We will be interviewing Daniel White and Jai Kapoor of In Rhythm on Wednesday, October 28th at 1:00pm Eastern. Sign up to join us in this live interview and ask them your own questions! If you can’t make it for the live call, sign up to get the replay delivered to your email the next day.
Is Light Really That Important?
If your child struggles to settle at night, wakes up tired, or finds it hard to hold their energy, mood and focus through the day, you may have already done a great deal of work to support them with diet, nutrients, gut health, and managing stress. One other piece of the puzzle is rarely examined because until recently almost no one was talking about it: light.
Light is the master signal for the body clock. This is not a new theory: the 2017 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to was awarded to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael W. Young for their discoveries of the molecular mechanisms controlling circadian rhythm. Light sets the daily rhythm of cortisol and melatonin, and with them the timing of sleep, hormones, digestion, immunity and brain development.
Children and teenagers are especially sensitive to it. In one study, an hour of bright light before bed suppressed melatonin in preschoolers by almost 90%, and it stayed suppressed for nearly an hour after the lights went out. A 2024 review in Frontiers in Neuroscience links light at night to anxiety, depression, hyperactivity and learning difficulties, and finds teenagers more vulnerable than adults because their hormones and brains are still developing.
“Mal-Illumination” Is Similar to Malnutrition
Daniel White and Jai Kapoor maintain that most families now spend 90% of their time indoors, under artificial light that is far too dim by day and far too bright at night. Just as a poor diet leaves a child malnourished, poor light leaves a child what photobiologist Dr. John Ott called “mal-illuminated“. For a child already living with sleep problems, mood issues or a chronic condition, it is one more load on a nervous system that is already working hard to keep up.
Light is not a replacement for the work you are already doing. It is the foundation underneath it. Every system you are supporting in your child, from sleep and digestion to immunity and mood, runs on a rhythm set by the body clock, and that clock is set by light. Get the light right, and everything else you are doing has a body clock working with it rather than against it.
In This Expert Interview
In this expert interview, In Rhythm co-founders Daniel White and Jai Kapoor will introduce the science of light, sleep and circadian rhythms, with a practical focus on simple steps for children and families, and answer your questions about your own child in a live Q&A. You’ll learn:
- What your child’s body clock is, and why light is where many children’s sleep problems begin
- How light drives the cortisol and melatonin rhythm behind your child’s sleep, energy, mood and focus
- What blue light is, where it comes from, and why artificial light at night affects young children and teenagers most
- The full spectrum of sunlight, why each part matters, and what Dr John Ott’s pioneering work taught us about light and health
- How to make your home lighting work with your child’s body clock, room by room, from overheads and screens to bedtime
- The L.I.G.H.T. Protocol: five simple daily habits your whole family can start the same day
You’ll leave with the science, a daily L.I.G.H.T. checklist and a simple plan you can start the same evening, alongside everything else you are already doing for your child. The goal is straightforward: calmer evenings, restful nights, better moods and a child with more to give during the day.
Sign up to join us in this live interview and ask them your own questions!
About Daniel White MSc ANutr FMCHC
Daniel White is a Registered Nutritionist, Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach, and Applied Quantum Biology Certified Health Practitioner with extensive research and clinical experience in the fields of sleep science, circadian biology and human behaviour change.
His life’s work has been shaped by a personal journey through chronic physical and mental health challenges during adolescence. In 2010, Daniel was unfit, overweight, anxious, depressed, and severely sleep-deprived, while battling autoimmune symptoms, allergies, and brain fog. After discovering the powerful roles of circadian biology, quantum biology, and light in restoring human health, he completely transformed his life and now channels his energy, vitality, and passion into a mission to empower society with the knowledge and solutions needed to bring humanity back into rhythm with nature.
Over the past decade, Daniel has coached, educated and empowered tens of thousands of adults and young people, including conducting training research with academic institutions and global organisations such as Boston Consulting Group, PwC, Deloitte, and Credit Suisse. You can find out more about him and his work at https://www.sleepbetterlivebetter.co.uk/ and https://www.danielwhitehealth.com/
About Jai Kapoor
Jai is an experienced senior executive in the AI & tech space. He has helped build and scale multiple unicorn companies from early stages such as Wayve AI and Revolut. A capital markets specialist, he has raised over $1.3 billion of capital from investors including Softbank, Microsoft & NVIDIA. He also manages a large investment vehicle and is an active angel investor.
Jai’s journey into circadian health began following an aggressive onset of autoimmune psoriasis in 2022. He spent 3 painful years trying to heal it through lifestyle changes like diet, ayurveda, TCM, homeopathy and many other alternative practices. But once Jai met Dan and learned of the power of circadian rhythms, everything changed. He now lives his life psoriasis-free.
Jai’s mission is to bring light back to the world, both scientifically and spiritually. He envisions a New Earth: a global energetic coherence allowing our society to flourish rather than perish. Coherence that allows us to live a new story – one of stewardship, connection and heart-centered leadership. As well as co-founding In Rhythm, Jai is also the author of The Story of Light, a modern treatise on light as the organising principle of life, consciousness and connection.
Disclaimer
This expert interview is not a substitute for medical advice, treatment, diagnosis, or consultation with a medical professional. It is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be relied on to make determinations related to treatment of a medical condition. Documenting Hope has not verified and does not guaranty the accuracy of the information provided in this expert interview.
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Resources
Articles
Dunckley, Victoria M. The Illuminating Tale of Sunlight’s Impact on Health: Sunlight may be today’s most overlooked (and cheapest!) wellness essential. Psychology Today. 5 Jun 2016.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2017. Scientific Background Discoveries of Molecular Mechanisms Controlling the Circadian Rhythm.
