The Impact of Light Exposure on Blood Sugar Levels: A Guide to Managing Insulin Sensitivity

this video is about light and how our exposure to natural sunlight and artificial light affects our blood sugar

levels I will share the fascinating science of how light affects our insulin sensitivity beta cell function and

glucose tolerance and how you can use this evidence to prevent or reverse elevated blood glucose levels and by the

way if you think that the only possible mechanism linking light and blood sugar is vitamin D this video will surprise

you [Music] [Music]

welcome to nurish by science on YouTube my name is Mario and on this channel I share evidence-based information about

nutrition and occasionally as in this video other lifestyle factors and how we can use the science to prevent chronic

diseases various factors can cause insulin resistance beta cell dysfunction and glucose intolerance in this video we

will see that lack of exposure to sunlight or Too much exposure to artificial light at night can contribute

to both insulin resistance and beta cell dysfunction leading to glucose intolerance pre-diabetes and type 2

diabetes sunlight consists of ultraviolet light or UV light which we cannot see then the range of colors in

the visible spectrum and with even longer wavelengths we have near infrared light each type of light has a role in

helping our bodies regulate blood sugar levels in this video I will complete this graph here so that you will fully

understand the science of how each type of light affects glucose tolerance and through which mechanisms at the end of

the video I will give you specific guidance on how to use this evidence to help you prevent or reverse glucose

intolerance sunlight and glucose tolerance the role of vitamin D the first mechanism through which sunlight

plays a key role in blood sugar regulation is because sunlight helps our bodies produce vitamin D vitamin D is

not really a vitamin because our body can produce it we should think of it as as a hormone or more precisely a hormone

precursor our skin when exposed to ultraviolet light converts cholesterol to vitamin D that vitamin D is then

either stored in our fat tissue or under goes a series of biochemical modifications the first of which is

conversion to the main circulating form 25 hydroxy vitamin D you don't need to know this or all the other complicated

chemical names of vitamin D metabolites just know that vitamin D itself and also this main circulating form of vitamin D

here 25 hydroxy vitamin D are inactive forms so I'll talk about these as vitamin D or inactive vitamin D however

25 hydroxy vitamin D can be converted to the active hormone one 125 dehydroxy vitamin D I'll just call this form

active vitamin D in this video this conversion from the inactive to the active form of vitamin D occurs mostly

in the kidneys but also very relevant to our topic here in cells of the immune system and also in the pancreatic beta

cells the cells that produce insulin this active form of vitamin D has numerous functions mostly through

binding to the vitamin D receptor that helps regulate which genes are switched on and off in most cells of the body

it's been estimated that vitamin D regulates the expression of at least a thousand and maybe up to 6,000 different

genes in the human body what this means is that whether a cell produces a certain protein May partly depend on

whether it receives enough vitamin D okay so how is vitamin D involved in the regulation of blood sugar well for one

vitamin D deficiency is associated with insulin resistance this is partly because one of the genes that the active

form of vitamin D helps regulate is the insulin receptor in muscle liver and fat cells in these tissues the active form

of vitamin D directly increases the number of insulin receptors on the cell surface we need more research on this

but the available data that we do have suggest that people who are vitamin D deficient may have fewer ins inin

receptors on the surface of their liver muscle and fat cells which would explain why these tissues are less responsive to

insulin another reason why vitamin D deficiency is associated with insulin resistance has to do with the immune

system vitamin D can be seen as a regulator of immune function essential for fighting infections but also

functioning as a break on an otherwise overactive immune system phrased differently vitamin D seems to play a

big role in lowering overactive immune responses consistent with this it has been observed that vitamin D deficient

people are more likely to suffer from lowgrade chronic inflammation and that is relevant here because inflammation is

a major trigger of insulin resistance okay so we have two mechanisms through which vitamin D deficiency leads to

insulin resistance on top of that vitamin D deficiency also reduces the ability of the pancreatic beta cells to

secrete insulin the mechanism here is pretty straightforward the active form of vitamin D is directly involved in

regulating how much much insulin is made by the beta cells so if someone is vitamin D deficient that alone could

cause a reduced ability of the pancreatic beta cells to produce and secrete insulin that's what we call beta

cell dysfunction well if vitamin D deficiency causes both insulin resistance and beta cell dysfunction it

