HELSINKI:On an overcast morning, there's only once place to go in Helsinki for a pick-me-up. Cafe Engel, opposite the city's gleaming white cathedral, has been serving Finns their morning coffee and delicious cakes for decades.
But on dark Finnish winter mornings, when even the strongest espresso won't wake you up, the owners of Cafe Engel switch on special lamps to give their customers a dose of artificial daylight.
"We came here on purpose because we knew they had the lamps," said Heidi Eriksson, finishing her breakfast in the white glow. "Come September I notice I have so little energy and the lamp gives me a little lift."
She and her work colleague Liisa Jokela are such fans that they bought two lamps for their office. "We have only small windows in our office, so in winter there's almost no daylight," said Liisa. "I noticed I was getting headaches, but now with a daylight lamp on the desk it's so much better."
The body's inner clock is regulated by the amount of electrical impulses of light that pass through the eyes.
When the brain receives strong signals, it produces the "good mood" hormones seratonin and norepinephrine. When there's less light, the "sleeping hormone" melatonin is produced.
Regular electrical lights produce enough light to see but, as far as the brain is concerned, it's still night. The resulting "winter blues" affects some people.
Daylight lamps are not a new invention, but today, Finnish company Innosol is one of the market leaders, working with designers like Eero Aarnio to produce stylish livingroom models. "It's great to use the lamp early in the morning, some people like to leave it on all day," said Jukka Jokinemi, managing director of Innosol. "In the long run, the lamps are cheaper than pills and medicine. Combined with exercise, it's a natural way to make you feel better in the winter."
"The last two days were cloudy and we had little old ladies in earlier asking for the lamps, they had come here especially for them," says restaurant manager Pihla Heinonen. Her unusual accent betrays the four years she lived in Holywood in Co Down.
Innosol lamps are sold in Ireland by brighterday.ie
