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Why Morning Light Might Be the Most Underrated Health Habit You’re Ignoring

Read time: 5 minutes

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I grew up in Ireland and then spent the majority of my 20s in London, so my life has always involved me doing two things:

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1. Mentioning the weather as small talk.
2. Complaining about said weather.

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It's just kinda our thing 😂

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But since moving to Barcelona a couple of years ago, my relationship with the weather has changed, and all for the right reasons.

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I'm forever stopping myself from looking too smug on calls with clients who are back in the UK and Ireland, complaining about how terrible it is right now. It's not a storm, it's grey skies, and if it ain't grey skies, it's the endless drizzle that sucks your will to live.

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But I sh*t you not... it hasn't stopped raining this year! I'd say 80% of January was rainy.

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So when I saw the sun peek its beautiful little orange head out from the horizon this morning, I felt an immediate uplift in my mood.

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And that's exactly where I'm going with today's newsletter by answering a question that countless people can't wrap their heads around ⤵

Does morning sunlight exposure improve your health?

Let's get stuck into it...

Before we moved over here in 2023, I lived in London for 8 years. Most of those years were spent in Clapham, and the last 18 months right next to Wembley Stadium.

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Now, we lived in a really nice apartment, but christ almighty was it a tough place to navigate in the winter.

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I know, first-world problems over here, but it was cold, grey, and not an ounce of green grass in sight. I'd get up at 6 am to walk Bella around the outside of the stadium, and then it was straight into client calls for the day.

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It took me a while to realise that during the winter months I was getting feck all sunlight. It was around this time that I started to do some research into the subject, and it didn't take me long to understand the very real consequences that low levels of sunlight exposure can have on your health.

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I wasn't seeing light for 90% of my day, which resulted in me buying a light that supposedly mimics the sun and staring directly into it for 10 minutes first thing in the morning... I sh*t you not 😂

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Did it work? I've got no idea.

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Did it make my eyes go all funny afterwards? It sure did 🫠

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But there was method behind my madness... I think.

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You see, sunlight exposure has a bigger impact on our health than most realise, and it goes far beyond the vitamin D you receive from the sun.

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Morning light is one of the strongest biological signals your body receives all day, and most people are missing it completely.

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Not because they’re lazy, but because modern life has quietly broken thousands of years of evolution.

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Light directly impacts our:

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• Mood
• Sleep
• Focus and productivity levels
• Hormones,
• Immune system

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So light can have a tremendously positive impact on our health, but how exactly does it work its magic?

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First, you need to understand that your body works off various rhythms that are plodding along each day with impressive precision. When you wake up and go to sleep, when you're hungry, and other processes run on these rhythms, which are overseen by one giant internal 24-hour rhythm called your circadian rhythm.

This is the ‘big daddy’ of rhythms, this “rhythm is a dancer, it's a soul's companion, you can feel it everywhere”

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Did you sing that?

Reply and let me know if you did 😂

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When you’re on point with key elements of your health, your circadian rhythm is in flow state.

Your energy is up ⬆️

Your fat levels are down ⬇️

Your sex drive is up ⬆️

Your discipline is strong 💪🏻

Where does light come into the equation?

Well, it comes into the equation swinging and screaming as…

Light plays a key role in your sleep and wake cycles.
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In the morning, light nudges your body to raise cortisol levels, the hormone responsible for alertness and energy. This is part of your natural wake-up process, helping your brain switch on and your body move from rest into action.
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Now cortisol is commonly referred to as the ‘stress hormone’ and something we want less of, but if your goal is peak productivity, then you want it flooding your system early in the AM.

To maximise the benefits of early morning sunlight, aim to get 10-15 minutes as early as possible.

If it’s cloudy outside, fret not, it still works, you simply need to up the time you expose yourself to the sun to closer to 20 minutes.

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If my sad winter story in London is closer to your current situation, use bright lights, ideally overhead, until the afternoon.

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This level of light exposure helps with the release of key productivity and energy chemicals like dopamine and adrenaline, as well as optimising cortisol levels.

It’s going to come as no surprise that the advice for managing light exposure as the day draws on is quite the opposite.

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Back when humans were fighting dinosaurs and hunting woolly mammoths, the light was a natural alarm clock.

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You slept when it was dark and woke when it was bright… but fast forward to 2026 and we’ve got more artificial light coming our way than a horny 14 year old who just discovered the internet exists 😂

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If you’ve been reading my content for a while you’ll definitely have heard me talk about pesky blue light.

