Around the world different people are talking about how they use full-spectrum lighting in their day-to-day lives.  We feature some of the best here.

HEALTH
Vitamin D2 vs D3 Vs Sunlight | Health News and Tips
But full spectrum lamps may be much safer than UBV light alone because full spectrum light naturally limits the total amount of vitamin D3 the skin makes in the body. Research has not been done on common full spectrum CFS lightbulbs to …

Usman Imtiaz: Secrets to a Good Night’s Sleep
If there is even the tiniest bit of light in the room it can disrupt your circadian rhythm and your pineal gland’s production of melatonin and seratonin. There also should be as little light in the bathroom as possible if you get up in the middle of the night. … Ideally it is best to increase levels naturally with exposure to bright sunlight in the daytime (along with full spectrum fluorescent bulbs in the winter) and absolute complete darkness at night. …

HOME DECORATING
Feng Shui Your Cubicle | Tri-State Office Furniture …
Sitting under fluorescent lights is a challenge for any cubicle-dweller and you should try to eliminate any glare shining on your face. You can replace the fluorescent tubes with full-spectrum bulbs that offer a healthier, warmer light. …

Creating a Stress-Free Office
Dimmer switches, table lights, angled lamps, as well as overhead lighting can all be used. If your room is not lit naturally from large windows, avoid fluorescent lighting if at all possible and invest in full-spectrum lighting. …

I get tired working in my enclosed office with no outside window …
If you bought a lamp for your cubicle you may get a full spectrum lightbulb, like the kind that people shine into reptile aquariums that replicate sunlight………or do what i did Move to Florida:-). BevD. 26. Aug, 2010. Yup lack of light can cause depression and tiredness. Everyone needs light to help them throughout the day. There are special lamps you can buy that will give you that “light” that you need like what’s outside and not the fluorescent types. …

Bathroom Remodel Boulder County- Ideas, Construction, Residential …
Recessed lighting incorporated into a skylight well gives the illusion of daylight at night. Fluorescent lighting with the proper selection of tube can provide full-spectrum color and even illumination, while minimizing heat. …

Desk and Study Lamps: Which One Suits You? | Home Improvement Power
If you like a really bright light when you study but don’t like halogen bulbs, you can also try using a full spectrum of light bulb in your desk or study lamp. That way you get the brightness of daylight without the headaches that can …

PLANT CARE
Beautiful Orchids: Orchid Care Made Easy
You can substitute natural sunlight with full-spectrum “grow lights” placed about a foot above the orchid’s blooms to create a total of approximately 12 hours of sunlight per day. Temperature. Orchids thrive in temperatures between 55 …

Seed Starting For Beginning Gardeners – 5 Steps to Success …
… provided that they have access to a full day (at least 8 hours) of bright light, most gardeners will need to supplement their seedling lighting with special plant or grow lights that simulate the full spectrum of the sun. …

PHOTOGRAPHY
The Old Coffee Mill and a Call for Flickr & Facebook to increase …
This coffee mug and beans rested atop a full-spectrum light box (you know, the kind used for viewing film negatives), and flash was used to illuminate overhead. Vintage coffee pot collection. Image by H is for Home …

REPTILECARE
What can I feed my wild brown anole lizard?
You must also provide the right kind of lighting. Your lizard needs full-spectrum light that includes UVB. This helps them get the maximum nutritional value from their food. Without proper lighting, your brown anole will not be able to …

What do I need to know about bearded dragons? | Bearded Lizards
The brighter the light, the better. Dragons thrive under a good full spectrum UV source. We recommend active UV/heat or mercury vapor bulbs. These bulbs work double time to give your dragon quality UV and producing heat at the same time …

MISCELLANEOUS
How can I cover up my under eye circles?
Use a light reflecting concealer in a shade lighter than you would normally choose for the colour of your foundation. Apply after your foundation or else you will just rub it off and then finally lightly dust over some powder because this keeps ….. I also use a full-spectrum lamp. This way I could be sure that my makeup wouldn’t look totally different when I step out of the house! In case you decide to buy “Lemonaid” later on, don’t do it. The color effect is excellent, …

TERMINOLOGY
BulbAmerica Official Blog: Color Temperature: A Guide for the …
In lighting especially, you may come across the designation ‘full-spectrum’ light. Full-spectrum light refers to light with a color temperature of 5000K an up. More specifically, full-spectrum means that the light contains all of the …

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1. Who’s talking about full-spectrum lighting – issue 2
2. Who’s talking about full-spectrum lighting – issue 3
3. Who’s talking about full-spectrum lighting – issue 4

“Just when we thought we had sun-smart behaviour sussed – moles diligently monitored, shade sails in the playgrounds, beach kit consisting of wide-brimmed hats, oversized sunnies, rash vest for thekids, sunscreen with a multi-digit SPF and  portable sun shade fit for a sheikh – the pendulum appears to be swinging the other way.”

“Reports of emerging research linking vitamin D with a host of potential health benefits have also highlighted its deficiency in a large proportion of our population – including children.  Around 90 per cent of the body’s supply of vitamin D is generated in our skin by direct exposure to sunlight.  ergo, should we ditch the sunscreen and revert to our wayward sun-worshipping ways?

