells repair themselves. Serious interruptions in the day/night cycle, such as shift work, have been demonstrated to interfere with melatonin production, resulting in a higher incidence of some cancers such as breast cancer.” source 5
I finally broke down and bought sunglasses to wear indoors. I only wear them inside once the sun goes down. The amber sunglasses block the blue light from lamps, computers, and TVs. I don’t care if you think I look like a dork; I think I look like a rockstar, and that is all that matters.
Artificial white and blue light mimics sunlight. Exposure to white or blue light at night inhibits the pineal gland’s production of melatonin. Melatonin is produced primarily at night and needs darkness to be produced.
From the article Fertility Awareness, Food, and Night-Lighting by Katie Singer: “The hypothalamus gland, also located in the brain, is richly supplied with melatonin receptors. This gland regulates your body’s overall homeostasis, including things like blood pressure, emotions, temperature, and the endocrine (hormonal) system. Hormones secreted by the hypothalamus stimulate the anterior pituitary gland to secrete its hormones, and these, in turn, stimulate the thyroid gland, the adrenals, and the ovaries to secrete yet other hormones. The ovaries (and the testicles) are also thought to contain melatonin receptors.” 1
You can see how melatonin production–and thereby sleeping in darkness or with light–can affect the whole body’s functioning, including the menstrual cycle: if the hypothalamus doesn’t receive sufficient melatonin, its ability to regulate the hormonal system will be impaired.”
Part of the Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy® fertility protocol, established by Dr. Rosita Arvigo, recommends sleeping in the dark all month long, except for the three days around ovulation, to help balance hormones and sync your cycle with the moon cycle. During the time of the full moon, let the moonlight in by opening the drapes, or add a small nightlight to produce the effects of the moon. The rest of the month, sleep in complete darkness and limit nighttime white/blue lighting after the sun goes down.
Louise Lacey wrote about the connection between the moon and the menstrual cycle in her book Lunaception: A Feminine Odyssey Into Fertility and Contraception
Here’s another excerpt from Fertility Awareness, Food, and Night-Lighting by Katie Singer: “Other clinical researchers have also found that sleeping in the absence of light (introducing it for a few days each cycle, or sleeping only in the absence of light) can help women in a variety of situations to strengthen their cycles.
- Women with anovulatory cycles have become ovulatory.
- Women with unclear mucus readings develop discernible, healthy mucus build-up.
- Cycles that had been very short (26 days or less) or very long (35 days or more) become 27-31 days long.
- FSH levels become healthy.
- Spotting at various times during the cycle is significantly reduced.
- Progesterone levels are strengthened.
- Women with a history of miscarriage can sustain pregnancy.
- Premenopausal women develop a more discernible mucus pattern, and the intensity of their premenopausal symptoms, including hot flashes, sleeplessness, and mood changes, is reduced.” 3
Fertility and Sterility. From the study titled Melatonin and the circadian system: contributions to successful female reproduction, “Both stable circadian rhythms and cyclic melatonin availability are critical for optimal ovarian physiology and placental function. Because light exposure after darkness onset at night disrupts the master circadian clock and suppresses elevated nocturnal melatonin levels, light at night should be avoided.” 4
- Ayre, E. A. and S.F. Pang, “Iodomelatonin binding sites in the testis and ovary: Putative melatonin receptors in the gonads,” Biological Signals 3: 71-84, 1994. Abstract: Through the synthesis and secretion of the hormone melatonin, the pineal has been assigned the role of synchronizing a reproductive response to appropriate environmental conditions. Theoretical melatonin target sites may occur at several levels of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal hierarchy, including a direct action on the gonads.
- Kippley, John F, “By the Light of the Silvery Moon: Report #R2,” Couple to Couple League, 1976.
- DeFelice, Joy, R.N., B.S.N., P.H.N, The Effects of Light on the Menstrual Cycle: Also Infertility, 2000.
- https://myfwc.com/conservation/you-conserve/lighting/pollution/
Author: Barbara Horsley has more than 26 years of experience as a licensed massage therapist. She specializes in abdominal massage and Visceral Manipulation™ and is an NCBTMB-approved educator. In addition to being certified in abdominal massage, she also studied biomechanics and restorative exercise. She is also a Certified Women’s Herbal Educator and a graduate of the IWHI Perimenopause & Menopause Certificate Program.