Here at Younger Secrets we are constantly researching the latest scientific studies on health, wellness, longevity, beauty and weight management so we can pass this information on to you.
Tired of trying to lose weight through just diet and exercise .. read on to discover some lifestyle tips to help your biochemistry
Today we are going to discuss fat cells and generally speaking I would presume that they are the least favourite of all your cells. (Unless you are one of those lucky ones who either embraces them or doesn’t accumulate them easily). There has been an explosion of research on our circadian rhythm and how if affects our biology so interestingly enough, natural daylight, artificial light and our sleep impacts our body weight
How would you like to learn a few tricks to help your body reduce the size and number of your fat cells? We have been sold a bit of a lie that calories in (food) and calories out (exercise) is the answer. If we eat less and exercise more those kilos will melt away. Like many things in this world this simplistic answer ignores many biological factors and it simply doesn’t work for many people especially if they have circadian mismatch and/or hormones that are out of balance.
Body weight maintenance is actually very complicated and is influenced by our circadian rhythm and various hormones. There are many simple lifestyle changes we can make to ensure our circadian rhythm and hormones are functioning optimally and work in our favour.
Firstly, what is our circadian rhythm?
It is the regulation of bodily processes through a 24-hour period. All metabolic activities in the body are affected by this rhythm which is controlled mainly by light or dark. Eating and sleeping are closely linked to this rhythm as are our hormones. By changing our exposure to light we can change our circadian rhythm and our hormones and this in turn affects our fat cells.
This diagram shows some metabolic activity changes that occur during a 24-hour period.
Since the invention of the light bulb to chronic light pollution in big cities we are changing our light environment and this has major implications for our circadian rhythm and thus our health (not just our weight).
Hormones
Secondly, what hormones are we talking about? The main players are; insulin, leptin, gherlin and cortisol.
Insulin – one of the key hormones controlling carbohydrate metabolism. Insulin is a fat cell accumulator as it takes glucose from our blood and liver and helps it enter into the cells, in excess this leads to more carbohydrates entering the cells and then the excess is stored as fat in fat cells and thus weight gain.
Insulin resistance is a condition where your cells no longer respond to insulin, it should be a priority to correct this as it makes losing weight very hard.
Leptin – when high it helps to reduce hunger and promote satiety (fullness). Leptin is higher in the morning and during daylight hours it is better to eat while leptin is high if you want to reduce weight.
Gherlin – opposite to leptin, high levels of gherlin makes us feel hungry, poor circadian rhythm and sleep increase gherlin.
Cortisol – a stress hormone, when levels are constantly high not just in the morning this leads to weight gain by increasing insulin resistance and affects sleep. Stress, blue and green light exposure at night and poor sleep are the main contributors to elevated cortisol.
Based on this knowledge here are our light-based secrets to help you shrink those fat cells
- Anchor your circadian rhythm and thus optimize your metabolism and sleep by getting lots of early morning sunlight (sunrise), some midday sun, but avoid as much light at night (use blue-blocking glasses or candles) and turn off the off all screens as these give off blue and green light) this will help you have high quality sleep as well
- Also reduce your carbohydrate intake especially at night, this will help reduce insulin resistance
- Research ways to improve your sleep if you are not a good sleeper. Enhance melatonin (our sleep hormone) by getting lots of natural daylight and no blue light at night. Go to bed early.
- Get block out curtains for the bedroom or an eye mask (a street light shining in your room is enough to increase insulin resistance)
- Eat food that is in season and eat during daylight but only when you are truly hungry
- Avoid sugar, processed foods and increase seasonal vegetables
- Exercise outdoors in the morning when possible
- Make sure your evenings are calm and stress free, avoid or manage stress
- Do yoga and or meditation to reduce cortisol
- Spend time in the sun (not to get burnt) but enough to absorb those beneficial wavelengths .. yep it helps you lose weight (don’t you always feel better in summer being outside) and we have light sensing pigments in our skin as well as our eyes
Here at Younger Secrets we are constantly researching the latest scientific studies on health, wellness, longevity, beauty and weight management so we can pass this information on to you.
