How Red Tinted Glasses for Sleep Changed My Life

I've always been a terrible sleeper. For as long as I can remember, I’ve struggled to fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up feeling rested. According to my mom, this has been an issue since I was a newborn. Apparently, I cried for the first three months of my life, with my exhausted parents resorting to nightly drives just to calm me down.

This trend continued into my adolescence and worsened as I entered high school. In 9th grade, I got my first iPhone and, like many in my generation, spent hours scrolling late into the night. Most nights, I stayed up until 2–3 AM and dragged myself out of bed at 7 AM for school. Back then, it didn’t seem to bother me; I could function on 4–5 hours of sleep without too much trouble.

The Toll of Sleep Deprivation

In my 20s, the effects of sleep deprivation caught up with me. I felt perpetually tired, irritable, and unfocused. On top of that, I was constantly getting sick—no matter the season, I seemed to have a cold.

Although I always knew my poor sleep habits were part of the problem, I’d convinced myself I was “just a bad sleeper.” It didn’t help that my dad also slept poorly, usually waking up at 3–4 AM after only a few hours of rest.

Searching for Solutions to Improve Sleep Naturally

Finally, I hit a breaking point. I decided to commit to improving my sleep quality, no matter what it took. I bought a WHOOP to track my sleep patterns and experimented with various strategies to improve sleep naturally:

• Changing my diet, first going vegetarian and later reintroducing red meat.
• Quitting alcohol.
• Taking melatonin supplements.
• Reading before bed.
• Listening to bedtime stories or calm music.
• Getting into bed earlier.
• Putting my phone in another room.
• Turning off the blue light on my devices.

Despite all these efforts, nothing worked. I still felt exhausted, and the WHOOP confirmed it—I was getting only 15 minutes to 1 hour of restorative sleep per night.

The Red-Tinted Revelation

Just as I was ready to give up, a friend introduced me to red tinted glasses for sleep. He explained that unlike standard blue light blocking glasses, red lenses block a broader spectrum of light, especially the wavelengths that suppress melatonin—the hormone that makes you feel sleepy. Skeptical but desperate, I gave them a try.

The results were astounding. My restorative sleep skyrocketed from under an hour to 1–4 hours per night. All I had to do was put on the glasses about an hour before bed.

This wasn’t a coincidence. WHOOP, a company known for tracking health data, now sells its own red-tinted glasses. Even Andrew Huberman, a prominent neuroscientist, endorses their effectiveness and partnered with ROKA to create a similar product.

How Red-Tinted Glasses Transformed My Life

With these glasses, I finally experienced restful nights. I fell asleep easily, stayed asleep, and woke up feeling refreshed. Over time, the benefits extended beyond sleep:

• Improved immunity: No more constant colds.
• More energy: I felt alert and vibrant throughout the day.
• Enhanced focus: I could tackle tasks with clarity.
• Better mood: The frustration and anxiety that once clouded my days began to dissipate.

It’s incredible how something as simple as red tinted glasses transformed not just my sleep, but every aspect of my life.

Why Red-Tinted Glasses Are a Simple Solution

The best part? These glasses don’t require drastic lifestyle changes. I didn’t need to adhere to a strict bedtime or give up evening screen time. I can still use my phone, watch TV, and keep the lights on—red lens glasses do the work of blocking the harmful light spectrum.

If you’re searching for a way to improve sleep naturally, I can’t recommend red lens glasses enough. They changed my life, and they can change yours too.