Infrared and near-infrared light can penetrate as much as an inch into tissues right through clothing unlike natural sunlight.

LED lighting is the greatest, right? Low energy draw, long lasting bulbs… What’s not to like?

Well, your body doesn’t particularly like them. LEDs emit mainly blue light, and little, if any, light in the infrared and near-infrared wavelength, which our bodies use to… pic.twitter.com/MsS8eRfrT3

— “Sudden And Unexpected” (@toobaffled) January 30, 2025

LED lighting is not particularly healthy.  German doctor, Alexander Wunsch, a photobiology expert, explains the hidden dangers.  With the shift to energy-efficient LEDs, we've lost out on the health benefits that infrared radiation in traditional incandescent bulbs and candlelight used to provide.  Infrared and near-infrared light can penetrate as much as an inch into tissues right through clothing, unlike natural sunlight.  LEDs lack the near-infrared light of the eyes and mitochondria, where energy is produced.  Infrared light can actually produce energy in your cells.  Overexposure to the blue wavelength light that's emitted by LEDs can lead to serious health issues, like macular degeneration, which is the number one cause of blindness as we age.  It also blocks melatonin release.  In addition, these LEDs flicker rapidly, which isn't visible to us but it can disrupt cellular function and impact our mental and hormone health.  So Dr. Wunsch suggests sticking with warm, clear incandescent bulbs, the old-fashioned kind if possible, especially in the evening, and getting natural sunlight exposure during the day.  Now it's not practical to avoid LEDs altogether, I get it, but when you need LED lighting, don't just buy the cheapest ones.  Buy bulbs with a low flicker rate, a high CRI, and R9 values, above 90 if you can, because those are closest to natural light.  The Centric Series by Waveform Lighting and the Soraa Vivid A19 at polar-ray.com are good choices.