would seem plausible to hypothesize that vitamin D deficient individuals are more glucose intolerant and at an increased

risk of type 2 diabetes and yes we do have pretty good evidence for both as well

on top of that we have evidence that if we treat vitamin D deficiency and bring vitamin D levels into the normal range

glucose tolerance fairly consistently improves so the first mechanism through which light affects glucose tolerance is

through the stimulation of vitamin D synthesis in the skin by ultraviolet light there is a lot more to say about

this because we can obviously get vitamin D from the Sun as discussed here but also from food and supplements as

well and you may wonder about food sources of vitamin D and who should consider supplementing at which time of

year which dose to use Etc I will cover all of this in a later video because covering all of that here is well beyond

the scope of this video which is focus on the impact of light what I wanted to cover here is simply that if you do not

spend enough time in the sun you may well be vitamin D deficient which could make you insulin resistant and impair

your betas cell function both of which would lower your glucose tolerance and increase your risk of type 2 diabetes

if you are vitamin D deficient you may benefit from more direct sunlight on your skin so I have two suggestions

first if you haven't recently had this done get your vitamin D level measured and take action if you are found to be

vitamin D deficient second seek out the sun more often in a way that is safe and minimizes the negative consequences of

UV radiation keep her exposure to midday Sun brief and wear sunscreen and sunglasses as needed wearing sunscreen

does reduce vitamin D Sy is in the skin however a good strategy may be to wear sunscreen on the face only and limit

exposure to direct midday sunlight so that you don't get sunburn in those parts of your body that are not covered

by sunscreen well how long would you need to be in the Sun to produce enough

vitamin D to meet your daily requirements the answer to that question depends of course on the amount of UV

radiation your location gets at that time and also on variables such as your skin color and how much clothing you

wear where I've left a link in the description box below in which you can experiment with the different variables

a little bit yourself and the system will tell you how long you would need to be outside to make 1,000 international

units of vitamin D assuming that about 25% of your skin is exposed to the sun 25% of your skin is equivalent to your

face neck arms and hands to give you an idea imagine someone with white skin living in Boston Massachusetts such as

Jim here Jim goes out into the midday Sun on a clear day in August under these conditions it would take him around 12

minutes to make about 1,000 international units in January Jim would not be able to make any vitamin D in

Boston that has to do with the angle of the sun and the strength of UV radiation reaching Boston in the winter which is

simply insufficient for Meaningful vitamin D synthesis by contrast if Jim lived in Miami Florida he would need

about 10 minutes of midday Sun at any time of the year that is simply because Miami is closer to the Equator and UV ER

ation is much less season seasonal there than in the Northern parts of the United States if someone has darker skin or

wears more clothing or it's a little cloudy then more time in the sun would be needed to make these 1,000

international units of vitamin D that is also why depending on a large number of factors such as where you live your age

the color of your skin the amount of clothes you wear you may require supplemental vitamin D again this will

be covered in detail in a separate video however it is also important to understand that increased vitamin D

synthesis is not the only beneficial effect of sunlight exposure on blood sugar regulation this means that even if

it helps you avoid vitamin D deficiency taking a vitamin D supplement is not the same thing as being in the sun regularly

I actually recommend a supplement for most people at least and I also recommend being in the sun regularly

that has to do with the other two reasons that sunlight exposure can be beneficial for our health in general and

glucose tolerance in particular sunlight and glucose tolerance avoidance of circadian disruption the second

mechanism through which light affects our glucose tolerance is that light helps us regulate our circadian rhythms

what does circadian rhythm even mean well all biological processes are to some degree regulated in a circadian

fashion meaning that they change in a roughly 24-hour cycle an obvious one is that we get tired and need to sleep at

some point during a 24-hour period but our circadian rhythm is about a lot more than sleeping and being awake basically

every process in every cell is to some degree regulated by our circadian rhythm and that circadian rhythm is mostly

established by two primary inputs our exposure to light and when we eat that food intake regulates what is

going on in a Cell Mak sense because cells can potentially directly sense an increase in nutrients in the blood and

respond to them right but what about light how can our cells see whether it's day or night well mostly we could argue

cells can even though I'm going to get to this uh later in this video but each cell also has a clock no kidding here

there are a number of proteins in each cell the concentration of which abs and flows roughly in a 24-hour cycle and

through the concentrations of these proteins the cell can tell what time of day it is these individual cell clocks

are set by a master clock in a part of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus or scn and that Master Clock is

kept in alignment with the outside light by receiving information about ambient light directly from the eyes let's talk

briefly about how this works this here is a cross-sectional view through a human head and brain in the brain we

have two areas that are most relevant for our Cadian Rhythm the scn and the pineal gland that's the gland that

secretes melatonin the hormone that helps us sleep when our eyes sense bright light and particularly light in

the blue part of the spectrum this stimulates the production of a protein called melanopsin melanopsin has two

major functions first it conveys to the scn that it is day which is of key importance in maintaining our normal

