Though Dr. Ott's work remains controversial, he is hardly alone in his opinions. They're not getting the entire spectrum of light, which is truly the spectrum of life. Full-spectrum light from the sun nourished humanity for millions of years. It's nature's optimal fuel and the octane we require. Solar radiation activates biochemical events in our bodies that are involved with regulation of stress and fatigue, endocrine control, timing of our biological clocks, immunologic responsiveness, control of viral and cold infections, and the dampening of functional disorders of the nervous system.
People have more energy, sleep better and stop craving carbohydrates and caffeine.
Although anecdotes abound about happy workers in offices that have switched to full-spectrum lighting, most of the scientific research has been done on school children. The most likely reason is the increased calcium absorption that occurs when Vitamin D is manufactured by the skin in the presence of sunlight. Another study of school children was conducted in 1981 by Catherine Sam and Harry Wohlfarth at the Elves Memorial Child Development Centre, a school for handicapped children in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. There researchers noted marked behavioral improvement among children under full-spectrum lighting as well as decreased stress levels, which they calculated by drops in systolic blood pressures averaging 20 points per child. He found normal levels, however, in people working under full-spectrum tubes.