The Science Behind LumineBuilt on chronobiology, exercise science, and longevity nutrition
The habits that add years
Some of the largest studies of women ever run point to the same short list: how you eat, move, sleep, and manage stress, and the people around you.
Women with five healthy habits at age 50 lived an estimated 14 years longer than women with none, in a study of 78,865 women followed for up to 34 years.
Li et al., Circulation, 2018Women with eight healthy habits in midlife, including stress management, good sleep, and strong relationships, were predicted to live 21 years longer than women with none, among 719,147 veterans.
Nguyen et al., presented at NUTRITION 2023, American Society for Nutritionrisk of early death with habitually short sleep, across 16 studies and nearly 1.4 million people.
Cappuccio et al., Sleep, 2010Women with the highest stress had cells that looked at least a decade older, measured by telomere length, than women with the lowest stress.
Epel et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2004Light, melatonin, and metabolism
Light is the strongest signal your body receives. Daylight sets the clock, darkness lets melatonin rise, and when the two are out of order, sleep, blood sugar, weight, and mood all feel it.
of people had their melatonin delayed by ordinary room light before bed, which shortened the body’s melatonin night by 1 hour 32 minutes.
Gooley et al., Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2011Women who slept with a light or TV on were 17% more likely to gain 11 pounds or more, among 43,722 women in the Sister Study.
Park et al., JAMA Internal Medicine, 2019of the difference in body weight between adults was explained by the timing of their daily bright light. The earlier the light, the lower the weight, regardless of calories or activity.
Reid et al., PLoS ONE, 2014blood sugar from the same meal eaten in the biological evening than in the morning.
Morris et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2015healthy adults reached a prediabetic blood sugar range after meals when their eating and sleep were moved out of step with their body clock.
Scheer et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2009lower risk of death for people with the brightest days, and up to 34% higher for those with the brightest nights, among 88,905 adults who wore light sensors.
Windred et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2024risk of depression with bright daytime light, and 30% higher with bright light at night, among 86,772 adults.
Burns et al., Nature Mental Health, 2023One week of natural light while camping moved people’s body clocks about two hours earlier, so melatonin rose near sunset.
Wright et al., Current Biology, 2013The moon and your sleep
Study after study, in villages, in cities, and in windowless laboratories, finds that sleep runs later, shorter, and lighter in the nights before the full moon. Lumine plans gentler days there and saves the hardest work for after the new moon.
Sleep rose and fell by 46 to 58 minutes across the lunar cycle, with later bedtimes and shorter sleep in the nights before the full moon. The pattern held in rural Argentina and among 464 students in Seattle.
Casiraghi et al., Science Advances, 2021deep sleep brain activity around the full moon, with lower melatonin and 20 minutes less sleep, in volunteers sleeping in a windowless laboratory.
Cajochen et al., Current Biology, 2013less sleep around the full moon, with sleep more easily disturbed and dreaming sleep starting 30 minutes later, among 47 adults.
Smith et al., Current Biology, 2014In a study of 205 adults, women slept less near the full moon, with less deep sleep and less dreaming sleep.
Della Monica et al., Journal of Sleep Research, 2015sleep clinic patients slept less efficiently, with less deep sleep, at the full moon.
Turányi et al., Sleep Medicine, 2014of cycle records from 22 women showed menstrual cycles moving in step with the moon at times, most strongly in the long nights of winter.
Helfrich-Förster et al., Science Advances, 2021Seasons, holidays, and winter
For most of human history, the year set the menu and the pace. The research shows the body still follows the calendar, from the gut to the scale.
The gut microbes of the Hadza of Tanzania shift with the seasons, as some groups of bacteria all but disappear in the dry season and return with the foods of the wet season.
Smits et al., Science, 2017in broccoli grown in its natural season than in broccoli grown out of season.
Wunderlich et al., International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 2008of a year’s weight gain came from the holiday season, and it was not lost afterward, among 165 adults followed for a full year.
Yanovski et al., New England Journal of Medicine, 2000Physical activity drops in winter across populations, which is why Lumine changes the movement with the season.