Cadian Rhythm and second melanopsin suppresses the production of melatonin in the pineal gland as a result the

concentration of melatonin in the brain remains low as long as we're exposed to Bright and particularly blue light and

at night when ideally no light hits our eyes no melanopsin is formed and this allows melatonin to be produced in the

pineal gland which then in turn helps us sleep through the night we speak about circadian disruption or circadian

misalignment if there's a disconnect between our internal clocks and our external environment such as the light

we receive through our eyes or the time of day during which we eat or if there is a misalignment between our m clock in

the brain and the individual clocks in all of the tissues of the body and any such misalignment can make

it more difficult for the body to regulate all of its functions such as its sugar

metabolism under ideal conditions think caveman and cave woman before the invention of fire food intake occurred

only when there was Daylight that was very predictable nutrients such as glucose fat and all of the

micronutrients were coming in during the day at the same time that the eyes and the Master Clock conveyed to the body

cells that it was daytime all of the processes that were needed to deal with incoming nutrients

was switched on in all of the tissues that had to deal with these nutrients the liver the pancreas the muscle the

kidneys Etc and vice versa when it was dark there was reliably no food coming into the body and the cells could focus

on other things such as DNA repair or autophagy a reliable fasting appeared overnight was also perfect to help cells

deal with nutrients that may have accumulated overnight for example if the caveman or cave woman found a large

patch of berries and ate ripe berries all day the fructose from all of these berries would have been taken up from

the blood by the liver and converted to Fat during the day this would have slightly increased the fat content in

the liver which the liver can handle as long as it isn't too much and it wouldn't ever be too much because during

the long fasting period overnight the liver cells could burn this fat or get rid of it by transporting it to the fat

tissue that long fasting period overnight during which historical humans rested and were not exposed to light or

at least not much light was also a perfect time for the liver and other tissues to increase repair and

maintenance processes considering that humans almost certainly evolved in this type of environment with light and food

intake during the day and mostly darkness and no food intake during the night you can probably appreciate that

most of us live very differently today now this example may sound as if avoidance of food intake at night

matters a lot for optimal regulation of our metabolism and that is correct as we discussed in two prior videos about Tim

restricted eating where I explained that our glucose tolerance tends to improve if we shorten our eating window and eat

mostly in the early part of the day during daytime however we have good evidence that our exposure to light

matters just as much for one we do have evidence that too little bright white sunlight during the day is associated

with insulin resistance glucose intolerance and an increased risk for type 2 diabetes and independent of that

we also have lots of data showing that insulin resistance glucose intolerance and a higher risk of type 2 diabetes are

associated with exposure to artificial light at night now what is meant with this artificial light at night does this

mean we cannot use any electric light in the evening at all no I wouldn't go so far looking at this literature it seems

to me that there are two things specifically we want to pay attention to first we ideally want to sleep in

complete darkness and second we may want to avoid exposure to Bright Lights and specifically to Blue Light in the maybe

1 to two hours before going to sleep this is because bright white light that is rich in the blue portion of the

visible spectrum that's right here with a wavelength of around 445 to 480 Nan m is very effective at suppressing the

production of metaton in the pineal gland again the pineal gland sits in the middle of the brain and producing

melatonin there is of critical importance for us to be able to sleep through the night so ideally in the

later part of the evening we would dim the lights and shift the color spectrum towards the orange and red portion of

visible light I'll talk later about how this can be done for now let's focus on why a lack of bright sunlight during the

day or artificial light at night could lead to glucose intolerance I'd say that we don't have a totally clear answer to

that but let's discuss a few hypotheses for one both a lack of bright light and artificial light at night have been

