How Artificial Light Undermines Your Liver Health

Dr. Joseph Mercola - Take Control of Your Health

Briana Mercola

Health & Fitness, Alternative Health

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 7 January 2026

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Your circadian rhythm controls vital organ functions, including how your liver processes nutrients and filters toxins. Exposure to artificial blue light disrupts this rhythm, triggering a chain reaction that destabilizes liver health
German researchers found that long-term artificial light exposure alters liver gene expression and melatonin production, contributing to the development and progression of fatty liver disease over time
An earlier controlled animal study showed that constant light combined with a high-fat diet led to more weight gain, insulin resistance, and gut-derived liver inflammation than the same diet under normal lighting
The circadian disruption caused by artificial light doesn't just affect the liver; it's linked to obesity, Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hormone-driven cancers, and higher rates of depression and anxiety
Simple steps like dimming household lights after sunset, wearing blue-blocking glasses in the evening, and limiting screen time at night can help realign your circadian rhythm and protect your liver

Transcript

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0:00.0	Is your nighttime screen habit quietly training your liver to work offbeat and store more fat?
0:05.0	Welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom. Stay informed with quick, easy to listen
0:10.0	summaries of our latest articles, perfect for when you're on the go. No reading required.
0:15.0	Subscribe for free at Mercola.com for the latest health insights.
0:18.0	Hello and welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom.
0:21.6	I'm Ethan Foster, and today we're examining how artificial light at night
0:25.6	disrupts your circadian rhythm and destabilizes your liver over time.
0:30.6	I'm Alara Sky, and we're focusing on what the research shows.
0:34.6	When your exposure to blue light stretches into the evening, your internal clocks shift,
0:39.9	melatonin falls, and your liver's timing for metabolism and repair drifts out of alignment.
0:45.8	Your circadian rhythm sets the pace for digestion, hormone release, cellular repair,
0:51.9	and detoxification. Your liver follows its own clock within that system.
0:57.0	When you flood your evenings with artificial blue light from overhead LEDs, screens, and dashboards,
1:03.0	you shift those cues, and your liver loses structure in when it processes nutrients and filters toxins.
1:09.0	German researchers in Bochum are mapping this disruption in detail.
1:13.7	Their protocol tracks people with and without fatty liver through a 24-hour hospital stay,
1:19.3	measuring body temperature, blood pressure, and repeated saliva and blood samples to assess
1:24.2	melatonin and related markers. They then send participants home with light sensors for two weeks to capture how daily
1:32.3	exposure patterns line up, or clash, with internal timing.
1:37.3	The team adds two deeper layers.
1:39.3	First, hair root clock gene analysis to define each person's chronotype and alignment.
1:45.0	Second, controlled pig liver experiments maintained in nutrient solutions,
	...

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