Exposure to bright light during the day and darkness at night is essential for maintaining optimal mental health.

“this is a recent study that shows that the brighter people's days are and the darker their nights, the healthier they are mentally.”

The circadian system requires a light-based synchronization signal to maintain a 24-hour cycle because endogenous clocks drift over time.

“They're not synchronized. Their clock is there but they're drifting out of phase because their clock's only good to you know 24.2 hours or 23.8 hours. Little by little they're drifting. So you need a synchronization signal because otherwise you have nothing to actually confirm when the rising and th”

Dr. Cowan asserts that humans need to live in alignment with circadian cues, particularly sunlight, to maintain healthy neurochemistry and metabolic function.

“Ideally, it is sunrise because the ratio of blue and red is really special at that time of day to help optimize the cortisol response. And um then UVA rise comes shortly after and that helps to anchor in the circadian rhythm in tissues locally in the eyes and the skin, other tissues as well.”

He claims that exposure to bright light during the day and minimizing blue light at night is essential for regulating melatonin and maintaining hormonal balance.

“And so if you don't get bright light during the day, you're not going to have optimal melatonin levels. you're not going to have high neurotransmitter and hormone levels.”