Tucker and Gilliland, Public Health, 2007Eating for a longer life
Lumine meals are plant rich, Mediterranean, and seasonal, with fiber, protein, healthy fats, and color at every meal. Foods have no morality. Some simply serve you better.
risk of death from any cause among women who ate closest to a Mediterranean diet, among 25,315 women followed for 25 years.
Ahmad et al., JAMA Network Open, 2024risk of death from any cause for people who ate the most fiber, across 185 studies and 58 clinical trials, with benefits peaking at 25 to 29 grams a day.
Reynolds et al., The Lancet, 2019a week: people who ate more than 30 different plants a week had more diverse gut microbes than people who ate 10 or fewer.
McDonald et al., mSystems, 2018lost in 12 weeks by women who ate their biggest meal at breakfast, compared with 8 pounds for women who ate the same calories with the biggest meal at dinner.
Jakubowicz et al., Obesity, 2013of light walking after eating lowered blood sugar more than standing did.
Buffey et al., Sports Medicine, 2022Strength, balance, and joy
Lumine’s movement follows the training model of the National Academy of Sports Medicine, progressing from stability to strength to power, and changes with the time of day, the moon, and the season, so moving feels like play again.
lower risk of early death with just 30 to 60 minutes of strength work a week.
Momma et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2022on one leg: adults aged 51 to 75 who could not hold it had an 84% higher risk of death over about seven years.
Araújo et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2022risk of death with every 5 kilogram drop in grip strength, a better predictor than blood pressure, among 139,691 adults.
Leong et al., The Lancet, 2015Women after menopause with low bone density built bone in the spine and hip with eight months of strength and impact training, while the control group kept losing it.
Watson et al., Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 2018Three short bursts of vigorous everyday activity a day were linked to up to 40% lower risk of death, among 25,241 adults who did not exercise.
Stamatakis et al., Nature Medicine, 2022Women who exercised in the morning lost more belly fat and lowered their blood pressure. Women who exercised in the evening gained more upper body strength.
Arciero et al., Frontiers in Physiology, 2022muscle building after a single sleepless night, with cortisol 21% higher.
Lamon et al., Physiological Reports, 2021a week in nature was linked to better health and wellbeing, among 19,806 adults.
White et al., Scientific Reports, 2019How much people enjoy exercise is one of the most consistent predictors of whether they keep doing it.
Rhodes et al., Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 2009Optimism, joy, and purpose
Optimism, joy, and purpose are linked to longer, healthier lives, and they can be practiced. Every Lumine morning opens with a mantra and a reflection matched to the day’s energy.
longer lives for the most optimistic women, who were also more likely to live past 90, among 159,255 women after menopause.
Koga et al., Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2022longer lives for the most optimistic people, with 50 to 70% greater odds of reaching 85, among 69,744 women and 1,429 men.
Lee et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019as likely to die during follow-up: adults over 50 with the weakest sense of purpose, compared with the strongest.
Alimujiang et al., JAMA Network Open, 2019Purpose predicted a longer life at every age, including midlife, among more than 6,000 adults followed for 14 years.
Hill and Turiano, Psychological Science, 2014lower risk of death between ages 75 and 95 for the nuns whose early writing held the most joy and positive emotion.
Danner et al., Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2001longer lives for people with positive views of their own aging.
Levy et al., Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2002People who kept weekly gratitude lists exercised more and felt better about their lives, and gratitude predicted better, longer sleep.
Emmons and McCullough, 2003; Wood et al., Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 2009Simple if-then plans, like an intention set on the new moon, had a strong effect on reaching goals across 94 tests.
Gollwitzer and Sheeran, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 2006Better together
Lumine Root is a circle of eight women who begin together on the new moon and meet with Julie every Thursday, because the research on community is some of the strongest there is.
likelihood of survival for people with strong social relationships, across 148 studies and 308,849 people.
Holt-Lunstad et al., PLoS Medicine, 2010of people kept their weight off when they joined a program with friends, compared with those who joined alone. Completion rose to 95%, from 76%.
Wing and Jeffery, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1999You are the path. Lumine lights the way.
Studies are linked so you can read them yourself. Many describe associations found in large groups of people. Lumine is wellness guidance, not medical advice. If you’re managing a health condition, check with your doctor before you begin.