Is Netflix Sabotaging Your Fertility?
If you're working on optimizing your fertility, you've probably considered the importance of a balanced diet, exercise, and stress management (hopefully you're using my FertileMind App). But there’s another factor that may be affecting your chances of conceiving that most fertility experts and most women overlook: artificial light exposure—especially at night.
Artificial light, whether it’s from your TV, phone, or bedside lamp, can seriously disrupt your metabolic health and contributes to weight gain. And here's the kicker: metabolic health plays a crucial role in fertility. Research has shown that women with metabolic imbalances often struggle more with conception. So, let’s talk about how artificial light at night (ALAN) is getting in the way of your metabolic health and how it could be affecting your fertility.
The Study: TV On at Night Linked to Weight Gain
One eye-opening study found that women who slept with the TV on were 17% more likely to gain up to 11 pounds over a five-year period compared to those who didn’t. That’s a significant amount of weight, and it’s tied to what your body is doing (or not doing) during sleep.
So why does this happen?
Why Artificial Light is Messing with Your Metabolism
Your body’s internal clock, or circadian rhythm, is finely tuned to the natural cycles of light and dark. When the sun goes down, your body starts producing melatonin—a hormone that signals to your body that it’s time to sleep. Melatonin is not just a sleep hormone; it plays a much larger role in regulating metabolic health. Think of Melatonin as the behind the scenes nighttime workers at Disneyland. Once the park closes and all the visitors have gone home the rides are repaired, waste is removed, supplies in the stores are replenished, landscaping is maintained until the sun starts to come up and the visitors come back to the park. Melatonin is also released during exercise (this is a recent discovery) but shows that this amazing antioxidant is protecting your cells all day and all night.
So when you expose yourself to artificial light at night, particularly blue light from screens or bright lights, your body gets confused. It essentially thinks it’s still daytime and suppresses melatonin production. With reduced melatonin levels, your body doesn’t enter the deep, restorative sleep it needs to maintain a healthy metabolism. Over time, this can lead to weight gain, insulin resistance, and other metabolic issues, all of which can negatively impact your fertility. This is similar to the night shift workers arriving late to Disneyland and not getting all of their work completed - so the park is only partially ready for all of the activities that are needed to happen for the guests. Waste piles up, rides aren’t working optimally, some stores are only half stocked etc.
Will an Eye Mask Help?
It seems logical that if you are blocking that harmful light with an eye mask you should be good? Yes? Not so fast.
Melanopsins are light-sensitive photoreceptors primarily located in the retinal ganglion cells of the eye, but they are also also in our skin. While melanopsins in the eye play a crucial role in regulating circadian rhythms by responding to light, research has shown that melanopsins in the skin can indeed detect light as well.
Even with your eyes closed, the presence of artificial light in a room can still send signals to the brain via these melanopsins in the skin, affecting melatonin production and circadian regulation. This is why even if you wear an eye mask, light in the room might still influence your body’s biological processes. It’s one of the fascinating ways the body responds to environmental cues!
How amazing is that? Our bodies are incredibly tuned to the light around us!
Irony Alert: Supplements vs. Light Exposure
Here's where things get really interesting (and ironic!). Many women are taking supplements like N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a popular antioxidant, to protect egg quality by reducing oxidative stress. But at the same time, exposing themselves to artificial light at night, which suppresses melatonin—the very hormone that naturally protects eggs from oxidative stress.
It’s like trying to fill a bucket with water while a hole in the bottom keeps draining it out! The efforts you make with supplements can be undermined by something as simple as keeping the TV on while you sleep. Learn more about Red Light Therapy and Supplements.
The Melatonin-Fertility Connection
You might be wondering, how does all of this affect your fertility?
Melatonin is not only important for sleep but also has antioxidant properties that protect your eggs from oxidative stress. This makes it a crucial hormone for women trying to conceive. When melatonin levels are disrupted, your egg quality can suffer, making conception more difficult. Moreover, metabolic health is tied to hormone regulation and glucose/insulin regulation—imbalanced hormones can lead to issues like PCOS which is a leading cause of infertility in women. (Melatonin supplements don’t get ‘into’ the cells but can help with sleep).
How to Optimize Your Nighttime Environment for Fertility
The good news is there are simple steps you can take to improve your nighttime environment and boost your fertility:
Turn Off the TV: If you’re falling asleep with the TV on, try turning it off at least 30 minutes before bed. Better yet, keep your bedroom a screen-free zone.
Stop Eating After Sunset: Eating after dark confuses your metabolism which evolved NOT to eat after dark (imagine our cave dwelling ancestors before they had fire - at night they slept. (Firelight from wood is in the near infra-red spectrum which is why it also feels hot).
Ditch the Bright Lights: Swap out bright white or blue lights for warmer, dimmer options in the evening. You can even use red light, which doesn’t interfere with melatonin production.
Wear Blue Light Blocking Glasses: If you need to use your phone or laptop at night, wear blue light blocking glasses to reduce exposure.
Prioritize Natural Sunlight During the Day: Getting outside during the day, especially in the morning, helps regulate your circadian rhythm and promotes healthier melatonin production at night. NIR wavelengths are available all day but are at it’s highest levels at sunrise and sunset and these wavelengths penetrate deeply into the body supporting your fertility. This is usually one of the first steps I suggest to my clients before tackling nutrition, exercise and stress management. It’s a small change and sustainable - getting the light right is essential.
Small Changes, Big Impact
Every fertility nutritionist is talking about the importance of diet and egg quality, and some, like Lily Nichols, have even highlighted the connection between metabolic health and fertility. As she puts it:
"Egg quality and maternal metabolic health leading up to conception play a much stronger role in fertility than previously recognized."
By making a few adjustments to your evening routine and reducing your exposure to artificial light, you can support your metabolic health and, in turn, improve your fertility. It’s a small but powerful shift that could make a big difference on your path to conception.
If you’re serious about optimizing your fertility, don’t overlook the impact of artificial light on your health. By prioritizing darkness at night and natural light during the day, you’re setting your body up for better metabolic function, hormone balance, and a healthier environment for conception.
Ready to get started?
Let’s leave the artificial light behind and focus on creating a space where your body can thrive.
Tracy
