176 Achieving pH Balance to Treat Specific Ailments
Benefi ts of Sleeping in Complete Darkness
Many indigenous people don’t have windows or any other opening in
the walls of their huts because they believe in sleeping in complete
darkness.^3 This makes sense in light of what we know about the hor-
mone melatonin. The fl ow of melatonin, which puts us to sleep, needs
complete darkness for optimal function. The slightest amount of light
reduces melatonin production. Dr. David Blask, an oncologist at Bassett
Research Institute in Cooperstown, New York, lowered the melatonin
production of rats by exposing them to light while they slept. He then
transplanted malignant tumors into the bodies of two groups of rats:
one group had been exposed to dim light while asleep and the other
group slept in total darkness. The tumors in the rats exposed to faint
light grew much faster than those in the rats that slept in total darkness.
This is probably because melatonin suppresses estrogen production and
estrogen has been linked to cancer. Studies of blind women in Sweden
and Finland support Blask’s experiment. Those women who couldn’t
perceive any light at night had 60 percent less breast cancer. With the
increase in the perception of light by some of the blind women, their
rate of breast cancer rose. The decrease in cancer in those women who
could perceive no light in the darkness proves that the less light expo-
sure while sleeping, the greater the melatonin production, which auto-
matically lowers estrogen. How dark then should we make the rooms
in which we sleep? Since tests have shown that the eyes respond to
moonlight and light from the street that fi lters through a window,
either windows should be covered with opaque blinds that let no light
through or eye masks should be worn.
The quality of sleep, however, depends not only on blocking out all
light from the eyes but also on absorbing light through the eyes while we
are awake. In fact, strong light works better than any natural supplement
or dr ug medicat ion in putt ing people to sleep at night. Those who develop
SAD (seasonal affective disorder) from lack of sunlight during the winter
and who use high-intensity, full-spectrum fl uorescent lights to alleviate
their symptoms of depression discover that they also sleep better.
How could exposure to intense natural or artifi cial light improve the
quality of sleep when the act of sleeping is triggered by darkness?
According to Dr. Dale Edgar, during the day, the more light we are
exposed to, the more pressure builds up to sleep. Light, then, is not only