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A blog written by Marina Giménez (University of Groningen) Research has consistently shown that exposure to natural sunlight is crucial for human health and well-being. Sunlight contains both visible and non-visible light; one component of non-visible light is near-infrared (NIR). Therapeutic exposure to doses of NIR light, known as photobiomodulation (PBM), has been shown to be effective for a wide range of conditions. Chrono@Work has conducted a scientific research project for Seaborough. The study was set up to assess the effects of PBM on health and well-being, in a double-blind randomised, placebo-controlled manner. A total of 56 participants with ages ranging from 25 to 64 years with mild sleep complaints participated in the study. Three doses of PBM were tested against no PBM. The study found positive effects on well-being and health, notably improvement in mood, reduction in drowsiness, reduction in some aspects of inflammation, and reduction in resting heart rate for the highest PBM dose tested. These benefits were significant in winter, when it is more difficult to get sufficient sunlight in the Netherlands. The study found no significant effects on sleep or circadian rhythms (the paper can be found here). A follow-up study is currently being prepared to better understand the mechanisms of the systemic positive effects. The study was conducted in people's homes or workplaces, as available technology makes it possible to construct PBM devices that can be easily integrated into people's daily lives. With more people spending their time indoors, this technology facilitates a new way to help improve overall health and well-being with light. The results of this study may open up new ways to create optimal environments for a healthier society by preventing certain negative effects caused by lack of sunlight exposure. If you are looking for a way to improve your well-being and health, consider incorporating photobiomodulation (PBM) into your daily routine, especially on those dark winter days. While, the present effective PBM dose could be achieved after about 12 minutes of sunlight in a summer day, this would only be achieved after 7 hours on a cloudy winter day. Considering that in winter people wear protective clothes with very little skin exposed to sunlight, and that sunny winter days are exceptional occasions in Northern Europe, our PBM dose would rarely ever be reached in the winter months. Remember that it is important to use a PBM setup that provides you with the right dose of NIR light. Although there are no products with Seaborough's technology on the market yet, feel free to contact Dr Anne Berends for more information on technology details or partnerships. We are currently running a follow up study and we are looking for participants. If you would like to receive more information please send us an email to: lichtstudie@chronoatwork.com or visit our website: www.chronoatwork.com

Our participant ILDC (intelligent lighting design & consultation) is launching a crowdfunding Indiegogo campaign for their new product. They have developed a lamp (simply circadian) that changes with the right intensity and light colour according to the 24-hour cycle, they closely replicated the spectral content of daylight through the day, and after sunset the lamp provides a light spectrum optimised for evening and preparing for sleep. Watch their explaining video: They developed the simply circadian lamp because, like air, food and water, the quality of the light we live in is a key determinant of our holistic well-being, productivity, and user experience. Studies show that Human behavioural, biological, psychological, and visual systems are all turned to the 24-hour cycle. Also known as the circadian rhythm; and a balanced circadian rhythm is essential for a balanced life. Most people spend more than 90% of their lives indoors, shielded from daylight and those important benefits. Still most electric light does not meet the intrinsic needs of the people who use it and causes adverse effects with repetitive and/or prolonged exposure. But many people can’t go outside for a few hours every day because they have office jobs, work nightshifts or… you name it. So, lucky for them, these daylight mimicking lamps are on the rise.

A blog by Bruno Smets. Lack of sleep has a substantial impact on people’s health and well-being, as well as on their cognitive performance and work-place productivity. Based on a preliminary literature review, we conclude that the improvement of workplace productivity by exposure to good light might amount up to 410 billion $ per year for five major OECD countries. No reliable data are yet available to estimate the long-term economic impact of good light on health and well-being. DC Studios on Freepik We as the Good Light Group advocate the beneficial effect of the right light at the right time for people’s health and well-being. In this blog a first attempt to quantify the socio-economic impact of good light is made. In 2016 the RAND institute published an extensive study on the impact of sleep deprivation on the economy. This study is seen as a key reference in most sleep publications. For adult people insufficient sleep duration impairs health and well-being, resulting in an increased mortality risk. People sleeping less than six hours a night have a 13% higher mortality risk than people sleeping seven to nine hours, as recommended by the health authorities. People sleeping between six and seven hours still have a 7% higher mortality risk than the reference group. The authors however were not able to translate this substantial health effect into economic data. Lack of sleep also decreases the cognitive performance and work place productivity of adults. For five major OECD countries, i.e.: the US, Canada, the UK, Germany and Japan the RAND team managed to quantify the effect of a lack of sleep on workplace productivity, caused by absenteeism as well as presenteeism. The direct economic cost has been estimated to amount to 680 billion dollars per year. Half of this cost has been attributed to people sleeping less than six hours a night, the other half to people sleeping between six and seven hours a night. Sleeping less than six hours decreases productivity by 2.4 %, while sleeping between six to seven hours still has a negative impact on the work place productivity, amounting to 1.4%. Sleep deprivation will largely vary from one country to another, but is substantial in all cases. In the RAND recommendations to change this for the better, light has nowhere been mentioned. Nevertheless, at that moment in time some smaller studies already indicated that light has a substantial positive impact on sleep duration. Boubekri et al. in 2014 showed that people working in windowless offices on average sleep around one hour less per night than people working in an office with daylight exposure. Combining these results with the ones in the RAND report, would indicate that the economic impact of sleep deprivation on work place productivity might be more than halved, by exposing employees to sufficient light during daytime. The cohort sleeping normally between six and seven hours would get the recommended amount of sleep, i.e.: between seven and nine hours, bringing their productivity to the level of the reference group and almost completely eliminating the economic loss related to it. A substantial improvement of the work place productivity might be anticipated for the cohort sleeping normally less than six hours, because most of them will sleep longer as well. Based on the available data it is however not feasible to quantify this improvement exactly. In the following table it is assumed that half of the cohort sleeping less than six hours will get 6 to 7 hours of sleep after exposure to Good Light and its productivity consequently will improve. The other half on the contrary would not show sufficient improvement in sleep duration to affect their productivity. Based on the improvement of productivity shown, exposing people to the right light at the right time, might save society up to 410 billion $ in direct costs per annum for the five OECD countries studied. Over the last years our insights in the role of light on health and well-being has drastically increased, culminating in the recommendations for the exposure to light during daytime, in the evening and at night by a group of specialists in the field. On the basis of these recent insights, academia must be able to design more extensive studies, enabling us to quantify the effect of good light on workplace productivity more accurately. The socio-economic impact of good light is not solely confined to the direct cost of work place productivity, but also includes its long-term effect on health and well-being. Till now, no reliable data could be surfaced to quantify the additional benefits of good light on long-term health and well-being.

