Basking in sunshine is enjoyable and provides a great source of vitamin D. Researchers from the University of Alberta say that fat cells beneath the skin shrink when exposed to the blue light that is emitted by the sun as published in Nature’s Scientific Reports.
When the blue light wavelengths penetrate our skin to the fat calls beneath lipid droplets reduce in size and are released out of the cell, meaning that the cells don’t store as much fat. Flipping it around insufficient exposure to sunlight may be promoting the storage of fat and contribute to weight gain in the darker months, according to Professor Peter Light.
This discovery opens up new avenues for future exploration by the scientific community which may lead to pharmacological treatments and/or light based treatments to be used in the global battle against obesity as well as other health related issues such as diabetes.
It is possible that this mechanism may contribute to setting the number of fat cells that are produced early in childhood and stay throughout adulthood speculates Light, in regards to research on children spending less time inside with more on technology and devices indoors.
The discovery was made while investigating a manner in which to bioengineer fat cells to produce insulin in response to light to help patients with type 1 diabetes. A reaction was noted in human tissue in negative control experiments with nothing in the literature prompting further investigation.
Based on those findings it is hypothesized that the fat cells near the skin may be a peripheral biological clock. It is no leap to suppose that the light that regulates the circadian rhythm through the eyes may have the same impact on fat cells near the skin in a sensory manner, setting the amount of fat burned depending on the season, says Light adding it may be an evolutionary process supported by the fact that fat is spread all over the body just under the skin, and that this discovery is only an initial observation and preliminary, pursuing additional exposure to sunlight is not recommended as a way to lose weight and may prove to be unsafe. Further research is required on these fascinating clues and findings.
