It has always been said that exposure to natural light, to the sun has greater health benefits than the same exposure but to artificial light.An investigation concludes that exposure to natural light could help treat and prevent type 2 diabetes. This new investigation has just been presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Hamburg that is celebratedthese days.
«The mismatch of our internal circadian clock with the demands of a society that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, is associated with a greater incidence of metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes - says Ivo Habets, ofThe University of Maastricht (Netherlands), co -director of research.
Natural light is the best indicator of the circadian clock, but most people are at home during the day and, therefore, subject to constant artificial lighting.Reason why researchers were interested in knowing if the increase in daytime exposure to natural light would improve blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes.
«This metabolism usually follows a 24 -hour rhythm, in which the body goes from using carbohydrates as a source of energy during the day to use fat at night, he explains.We had previously demonstrated that people with the greatest risk of type 2 diabetes are less capable of making this change and we wanted to find out if exposure to natural light would facilitate change in people who already suffer from diabetes ».
research
To do this, Habets and their colleagues from the Netherlands and Switzerland made a series of metabolic tests to a group of people with type 2 diabetes when exposed to natural light and when exposed to artificial light, and compared the results.
The 13 participants were exposed to two lighting conditions during the office schedule (from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) randomly and crossed: natural light from windows and artificial LED lighting.There was an interval of at least four weeks between the two interventions, each of which lasted 4.5 days.
Blood glucose levels were maintained within the normal range for longer in the intervention with natural light than in the intervention with artificial light.The respiratory exchange index was lower during the intervention with natural light than during the intervention with artificial light, which indicates that participants were easier to go from using fatty carbohydrates as a source of energy when they were exposed to natural light.The restless energy expenditure and central body temperature followed similar patterns during the 24 hours in both light conditions.
The results demonstrate the best glycemia control during the invention of natural, and suggest that such exposure is beneficial for metabolism, so it could help in the treatment and prevention of type 2 diabetes and other metabolic conditions, such asObesity, says Habets.
«Our studies show that the type of light to which it is exposed is important for metabolism.Working in an office with hardly any exposure to natural light has an impact on metabolism and the risk or control of type 2 diabetes, so you have to try to make the most of natural light and, ideally, go out outdoorswhenever possible ».
"It is still necessary to continue investigating to determine to what extent the artificial light affects the metabolism and the amount of time that must be passed with natural or outdoors to compensate it," he says.