Daylight detector Our body has a daylight detector: Light-sensitive cells in our eyes called spheres. These connect to the part of the brain called the biological clock that regulates our body’s daily rhythms. The discoverers of how the biological clock works were awarded the Nobel Prize. The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for their discoveries of the mechanisms that regulate our circadian rhythm. Our circadian rhythm is regulated by our internal biological clock that anticipates day/night cycles of the earth, this optimises our body rhythms and behaviour. That we and other organisms adjust our body rhythms and behaviour according to the time of day has long been known! But that we also have a circadian clock that regulates this internally in our bodies was not discovered until well into the 20th century. If you want to bring good light in your life, watch also the other steps to a healthier and happier life here: Try | Home | Good Light Group | Foundation Light supports us in everything we do. Good light means the right light at the right time. It has a great positive impact on our experience of energy, sleep, happiness and health.

AYO is the world’s first circadian health wearable that focuses on circadian rhythm and combines chronobiology research and light therapy. The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) named AYO, the winner of the 2022 SleepTech Award in the Sleep Health & Wellness category. NSF’s SleepTech Award recognizes the year’s most innovative efforts in advancing sleep technology and is a feature of NSF’s ongoing work to encourage and celebrate efforts by which sleep science and insight are rapidly incorporated into accessible health products and services. “It is truly gratifying to receive the NSF award and the recognition of our efforts in advancing consumer sleep and health technology. Our mission is to bring better sleep and a healthier lifestyle to millions of people around the world. Good Light is an integral part of AYO's solution and is essential if we want to live healthier, happier, and more active lives." said Branislav Nikolic, CEO, and Founder, of Novalogy Inc. company behind AYO. More info

Good light keeps our body in balance. We evolved for tens of thousands of years living outside under the rhythms of the natural light. Our body rhythms, including alertness, mood and sleepiness respond to the day-night rhythm of our planet. This is all regulated by our biological clock. With the help of light our biological clock keeps our body in balance with the time of the day. Our sleep improves, we feel more rested and feel better. Fact Good light keeps our bodies in balance with the times and improves our energy levels. If you want to bring good light in your life, watch also the other steps to a healthier and happier life here: Try | Home | Good Light Group | Foundation Light supports us in everything we do. Good light means the right light at the right time. It has a great positive impact on our experience of energy, sleep, happiness and health.

We would like to congratulate Luxlight on winning such a great award and are very proud that one of our participants with such a good product was one of the fast-growing companies. The FD Gazellen Awards are presented to the fastest-growing companies in the Netherlands. These are companies that showed high sales growth from 2019 to 2021. Which is extra special because these are also the years when companies had to deal with everything around Covid. Luxlight's success lies in large skylights, energy efficiency, lighting control and comfortable living. They aim to provide all homes in the Netherlands and Belgium with more daylight, raise awareness of the importance of daylight and create beautiful living spaces. More about Luxlight and the award they won!

