This is why you put on weight during winter
It's pretty common to put on a few extra pounds over the winter months, and while it's usually put down to how much you ate at Christmas, or that your body is layering up to keep you warm while it's cold, it turns out it's got nothing to do with either of those things.
According to new research carried out at the University of Alberta, there's an actual biological reason why this happens - and we never knew about it before. The reason is, our cells don't store as much fat when exposed to sunshine.
"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," explained Peter Light, senior author of the Scientific Reports study.
Because the sun is rarely out during winter, it means our bodies are more likely to store fat; "contributing to the typical weight gain some of us have over winter," one of the other study authors, Dr Charles A. Allard, noted.
However, this information is only a relatively recent scientific discovery, and it has yet to be determined exactly how much light - and just how intense it needs to be - for this effect to come into play.
"It’s 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," said Peter Light.
And it's an exciting scientific development, with experts predicting it could lead to light-based treatments to help treat obesity in the future. Plus, it's another great reason to book a winter sun holiday (as long as you're careful about how much UV light you expose yourself to).
[H/T Independent]
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