Over the past few weeks, I’ve been diving into research on light environment, circadian biology and the impact various types of light has on human health.
I came across this amazing study that showed blue light impacts fat storage for the better and that a lack of sunlight actually makes your cells store more fat.
Many of us here know about the importance of sunlight exposure for health, but I bet you didn’t know about this specific research in combination with the physiological pathway that allows it to work.
Rewind to a 2017 study performed by Peter Light (how funny) at the University of Arizona. He and his team placed fat cells under two different light conditions to study the impact light has on them.
They used blue light in this study from an artificial source, but it’s also the shortest light wavelength found from sunlight.
How They Performed The Study
They took one group of fat cells (adipocytes) and exposed them to blue light for 4 hours while they took the other group and placed them in the dark.
After two weeks, the fat cell groups showed remarkable differences:
A) The blue light treated fat cells had FEWER lipid droplet-organelles that store fat than the cells that didn’t get any light.
B) The lipid droplets in the light-treated cells were also SMALLER than the ones in the placebo group.
This is one of the most significant finds in regards to human metabolism, health and body composition.
Why It Works (The Pathway)
To simplify it beyond the scientific jargon..
Through this study, researchers discovered that your body can sense blue light (and other light wavelengths) through subcutaneous white adipose (fat) tissue.
This involves melanopsin (a special protein found in your eyes) which is connected to channels within your cells. When blue light touches these channels, it creates an electrical signal your body understands which, in turn, creates metabolic changes that are good for your health (including fat loss).
This is why I now say that light environment is the most important health fundamental.
The Results
When your fat cells (adipocytes) are exposed to natural blue light every single day, the following occurs:
The little droplets of fat inside these cells become SMALLER in size
The rate at which you burn fat inside these cells INCREASES
Exposure impacts the secretion of two important substances called adiponectin and leptin (both involved in regulating metabolism and energy balance)
More On Melanopsin & Burning Fat
As mentioned earlier, melanopsin is a special protein in our eyes that helps us detect light. It’s responsible for sensing different color of light, especially blue light wavelengths.
This, in turn, sets of a metabolic cascade with varying health effects, depending on the TYPE of light which is crucial. We’ll get into that soon here.
Sunglasses and contacts are a major area of concern because they block your eyes from sensing the light within your environment.
If you block light from penetrating your eyes, you block the melanopsin signal to your retinal cells which prevents you from experiencing the benefits of sunlight like developing a tan (building melanin) and tapping into this fat shrinking mechanism.
That’s something to chew on if you routinely wear sunglasses or contacts.
You must remove them when sunbathing and build your solar callous.
Artificial vs Natural Blue Light
I’ll be clear here:
All of the health benefits we’re talking about here stem from natural sunlight, not toxic artificial blue light.
What’s interesting is that even in this study, they saw significant results after two weeks of exposing fat cells to the WRONG type of blue light. We evolved to be in a light environment, not in perpetual darkness like the other group of fat cells.
I wonder what the research would have shown if they exposed those fat cells to natural sunlight for that period. I bet the results would have been even better.
This is why light controls are crucial in scientific research, yet nobody has implemented them into their study design.
This pathway involving melanopsin is only activated at physiological intensities of light that penetrate the skin on a sunny day, hence the importance of sunbathing.
You must:
A) Sunbathe properly (what I will dub ‘sunbathing hygiene’ just like sleep hygiene)
B) Sunbathe consistently
C) Develop a solar callous
Crucial to understand and embody.
This goes to show the importance of light environment for metabolism and overall well-being. It’s not just a game of food and exercise, and I would argue that light plays a bigger role than either of those two in determining health outcomes.
I can help you dial in your light environment and all of the other health fundamentals which no other health coach offers. They don’t even know about this stuff, let alone have it as a staple of their coaching program.
8 weeks of 1-on-1 work with me based on the 80/20 principle for maximum results in little time compared to anything else you’ll find out there.
You’ll be blown away by the results.
Click here to speak with me and start the process.
Much love,
Zaid