Blue Light from LEDs: The Silent Mitochondrial Killer
Updated
Let’s set the record straight about fake LED lights. To put it bluntly, they are slowly killing us and were never intended for health. Instead, LED lights were designed for profit margins, energy quotas, and supply chain convenience. Someone figured out how to squeeze more lumens out of a blue diode, slap a white phosphor on top of it, and, voila—light! But not so fast. LED light—which turns off and on hundreds of times per second at a speed so fast our eyes don’t consciously register it—isn’t light the way our bodies understand it. Instead, it’s a flickering synthetic weapon that wreaks havoc on our mitochondria, the electric life force of every cell in our body.
Dr. Glen Jeffery, a neuroscientist at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, has been sounding the alarm about this sinister light, stating what many intuitively know but are perhaps too hypnotized to piece together. And it’s not complicated: LED lights damage mitochondrial function. They reduce membrane potential—the basic electrical gradient that lets your cells breathe and produce energy. Studies on mice exposed to LED light clearly show that their retinas are damaged (remember, blue light from computer screens is extremely harmful to the human retina), and their cells struggle. The system breaks down slowly and invisibly, which is precisely why no one necessarily notices.
The LED craze began based on the notion that LED bulbs save electricity. OK, great. But along with that idea came the manipulated illusion that energy efficiency means that it is perfectly safe for the human body, which, let’s not forget, is designed to be connected and in tune with our natural world. Though perhaps not perfect examples, let’s recall that margarine was supposed to be healthier than butter, and diet soda with fake sweetener better than sugar. Yet, each left a path of destruction while yielding countless new patients for our bottom-line-based healthcare system. Once again, we swapped natural design for industrial fallacy, centered around profit and control.
Every LED bulb—yes, even the ones labeled “warm”—emits a spike of short-wavelength light known as blue light, which doesn’t have to look blue to do damage. The short-wave spike is baked into the spectrum, and altogether gone is the red light, which is a healthy light that actually helps our body recover. Red and near-infrared are essential for cell repair, mitochondrial health, vision, metabolism, skin, inflammation, and overall resilience. But instead of embedding these beneficial wavelengths into our environments (via lightbulbs, for example), we now need specialized red-light devices just to simulate what sunlight gives us for free.
Andrew Huberman has joined the chorus of logical voices (like Dr. Jack Kruse), making this distinction clear. In his research and public discussions, Huberman lays it out cleanly. He notes that red and near-infrared light—long wavelengths—support mitochondrial function, boost cellular energy, assist in vision, skin health, metabolic regulation, and muscle recovery. These wavelengths are found in natural sunlight and were once part of incandescent bulbs. Now? They’re nearly absent from LED lighting, replaced by a blue-dominant waveform that revs up a stressful alertness, while tanking sleep and hormonal balance.
Huberman’s no-nonsense advice includes integrating red light therapy via panels, which are particularly useful for shift workers or those with limited daylight exposure. He also emphasizes the non-negotiable habit of morning sunlight exposure—an essential for resetting the circadian rhythm and reinforcing the body’s internal clock. And he warns clearly: coherent laser light (like the light found in some cheap therapy gadgets) can damage tissue. He recommends sticking with non-coherent red/IR light for supplemental light.
The catastrophe taking place under LED lights is real. Many have felt it—that dry, dead sensation behind our eyes after hours under LEDs. The fatigue from such a whole-body attack doesn’t easily go away. Even worse, it produces a sleep that’s shallow and fractured. While likewise unknowingly experienced by many, these aren’t just personal problems—they are systemic consequences of living under the wrong light.
The good news is that it can be fixed. How? First, we must stop outsourcing our biology. Wake up and get outside first thing in the morning to let real sunlight hit our eyes and skin. Use incandescent bulbs at home if you can find them—they are still available, for now. When the sun sets and night falls, turn off the overhead LEDs, dim everything, or go full red. Importantly, wear authentic blue-light-blocking glasses if you must be exposed to LED light. These practical steps to preserve your eyes and your cell health are not luxury wellness tips. Instead, they are required steps for damage control.
Like so many other aspects of our current culture, fake light is more than a design flaw. Indeed, it is a symbol of a society so removed from its biological origins that we now pay top dollar for red-light panels to undo the damage caused by the destructive bulbs that we mindlessly installed in our lamps and ceilings. It is time for a reality check! Importantly, the human body was not created to live in digital cages under alien light frequencies that destroy our ability to function at a top-notch pace.
What is the solution? Take control! Pay attention to upcoming key changes to LED bulbs, with the next milestone set for 2028. The short-sighted ongoing DOE agenda around LED bulbs completely ignores the non-illuminating roles of light (natural light), which include signaling the brain via intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (please watch the video below).
Beyond that, let’s each bring the sun back into everyday life and stop letting strangers program our biology with flickering bulbs that hijack our cells. Remember, our bodies inherently know what they need—that is why sunlight, nature, and the beach bring such pleasure, peace, and a sense of well-being.