It’s not that simple – of course.

Experts from various disciplines – including atmospheric physicists, dermatologists, epidemiologists, bone-health scientists and nutritionists – all have their own keen interests in the controversial vitamin.  There’s currently no agreement between them about the best approach to treat deficiency.”

The article is a must-read for anyone interested in the emerging research into the value of Vitamin D and how we as human beings should be absorbing it.  This magazine is available at newstands now or online.

More articles on Vitamin D deficiency

• What Do You Lack? Probably Vitamin D (nytimes.com)
• New Study Finds Link Between Vitamin D Deficiency and Dementia (shoppingblog.com)
• Vitamin D Deficiency and Diabetes (diabetes-treatment.suite101.com)
• Does Vitamin D Prevent Breast Cancer? (lifescript.com)

Related posts:

1. Vitamin D Deficiencies At Epidemic Levels
2. Leading NZ Newspaper Reports On Device For measuring Vitamin D
3. SAD? Then Catch the Sun

A New Zealand engineer has invented a “cutting-edge” device to calculate just how much sunshine we need to stay healthy.

It’s exciting to see such research take place as it opens up the possibilities for full-scale research into the manner in which Vitamin D is absorbed by humans.  The article states:

Around half of New Zealand adults have insufficient vitamin D and 4 per cent of women and 2 per cent of men are vitamin D-deficient.

With figures like that it’s more and more important that such investigation takes place.  The full article is available here:  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10637754

Related posts:

1. Why are we Vitamin D deficient?
2. Vitamin D Deficiencies At Epidemic Levels
3. Sun helps to battle skin cancer?

The main contributors to SAD are reduced daylight hours and low fat diets. SAD affects you with depression, carbohydrate craving (a typical effect of low fat diet), increased need for sleep and lack of energy. It is a self-perpetuating cycle.

The Vitamin D, Melatonin and Diet connection

With the reduced sunlight (read reduced vitamin D production) and colder temperatures comes the reduced immune response to flues and head colds. SAD is emphasised by the following factors: increased melatonin, low cholesterol, low fat diets and sun block, and weight gain. These are all related. Not many health professionals have drawn the connection with low fat diets.

Low fat diets forced on us are probably THE major contributor to vitamin D deficiency. Think about the following vitamin D related conditions: cancer – more cases, heart disease – more cases, diabetes – more cases, obesity- more cases and the list goes on. Modern medical science tells us: Eat low fat – margarine is better than butter, cook with oils instead of animal fats, eggs are bad, low salt, high carbohydrate diets, low proteins (as they are associated with saturated fats), use sun block when you go outside. Most of these are old 1950’s thinking with no science back up.

Vitamin D production is closely related to diet as well as sunlight. 20 minute Summer time sun exposure on arm and face replaces the need to for vitamin D in foods. In winter that is not possible. There are a few another ways to get more Vitamin D:

1) Alternative light sources:

Not all light is the same. Light is rated in degrees Kelvin (k). White sunlight (5500K) will fragment into a spectrum of all colours like a rainbow when it passes through a prism. A normal household incandescent light bulb (approx. 4100K) does not create a true rainbow spectrum. Neither do those long fluorescent tubes with a harsher unflattering colour temperature. The new 5500K broad-spectrum lights, like the Viva-lite, simulating sunlight also include the so important near UV and mid UV range. When you put this light through a prism its spectrum is virtually identical to a rainbow. Both broad spectrum lighting and sunlight (at 5500K) are scientifically reported to help with lowering Stress hormone, Mood improvement, Fewer headaches, Slower aging of the retina, Increased productivity, and Reduced eye strain, increased Vitamin D production in the skin.

2) Foods and supplements

Best vitamin D foods to eat are cold-water ocean fish such as salmon, sardines, herring, and mackerel, foods with saturated fats, butter, eggs; milk and orange juice are now being fortified but both of these are suspect food sources because they are immunologically destructive. If you are a vegetarian and avoid the sun as well as milk and animal fats your vitamin D intake is at risk, especially in winter. You can get the RDA for vitamin D by eating 1.5 kg of beef, 2 kg of corn oil, or 100 kg of cabbage. I wonder who would eat that much of these foods. However the same RDA is reached with 50 gram of salmon, or 2 grams of cod liver oil. Think twice when you have a strict vegetarian diet.

To recap:

By now the light should be on: catch your sunlight, avoid sun block, and replace your indoor lights with Full spectrum Viva-lite light bulbs. The most important winter supplement is Vitamin D 5000IU/day (or take 2 to 3 omega-3 fish oil capsules/day), eat real foods that have vitamin D (oily fish, butter and saturated fats to zonal quantities).
If you are suspecting you are suffering from a combination of depression, sleep problems, repeated colds and flues I strongly advise you to seek professional help.

