Light + Sleep: Afro hair hacks
Lack of/ interrupted/ broken or irregular (sleeping at different times each day) causes havoc on our Androgens such as testosterone; dihydrotestosterone (DHT); and their prohormones, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) and androstendione (A) which are responsible for hair growth.
As mentioned in our prior post disrupted circadian rhythms can cause hair loss due to abnormal sleep cycles, according to the American Journal of Pathology. Another study found that lack of sleep reduces the amount of testosterone in the body by up to 26.4% and 32.6% reduction in androstenedione.
To ensure a solid night’s sleep, and keep our hair healthy, which is required for optimum scalp health, growth and natural shine this is what we do:
Reduce dopamine spikes after 6pm, and keep the lights off.
Being exposed to high-energy content or things that rile us up or cause a significant reaction mental reaction to information is fun at the time, but it won’t ease you into sleep. Think about it: you’re putting a baby down for a nap, you will not play loud music or start a loud, evocative conversation next to the baby. You will be quiet, you will read a story in low light; you prepare the baby for sleep. Why on earth do you think you could ever fall asleep under different conditions?
Therefore, permit us to ask: what’s your night light like? Do you use a Kindle? An evening bedside light? Or a candle?
I hear you scoff. Candles, aka firelight, aka red light helps us fall asleep quicker, deeper, and easier compared to blue light, such as the backlight on your kindle, the light on your phone, laptop, or night light.
Blue light naturally wakes us up, kickstarts our metabolism and tells us to wake up and go and find food, that is why when we wake up with the sun, just like non-nocturnal animals, our circadian rhythms are reset and we naturally rise during the daytime when we historically could see the plants, see the animals we may have skinned, and where the rivers where for water. These are not activities homosapiens evolved to engage in at night under darkness, hence why when the sun goes down, we are supposed to sleep, not binge something on Netflix, not throw a party, but sleep. It is how we evolved. But back to red light. You can buy a cheap blue-blocking light, or even candles if you wish, to read by at night. When I started doing this, within a few days I was conditioned by the red light, as soon as my candles were lit (always post-brushing teeth, phone off an hour prior), it signified reading in bed and falling asleep. It makes a huge difference.
No one is talking about this in regard to Afro hair growth, Afro and curly hair hacks or Afro and curly hair scalp issues, length retention or general Afro and curly hair health. It’s concerning. Allow us to lift the lid and share what we know from lived experience and scientific research: Beyond Curls.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/01485018308990167
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12843160