Ocutune is a Danish brand that wants to reshape our relationship with light for the better. They want to improve people's sleep, health and well-being through the right use of light at the right time. They achieve this by using state-of-the-art integrative lighting sensors, APIs and lighting for rooms, individuals and biodiversity. Photo by Ari He on Unsplash Through their work on GLG's "Science Advisory Board", Ocutune has experienced first-hand how GLG, with a keen focus, manages to merge the state-of-the-art research in the field of Integral Lighting, the physiology it promotes, with the equally important translation of this knowledge and its value to the public. "The result is tangible and useful "Lighting Guidelines" for good light exposure, as seen in the Good Light Guide and Blogs. We believe that the work and knowledge promoted by the Good Light Group can help change our relationship with light, in our 24/7-365 society, for the better." More about Ocutune

Last week marked the 4th group council meeting! Every council meeting, we talked about what we have achieved so far and about the future plans of our group. Our board member Bruno talked about the socio-economic impact of good light. This is a major theme of our activities in 2023. Bruno’s initial conclusion is that good light could save society more than $400 billion a year! You can read is blog about this topic here. You can watch all three parts of the meeting here: Activities of the Good Light group in 2022 Plans for 2023 Socio-economic impact of good light

Your biological clock With the help of light, our biological clock keeps our body in balance with the time of the day. It improves our sleep, we feel more rested, have more energy and feel better! The biological clock, also known as the circadian rhythm, is a natural process that regulates various physiological functions in your body. It is controlled by a group of cells in the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which receives signals from the eyes about the light-dark cycle in the environment. These cells sends signals to other parts of the body to adjust the timing of different processes, such as the release of hormones and the sleep-wake cycle. One important hormone that is controlled by the biological clock is melatonin. Melatonin is responsible for making us feel sleepy and is released in the evening when it is dark. On the other hand, cortisol is a hormone that makes us feel alert, and it is released in the morning when it is light. This helps us to be awake during the day and sleep at night. The biological clock also controls digestion, metabolism, body temperature, and immune system function. It helps to coordinate these processes so that they occur at the most appropriate times for the body. For example, digestion is most efficient during the day when we are awake, and metabolism is highest in the morning when we need energy to start the day. Overall, the biological clock plays a crucial role in maintaining the body's overall balance and well-being. It helps to coordinate different processes and ensures that they occur at the most appropriate times for the body. When the biological clock is disrupted, such as when we travel across time zones, work night shifts, or spend too much time inside it can cause sleep disturbances and other health problems. So, spend at least half an hour outside every day and when inside stay within one metre of a window. If this is not possible install electric light that mimics daylight. If you want to bring good light in your life, watch also the other steps to a healthier and happier life here: Try | Home | Good Light Group | Foundation Light supports us in everything we do. Good light has a great positive impact on our experience of energy, sleep, happiness and health.

We, humans, evolved for tens of thousands of years living outside under the rhythms of natural light. Our body rhythms, including alertness, mood and sleepiness respond to the day-night rhythm of our planet. This is all regulated by our biological clock. If we are indoors a lot, we lack daylight and our internal clock starts lagging behind. This is why you feel sleepy at the wrong time or feel energetic when you should be sleeping. Your internal clock affects your mood, alertness and sleepiness. For your internal clock to run at the right time, it must stay synchronised with the Earth's 24-hour day, also known as the day-night rhythm. So make sure your body functions get the right signals and get at least two hours of daylight every day. If you want to bring good light in your life, watch also the other steps to a healthier and happier life here: Try | Home | Good Light Group | Foundation Light supports us in everything we do. Good light has a great positive impact on our experience of energy, sleep, happiness and health.

The holidays are over, it's chilly, wet and dark, we prefer to sit inside. Yet you need a daily dose of good light: it makes you more energetic, happier and healthier. In the first period of the new year, everyone has already experienced a long period of very short days. The lengthening of the days is also still to come. New Year's resolutions are proving a lot harder to put into practice. The sun shows little face, it is cold and gloomy. It doesn't seem to be getting any light outside. The mood and mood of many people drops to an all-time low. We are clearly in a very depressive period of the year. According to some, the most depressive period. The third Monday of the new year symbolizes this and is called Blue Monday. Especially at this time of year, good light can help prevent the so-called winter dip. A quarter of people in the northern hemisphere suffer from it. A winter dip has specific symptoms such as a great need for sweet food, lifeless, lack of energy, not enjoying things and sleeping longer. Fortunately, this only leads to winter depression in four percent of people. That's when you really need medical help. For the first period of the new year, people really don't have enough daylight. If you don't get any daylight for a day, your biological clock, which regulates all your body functions, lags behind the time on your watch by an average of 15 minutes. That adds up: if you spend a week getting little outside and not seeing daylight, you're easily an hour and a half behind. When you want to go to sleep, your body is not yet ready for a good, deep sleep. The hormone balance is not yet set up for good sleep. Daylight has the right intensity and colour To prevent a winter dip, daylight is the very best. Daylight always has the right intensity and colour and is therefore very good for your health and sense of happiness. Make sure that you go outside for a good amount of time every day and that you also have enough good light inside during the day. Therefore, sit as close to the window as possible with your face or the side of your face facing the window. There should be daylight coming into your eyes. If all that fails, these days there are lamps that mimic daylight as closely as possible. Of course, they can't mimic daylight completely, but enough intense light in your home can certainly help you against the winter blues. The light should be at least five times stronger than you are used to. And much lower in the evening. Jan Denneman Chairman Good Light Group