Click here to read the whole article… (by Peter Riddering, BHSc (CompMed), Naturopath)

Related posts:

1. Vitamin D Deficiencies At Epidemic Levels
2. Why are we Vitamin D deficient?
3. Health, Happiness and Sunlight Closely Linked

What does Wikipedia have to say about the CRI: “The color rendering index (CRI) (sometimes called color rendition index), is a quantitative measure of the ability of a light source to reproduce the colors of various objects faithfully in comparison with an ideal or natural light source. Light sources with a high CRI are desirable in color-critical applications such as photography and cinematography. It is defined by the International Commission on Illumination as follows: ‘Color rendering: Effect of an illuminant on the color appearance of objects by conscious or subconscious comparison with their color appearance under a reference illuminant’.”

As this sounds a wee bit complicated, we’ve prepared an article which (hopefully) explains a bit mor simple what the CRI is and does. First of all, please note that the CRI is different from the light colour or colour temperature of the lamp. Even so-called “daylight” bulbs may have a comparatively low CRI (as per full-spectrum standards anything below 90 is seriously low) and it is the CRI rather than the colour temperature (measured in “K” for “Kelvin” by the way) which makes the real difference when it comes to the light spectrum and ultimately how good you’ll see and be able to do visual tasks under such lighting.

Researchers in Sweden found out that with the CRI being around or above 96 Ra, it is quite possible that we see up to 30% better when compared to lower quality light sources. So what light sources are those which are preferrable for a good CRI which are those who are not:

I light source with a CRI = 100 Ra would be perfect and balanced in terms of colour reproduction, shading, contrast etc. – therefore the lesser the difference from 100 Ra, the better will colours be reproduced under such light. The lower the Ra-value, the worse colours will reproduced and the more difficult it is to see and work under such light.

A last but important word on the note of colour reproduction:

When comparing different light sources, it is only recommendable to compare them in the same colour temperature. It makes therefore not much sense to compare an incandescent 2700K bulb with a 6500K daylight energy saving lamp. For a proper comparison – either the incandescent lamp should be also rated at 6500K colour temperature or the energy saving lamp should be in the 2700K range. Then – and then only – true colour reproduction comparison can take place.

We hope this helps to clear up some confusion around the terms colour reproduction and colour temperature. Thanks for reading

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2. What Light Looks Like
3. Lights for Tulasi

The product consists of a thin, heat-resistant silicone cover that turns a clear bulb into a frosted one:

The background of this idea is that many energy saving lamps look just like the new incandescend (bulb covered) condom lamp.

Related posts:

1. ESL & CFL Lights in Green Gadgets Competition
2. The Colour Rendering Index (CRI)
3. Recycled Water Bottles Make A Nice Lampshade

You’ll not need much to accomplish this nice design yourself, simply a few empty water bottles (many coloured), 2l clear bottle, scissors, blade, adhesive tape will do. Have a look:

To learn about the complete instructions how to make this, follow this link here…

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1. ESL & CFL Lights in Green Gadgets Competition

The top 50 finalists in 2009 had some great ideas. Here is one that we liked – due to the nature of our business of course:
Bulb 2.0 is an energy-saving lamp which goes far beyond the traditional light bulb. Thus it becomes a modern element of design outshining the ordinary energy-saving lamp often perceived as unattractive.

To view all entries in the design competition, please click here…

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Recent studies reveal that natural light not only brightens your home, but actually boosts your spirits and keeps you healthier.

An Indoor Society

Lifestyles today have changed to the extent that as much as 90 percent of our time is spent indoors, away from natural light. Daniel F. Kripke, a researcher with the University of California San Diego, surveyed adults in San Diego, who wore wrist meters to register the amount of sunlight they received during the day.

The study found that the majority was only exposed to sunlight for less than one hour per day and some did not go outdoors at all during a 48-hour period.

Of course, most of us do not have the luxury of being outdoors as much as we would like. That is why daylighting – techniques which optimize the use of natural light to illuminate interiors – is becoming increasingly popular not only for its ability to dramatically transform a room, but also for its natural healing powers.

Lighten Up: Moods and Light Go Hand in Hand

The power of light to rejuvenate the body and mind – treating everything from lethargy to “winter blahs” to clinical depression – has been suspected for thousands of years, but only recently have scientific studies revealed evidence of the correlation.

One of the largest studies on the use of light to treat clinical depression was published in 1992 in the journal Biological Psychiatry. Dr. Kripke administered light treatment to 25 depressed hospitalized patients at a VA hospital.

Patients who were exposed to natural white light were significantly less depressed than those in artificial light.

An estimated 90 percent of humans suffer from seasonal mood changes during the winter months and up to 10 percent of those suffer from the condition known as seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, characterized by fatigue, gloom, change in appetite, fitful sleep and despair.

The most effective treatment for these symptoms is, quite naturally, exposure to more light. Studies indicate that the time between sunrise and sundown is the key factor in SAD, rather than the lack of sunny days or cold temperatures.

Natural Lighting Solutions

Bringing natural light indoors is easy and there are a number of options, including

• installing full spectrum lights
• adding windows
• installing skylights

Thanks to beamsuperstore.com for posting this great article!

Related posts:

1. What is the relationship between sunlight and breast cancer?
2. Sun helps to battle skin cancer?
3. Why are we Vitamin D deficient?