Tired of trying to lose weight through just diet and exercise .. read on to discover some lifestyle tips to help your biochemistry
Today we are going to discuss fat cells and generally speaking I would presume that they are the least favourite of all your cells. (Unless you are one of those lucky ones who either embraces them or doesn’t accumulate them easily). There has been an explosion of research on our circadian rhythm and how if affects our biology so interestingly enough, natural daylight, artificial light and our sleep impacts our body weight
How would you like to learn a few tricks to help your body reduce the size and number of your fat cells? We have been sold a bit of a lie that calories in (food) and calories out (exercise) is the answer. If we eat less and exercise more those kilos will melt away. Like many things in this world this simplistic answer ignores many biological factors and it simply doesn’t work for many people especially if they have circadian mismatch and/or hormones that are out of balance.
Body weight maintenance is actually very complicated and is influenced by our circadian rhythm and various hormones. There are many simple lifestyle changes we can make to ensure our circadian rhythm and hormones are functioning optimally and work in our favour.
Firstly, what is our circadian rhythm?
It is the regulation of bodily processes through a 24-hour period. All metabolic activities in the body are affected by this rhythm which is controlled mainly by light or dark. Eating and sleeping are closely linked to this rhythm as are our hormones. By changing our exposure to light we can change our circadian rhythm and our hormones and this in turn affects our fat cells.
This diagram shows some metabolic activity changes that occur during a 24-hour period.
Since the invention of the light bulb to chronic light pollution in big cities we are changing our light environment and this has major implications for our circadian rhythm and thus our health (not just our weight).
Hormones
Secondly, what hormones are we talking about? The main players are; insulin, leptin, gherlin and cortisol.
Insulin – one of the key hormones controlling carbohydrate metabolism. Insulin is a fat cell accumulator as it takes glucose from our blood and liver and helps it enter into the cells, in excess this leads to more carbohydrates entering the cells and then the excess is stored as fat in fat cells and thus weight gain.
Insulin resistance is a condition where your cells no longer respond to insulin, it should be a priority to correct this as it makes losing weight very hard.
Leptin – when high it helps to reduce hunger and promote satiety (fullness). Leptin is higher in the morning and during daylight hours it is better to eat while leptin is high if you want to reduce weight.
Gherlin – opposite to leptin, high levels of gherlin makes us feel hungry, poor circadian rhythm and sleep increase gherlin.
Cortisol – a stress hormone, when levels are constantly high not just in the morning this leads to weight gain by increasing insulin resistance and affects sleep. Stress, blue and green light exposure at night and poor sleep are the main contributors to elevated cortisol.
Based on this knowledge here are our light-based secrets to help you shrink those fat cells
- Anchor your circadian rhythm and thus optimize your metabolism and sleep by getting lots of early morning sunlight (sunrise), some midday sun, but avoid as much light at night (use blue-blocking glasses or candles) and turn off the off all screens as these give off blue and green light) this will help you have high quality sleep as well
- Also reduce your carbohydrate intake especially at night, this will help reduce insulin resistance
- Research ways to improve your sleep if you are not a good sleeper. Enhance melatonin (our sleep hormone) by getting lots of natural daylight and no blue light at night. Go to bed early.
- Get block out curtains for the bedroom or an eye mask (a street light shining in your room is enough to increase insulin resistance)
- Eat food that is in season and eat during daylight but only when you are truly hungry
- Avoid sugar, processed foods and increase seasonal vegetables
- Exercise outdoors in the morning when possible
- Make sure your evenings are calm and stress free, avoid or manage stress
- Do yoga and or meditation to reduce cortisol
- Spend time in the sun (not to get burnt) but enough to absorb those beneficial wavelengths .. yep it helps you lose weight (don’t you always feel better in summer being outside) and we have light sensing pigments in our skin as well as our eyes