For most people, a morning cup of coffee is non-negotiable. For my husband, it’s more like three cups… and he still gets overwhelmingly tired by the afternoon.
We were looking for a way to both reduce his caffeine intake and improve his wakefulness during the day. I heard about AYO glasses (the world’s first circadian health wearable) that supposedly helps improve sleep quality, reduce fatigue, and benefit overall health and wellness. I was intrigued!
So I contacted the company, they sent us a pair to try out, and we’ve been testing the AYO glasses for the past two months. Read below for an explanation of how circadian rhythm affects our lives, how light therapy can help restore imbalances, and Matt’s impression of the device.
What is circadian rhythm?
Last month, I wrote an article for Outside Run titled 5 Morning Habits for a Successful AM Run. I got to interview Dr. Chris Winter, a board certified neurologist, sleep specialist, and host of the Sleep Unplugged podcast. We talked about circadian rhythms, the 24-hour cycles that are part of the body’s internal clock.
The most common circadian rhythm is the sleep-wake cycle, and it’s aligned with your lifestyle, like when you go to sleep, wake up, work, or travel. Any disruption to that circadian rhythm can throw things off, like when you want to take a nap in the afternoon, feel jet lag when traveling, or have a hard time waking up in the morning.
If your circadian rhythm becomes misaligned with the 24-hour cycle, it can lead to sleep problems, like difficulty falling asleep or waking up; low energy and increased fatigue; weight gain, insulin resistance, and metabolic disorders; and low mood related to depression, anxiety, and seasonal affective disorder. It’s estimated that 70% of people suffer from circadian disruption.
The Sleep Foundation has a great article that explains more about how circadian rhythms work: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/circadian-rhythm
How light therapy can help
Light and darkness are the most powerful factors that affect circadian timing. As the sun starts to set, our body produces a hormone called melatonin that makes you feel sleepy. In the morning, the exposure to light causes melatonin production to stop, which helps you wake up.
Light therapy is when you’re exposed to a special light source that helps reset your sleep-wake cycle. Over 20 years of chronobiology and light therapy research that’s been done at institutions like Harvard, Oxford, and even NASA has shown that it works.
That’s where AYO glasses come in. It’s a circadian health wearable and light therapy device that helps improve sleep quality, reduces fatigue, increases energy, enhances mental and physical performance, and boosts overall health and longevity.
The world's first circadian health wearable. Uses blue light therapy to improve sleep quality, reduce fatigue, boost energy, and improve overall health.
- 20-minute sessions
- Sleek and light
- Rechargeable
- Intuitive app with personalized recommendations
- 60-day money back guarantee
How the AYO glasses work
The glasses come with a protective, hard-sided case and a charging cable. They’re very easy to operate. Simply open the glasses and the blue light will turn on. Then, you wear the glasses for a 20-minute cycle. You can use them while you’re getting ready in the morning, working on the computer, cooking, or watching TV. Once you close the glasses, the light turns off.
AYO also has a neat app that provides personalized recommendations. You answer a few questions and it assesses your circadian health. Then, you can learn about your ideal sleep-wake cycle and get recommendations for when to use the glasses, the best time to sleep and wake up, meal time, caffeine intake, and more.
Our Impressions
The glasses have a ton of 5 star reviews, so I was excited to try them out. But mostly, I wanted to see how they could help Matt. As a doctor, he has a busy schedule seeing 16-18 patients during a typical 8-5 workday. But he’s also a triathlete, so that means he’s often working out early in the morning and/or late at night. Most days he has a mid-afternoon slump where he feels overwhelmingly tired. The goal was to see if #1- the glasses might help him reduce his caffeine intake and #2- decrease the feeling of sleepiness throughout the day.
Matt wore them consistently for 20 minutes, every morning, for about two months. The timing coincided with the shift to daylight savings time, so it was a great opportunity to see how the glasses might help reset his circadian rhythm.
Here’s what he had to say:
His overall experience: “I enjoy using the AYO glasses as part of my morning routine, because I feel like it’s helped me to wake up more efficiently without relying on caffeine as a sole source. I usually have a cup of coffee at home and then another cup or two at work. Now, I don’t have any coffee at home and sometimes one cup on the way to work.”
How he uses the glasses: “In the morning, I put the glasses on while I watch Sports Center, check emails, and do some stretching.”
What he does and doesn’t like: “The interesting thing that I’ve noticed is by using the glasses in the morning, I’ve had less of those episodes in the afternoon where I feel like I need to take a nap. They’re not very intrusive and they’re small. The app is kind of a neat thing, because it gives you some guidance about the best time to use them and the best times to have caffeine. They hold charge for about a week. The only feedback I have is that once the light flashes red, you only have a minute left before the charge runs out, so it doesn’t complete the full cycle.”
Final word
For athletes, getting good sleep is SO important for recovery. From a performance perspective, things like body temperature, flexibility, and muscle strength are linked to circadian rhythm. But for the general population as well, getting a good night’s rest can sometimes feel impossible. If this device can help reduce stress and anxiety, promote better sleep, enhance productivity throughout the day, and lead to better overall health, then I don’t see any downside!
Personally, I like that the AYO glasses are safe for your eyes, because they’re UV and infrared free. Also, it’s a natural solution that works with your body and is non-invasive and 100% drug free.
They offer a 60-day money-back guarantee and regularly send out informative e-newsletters with tips for how to maintain good circadian health that you can apply to your everyday life.
Overall, it’s a pretty cool device. If you’d like to try a pair for yourself, click here to shop AYO glasses. You can buy the glasses by themselves, or add a membership to the app, which in my opinion is 100% worth it for the personalized recommendations.
