Thursday, March 28, 2024
ADVT 
Interesting

This Could Be The Reason Behind Winter Weight Gain

Darpan News Desk IANS, 12 Jan, 2018 01:32 PM
    According to a recent research, fat cells are sensitive to sunlight and therefore, reduced sunshine in winter may contribute to weight gain.
     
     
    The study has shown the fat cells that lie just beneath our skin shrink when exposed to the blue light emitted by the sun.
     
     
    "When the sun's blue light wavelengths--the light we can see with our eye--penetrate our skin and reach the fat cells just beneath, lipid droplets reduce in size and are released out of the cell. In other words, our cells don't store as much fat," said Peter Light, senior author of the study.
     
     
    "If you flip our findings around, the insufficient sunlight exposure we get eight months of the year living in a northern climate may be promoting fat storage and contribute to the typical weight gain some of us have over winter," he added.
     
     
    Light cautions the finding is only an initial observation and that pursuing exposure to sunlight is not a safe or recommended way to lose weight.
     
     
    "For example, we don't yet know the intensity and duration of light necessary for this pathway to be activated."
     
     
    However, he added the novel discovery opens up new avenues of future scientific exploration which could someday lead to pharmacological or light-based treatments for obesity and other related health issues such as diabetes.
     
     
    "Maybe this mechanism contributes to setting the number of fat cells we produce in childhood -- thought to stay with us into adulthood," he speculated.
     
     
    "Obviously, there is a lot of literature out there suggesting our current generation will be more overweight than their parents and maybe this feeds into the debate about what is healthy sunshine exposure."
     
     
    The researchers made the discovery while investigating how to bioengineer fat cells to produce insulin in response to light to help Type 1 diabetes patients.
     
     
    "It was serendipitous," said Light. "We noticed the reaction in human tissue cells in our negative control experiments, and since there was nothing in the literature, we knew it was important to investigate further."
     
     
    Based on the finding, the fat cells we store near our skin may be a peripheral biological clock, said Light.
     
     
    "Its early days, but it's not a giant leap to suppose that the light that regulates our circadian rhythm, received through our eyes, may also have the same impact through the fat cells near our skin."
     
     
    He explained that the molecular pathway they discovered was first identified as being activated by the eye when exposed to the blue wavelengths in sunlight.
     
     
    "That's why you are not supposed to look at digital devices before bed because they emit the same blue light the sun does, that signals us to wake up," he explained.
     
     
    "Well, perhaps that pathway -- exposure to sunlight that directs our sleep-wake patterns-- may also act in a sensory manner, setting the amount of fat humans burn depending on the season. You gain weight in the winter, and then burn it off in the summer."
     
     
    This could be evolutionary process, supported by the fact that unlike many other mammals, our fat is spread out all over our bodies just underneath our skin, he added.
     
     
    The study has been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

    MORE Interesting ARTICLES

    Father Charged With Second-Degree Murder In Deaths Of Daughters Appears In Court

    Father Charged With Second-Degree Murder In Deaths Of Daughters Appears In Court
    Andrew Berry's case has been adjourned until Feb. 1 after British Columbia provincial court heard he needs four weeks to retain legal counsel.

    Father Charged With Second-Degree Murder In Deaths Of Daughters Appears In Court

    Vancouver Musician Daniel Whitmore, A.K.A. Dan Scum, Charged With Smuggling Drugs Into Japan

    Vancouver Musician Daniel Whitmore, A.K.A. Dan Scum, Charged With Smuggling Drugs Into Japan
    A statement from Tokyo Customs says Daniel Whitmore was arrested at Narita Airport on Dec. 11 after arriving on a flight from Vancouver.

    Vancouver Musician Daniel Whitmore, A.K.A. Dan Scum, Charged With Smuggling Drugs Into Japan

    Two B.C. Cities Soldier On With Decades-old Ban On Self-Serve Gas Pumps

    Two B.C. Cities Soldier On With Decades-old Ban On Self-Serve Gas Pumps
    Two western Canadian cities that mandate gas stations employ attendants to pump fuel are outliers in a nation where most citizens are accustomed to do-it-yourself fill ups.

    Two B.C. Cities Soldier On With Decades-old Ban On Self-Serve Gas Pumps

    Woman Gets Entire Flight To Herself Thanks To A Goof Up. Jealous Much?

    Woman Gets Entire Flight To Herself Thanks To A Goof Up. Jealous Much?
    On a flight from Rochester, New York to Washington, D.C., Redditor shadybaby22 magically found herself on a completely empty plane thanks to a clerical error. 

    Woman Gets Entire Flight To Herself Thanks To A Goof Up. Jealous Much?

    ‘BOM-DEL’ Flight Misunderstood As ‘Bomb Fata Hai’; Indian-Origin CEO Of US Firm Held

    ‘BOM-DEL’ Flight Misunderstood As ‘Bomb Fata Hai’; Indian-Origin CEO Of US Firm Held
    Vinod Moorjani, the 45-year-old Indian-origin CEO of a US-based company, was arrested on Sunday for allegedly making a hoax bomb call at the Mumbai International Airport (MIAL).

    ‘BOM-DEL’ Flight Misunderstood As ‘Bomb Fata Hai’; Indian-Origin CEO Of US Firm Held

    US Woman Battling Cancer Dies Hours After Hospital Wedding

    US Woman Battling Cancer Dies Hours After Hospital Wedding
    A 31-year-old woman who was diagnosed with cancer got married dressed in her wedding gown and lying in bed wearing an oxygen mask in a hospital in Hartford in Connecticut.

    US Woman Battling Cancer Dies Hours After Hospital Wedding