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Short-wavelength “blue” light, the kind emitted by your laptop, tablet, or phone, is especially disruptive to sleep because it closely mimics the blue-rich daylight our biology evolved to wake up to.

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The reason it’s so disruptive is because the blue wavelengths suppress a hormone that plays a key role in the sleep and wake cycle.
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Most think it’s only a supplement that helps you sleep, but ‘melatonin’ is a hormone that is naturally produced by your body in the late evening to help you sleep.

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If you don’t have any melatonin in your bloodstream, you ain’t going to snoozy snoozy land.

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Too much blue light suppresses this process, shifting your internal clock into daytime mode and making it harder to fall asleep at night.

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Devices are as much a part of our lives now as our arms and legs, so how you manage your screen exposure is key to better quality sleep. A few things I do that will help you:
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• Automatic 'night shift' mode on your phone each night. It reduces blue light.
• Turn off all the bright lights at night. Only pyschos keep them on anyway.
• Use blue light blocking glasses like the ones I'm modelling above.

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There’s evidence that getting bright sunlight, not just in the morning but also in the afternoon, helps reinforce your internal clock and improves your ability to fall asleep later that night. Research shows that exposure to bright light during the middle of the day boosts daytime alertness and supports healthy sleep at bedtime by keeping your circadian rhythm well-anchored (1).

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There’s also emerging evidence that morning light can influence appetite hormones, particularly when sleep is compromised. In a controlled laboratory study, researchers exposed sleep-restricted adults to bright morning light and compared it to dim light conditions. What they found was interesting (2).

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After morning light exposure, participants showed higher levels of leptin, the hormone that signals satiety, and lower levels of ghrelin, the hormone that drives hunger.

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In simple terms, the light exposure shifted appetite signals in a direction that supports better appetite control. This does not mean morning light is a fat loss tool on its own, but it does reinforce a bigger point. When your circadian rhythm is better aligned, the hormones that regulate sleep, energy, and appetite behave more predictably. And when those systems drift, hunger regulation often drifts with them.

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If 'easier' fat loss wasn't enough of a benefit, researchers in 2025 hypothesised that morning light may boost melatonin production and help reduce blood pressure at night, therefore reducing one's risk of cardiovascular disease.

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Their message was clear in that a lack of morning sunshine could lessen the natural overnight drop in blood pressure and potentially lead to issues. The fact that exposure to bright light in the morning is a non-invasive, low-risk, and low-cost method makes it a habit that is hard to ignore (3).

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A large 2025 study (4) looked at over 1,700 adults and simply asked a basic question:

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When do people get sunlight, and how does that relate to their sleep?

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The answer was pretty clear ⤵

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• People who got more morning sunlight slept better.
• For every extra 30 minutes of light earlier in the day, sleep timing shifted earlier by roughly 20 minutes. So, not more sleep, but better-timed sleep.
• Morning light was also linked to better sleep quality overall.
• The effect was much weaker later in the day, which tells us something important. If you want your sleep to feel easier and more consistent, light early in the day matters far more than light later on.

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There you have it, a very clear understanding of how light impacts your health.

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So start treating yourself like a sexy sunflower and go do some photosynthesis.

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Your health, sleep, mood, fat loss, and energy levels will thank you.

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And remember, if you've ever got any questions or want some advice, all you've got to do is hit that reply button.

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I'll catch you later in the week.

Quote for the day

Mark Gray

FOLLOW ME

P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are a few ways I can help you:
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1. ​My NEW sleep ebook is live — and yours free. If you’re tired of feeling tired, this guide breaks down how to fix your sleep and boost energy, focus, and recovery. Grab your copy by clicking here now.​
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References
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1. Anderson, Austen R., et al. “Does Sunlight Exposure Predict Next-Night Sleep? A Daily Diary Study Among U.S. Adults.” Journal of Health Psychology, vol. 30, no. 5, 2025, pp. 962–975
2. Cappuccio, Francesco P., et al. “Sleep Duration and All-Cause Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies.” Sleep, vol. 33, no. 5, 2010, pp. 585–592.
3. Groot, Cathy, et al. “The Effects of Physical Activity on Cognition, Neuropsychiatric Symptoms, and Quality of Life in People with Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials.” Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 2025
4. Cappuccio, Francesco P., et al. “Sleep Duration and All-Cause Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies.” Sleep, vol. 33, no. 5, 2010, pp. 585–592

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Any guidance related to training, nutrition, supplementation, or lifestyle is general in nature and not a substitute for personalised medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your health routine.