At Tailored Lighting, "Where SoLux was Invented" our position has always been the best light source to treat SAD is one which replicates the daylight spectrum more accurately than any source on the market. Our technology and efforts have been verified by leading medical equipment, and light therapy companies in Europe that have incorporated the SoLux light source in their products for treatment of SAD related disorders.
Daylight or Natural light is an important yet over looked part of a healthy lifestyle program. Changes in your hormone balance occur without enough exposure to natural light. The disrupted hormone balance can lead to a lethargic and depressive mood. The symptoms associated with a lack of natural light are more problematic in the winter when so much time is spent indoors and outdoors time is spent all covered-up with clothes and sunglasses. The type of weather your area experiences, cloudy days vs. sunny days, also has an impact on your total natural light exposure.
How Daylight Light Benefits Your Health
Daylight is essential for good health because of it’s
beneficial affect on hormone balance. Your brain requires a certain amount of
natural light each and every day. The natural light that hits your retina (light
gathering area inside the eye) is transmitted to an area of your brain called
the pineal body. The pineal is the brain center for the production of the
hormone melatonin. Melatonin regulates daily body rhythms, most notably the
day/night cycle (circadian rhythms). Normal melatonin levels are important for
natural sleep cycles and proper immune system function.
Seasonal Affective Disorder SAD
Between September and April in the Northern Hemisphere
(March thru October in Southern Hemisphere), certain people who are light
sensitive start experiencing something called the “winter blues.” Seasonal
Affective Disorder or SAD is the most extreme version and its affect on the body
and mind of a lack of natural light. People affected by SADS exhibit extreme
depressive behavior and complain of a lack of energy, increased need for sleep, a craving for sweets and
exhibit weight gain as a result of their sedentary nature and unhealthy dietary
habits.
Symptoms usually begin as daylight hours become shorter, peak in the winter and
then usually resolve themselves in the spring as daylight hours become longer.
The National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland had this to say
about SAD, “Along with food, air, and water, sunlight is the most important
survival factor in human life.” This is important to think about in this time
of generalized sun phobia.
How to Get Healthy Levels of Natural Light
During the summer, getting enough natural light is as easy as taking a walk for 10 to 15 minutes without sunglasses. Without sunglasses over the eyes, natural, full spectrum light easily passes into the eye, striking the retina and positively affecting your brain. In the winter, weather permitting, taking a 10 to 15 minute walk midday provides at least some natural light exposure. To augment your outdoor natural light time you require two important components, light with the same spectrum as daylight, SoLux, and means to achieve equivalent exposure time, Tailored Lighting Fixtures.
SoLux is the only light source in the world to accurately
reproduce the daylight spectrum. No other light source known to us replicates daylight more accurately and
precisely than SoLux. The outstanding success stories are testament
to our commitment to producing the best daylight simulation product for SAD and
other light deprivation aliments.
To obtain the equivalent exposure from a 10 minute walk outdoors you would need to work or read under a SoLux light for an hour and a half. Achieving this is easier that you think. Many of us work at our desks for 8-10 hours a day. With Tailored Lighting fixtures providing daylight at your side, your brain will think you have been outdoors all day long. See below for the full range of task lamps offered by Tailored Lighting. All our task lamps use the same SoLux daylight bulb specifically developed for SAD treatment. SoLux is also used in many kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms, and even closets. Use and exposure to SoLux in all these rooms will result in a winter time experience that will be much more tolerable, and most say pleasant. We offer track lighting for general use around the house, and conversion/adaptor fixtures for existing recessed fixtures. Our most economical fixture is our clip-on fixture. Clip it anywhere you need daylight such as your sewing machine, computer, or work bench. We also sell art lights to illuminate paintings on the wall, and head board reading lights for the last dose of daylight before going to sleep. Winter time does not need to be a time of gloom and suffering anymore, literally tens of thousands of customers have discovered the value and benefits of SoLux in their everyday lives.
About the Competition
Much has been written about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and the use of "Full Spectrum" light sources. The FDA issued a "Health Fraud Notice", stating claims for a full-spectrum lamp were a "gross deception of the consumer". Full spectrum light sources often are no more than glorified incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs. We analyzed the spectrum of a number of popular "full spectrum" SAD light sources and found they did not qualify as daylight sources.
Learn more about "Full Spectrum Lights"
Learn more about SoLux. and SoLux Specifications.
Full accounting of SoLux Products.
See below for a number of ways to incorporate SoLux Daylight into your environment. For SAD applications we recommend specifying the SoLux 4700K 36 degree lamp in the fixture of your choice.