Finding our Circadian Rhythm

Our mothers have warned us, “don’t read under bad lighting”, “don’t watch TV or work on your laptop in a dark room”,”go to bed when the night falls”. Her concern is understandable — the day with natural light is meant for work, while the night or a dark ambience makes the body sleepy and working under such conditions puts considerable strain on our physical and mental state. This natural light and dark cycle that dictates our biological clock is called circadian rhythm, and it is the harmony created by this rhythm that signals our body to be active or dormant. That is why, for ages, humans have planned their lives around the light.

The disruption to this system began with firelight and candlelight. However, these were minor phenomenon. The most dramatic shift came with the invention of electric lighting. It sent the whole system awry as it blurred the line between day and night. The use of bright lights at night didn’t allow the body to wind down completely and disrupted the circadian system. The physical damage of working at night, and against the natural body clock, isn’t just limited to straining our eyes; it includes various diseases prevalent today. Cancer, diabetes, obesity, depression, sleep disorders, reduced productivity, irritability and fatigue can all be linked back to a dysfunctional circadian system. But, artificial lighting is amongst the greatest inventions and a way of life now. It cannot be ignored or lived without.

At Havells, there is a conscious effort to not only create technologically superior products but also enhance and improve human health. And that’s what brought about circadian lighting options in the brand’s portfolio. What is circadian lighting? This lighting system is aimed at correcting the natural body clock and improving our physical and mental health. It was created to follow the flow of natural light — bring the sun indoors — wherein the body perceives artificial light as natural. Basically, they mimic the pattern of the sun.

Take, for instance, our photo-biologically-safe LED clean room lights and trendy LED panels are designed to work in harmony with our circadian rhythm and are able to produce variants of warm-to-white-to-amber light in different intensity just as the Sun does. Here, the blue wavelength light colour for daytime helps improve alertness and enhances productivity. It reduces incidents of fatigue and, additionally, prevents incidents of human errors at the workplace. At night, the lighting system switches over to warm lighting, in turn, signaling the body to relax.

These human centric lights are equipped with tunable technology or automatic adjustment. Additionally, these lights are environment friendly as they do not contain mercury, consume low energy, and produce low running temperature.

Now that we are aware that lighting impacts our health in ways that we did not perceive till some years back, switching over to a favourable lighting solution is critical to optimizing mood, alleviating our overall sense of well-being, and setting our circadian rhythm back in motion. Our mind and productivity are at their best during the day and this promising new range of circadian lighting include advanced products that address the demands of the modern world. As new findings in medical science teach us about a deeper relation between human health and lighting, advancements in state-of-the-art lighting solutions will keep coming about. And Havells will continue to work towards elevating the human experience.