connected to sleep issues both in terms of too little sleep and also in terms of poor Sleep Quality in clinical

experiments as little as one or two nights with too little sleep substantially increases insulin

resistance so I'd say that this is one likely link there second people who get more light during the day may have a

better vitamin D status and as I explained earlier that could play a role here here third people who are exposed

to more artificial light at night because they watch TV or play video games late into the night or because

they do shift work may be more likely to eat at night the observational studies that have linked more artificial light

at night to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes have not always been able to adjust for food intake at night in other

words food intake may be a confounder here suggesting that at least to some degree the association between

artificial light at night and insulin resistance and glucose intolerance may be explained by food intake at night or

a shorter fasting period overnight now one thing that has remained unclear is whether vitamin deficiency sleep

deprivation and eating food at night completely explain why a lack of bright sunlight during the day and artificial

light at night are associated with insulin resistance glucose intolerance and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes

the data we currently have doesn't allow us to answer that question I'd say it's possible that there is more going on

though and that specifically lack of bright sunlight and artificial light at night could by themselves reduce our

body's ability to maintain normal glucose levels just because the optimal Cadian rhythm is disrupted and the

interplay between the different organs that maintain glucose homeostasis is not as smooth as it could ideally be lots of

research is still to be done in this area but for now I'd say that we do have enough evidence to strongly suggest that

our glucose tolerance will benefit from a lifestyle in which we aim to maintain a normal cadan rhythm sunlight and

glucose tolerance improved mitochondrial function and this brings us to the third mechanism through which light affects

glucose tolerance and that has to do with near infrared light now this is a really exciting area of research near

infrared light which like ultraviolet light is not visible to us accounts for 52 to 55% of all light photons coming

from the Sun that hit our bodies if we're outside the near infrared light is a huge amount of light energy and in my

opinion it would make a lot of sense that our bodies evolved to use this somehow and yes there is indeed some

really intriguing research that strongly suggests that the red light of the visible light spectrum as well as the

near infrared light play an important role in maintaining optimal mitochondrial function well the first

and obvious question is how can this be most of the cells in the human body never see light right well that is not

correct ultraviolet light does not penetrate the body and is instead entirely absorbed in the very top layer

of the skin in a layer that is maybe 1/10 of a millim thick about the thickness of hair that's why UV light is

potentially so damaging because all of its energy needs to be dealt with by a very thin layer of cells similar for the

blue and green and yellow portions of visible light which also do not penetrate deeper into the skin red light

goes a little deeper see what happens if you shine a flashlight at your hand you can see some light shining through and

the light that shines through is all red that is because only the red portion of visible light can pass through the

tissue deep enough to come out on the other side now near infrared light can pass even deeper into the body based on

some data 8 to 10 cenm Deep that's 3 to 4 in that means that 100% of all cells in children will receive near infrared

light if they are in the Sun and still about 70% of all cells in adults a substantially smaller portion and it

also care extra body fat by the way near infrared light can even penetrate the skull and reach the brain

bones are not much of an obstacle for near infrared light so yes if we're exposed to red and near infrared light

such as from the Sun the light will reach many or even most of the cells in our body and what does that now have to

do with mitochondria and glucose tolerance well remember that mitochondria are the power plants of

each cell fuel such as glucose or fatty acids can be burnt here just like coal is burned in a coal power plant under

the influence of oxygen O2 here the mitochondria make ATP and carbon dioxide CO2 ATP is a chemical form of energy

that the cell uses for many different processes so this isn't just to power your muscle contractions and movements

ATP is a very big deal for most biological processes inside of our cells now the interesting part mitochondria

that are exposed to red or near infrared light work more efficiently than those that are not exposed to red or near

infrared light that means that per unit of time they burn more glucose and fatty acids and produce more ATP this is a

fairly new area of Science and we need a lot more research to really know what's going on here but we have some data

already about potential mechanisms through which red and near infrared light may affect the efficiency of ATP

production by the mitochondria the first potential mechanism is that red and Ne infrared light acts directly on one of

the key enzymes in the mitochondria that convert fuel to to ATP this enzyme is called cytochrome C oxidase and its

responsiveness to light is in its name cytochromes are what we call chromophores they absorb light of a

specific wavelength in the case of cytochrome C oxidase near infrared light increases the activity of the enzyme the

second potential mechanism is that red and near infrared light may reduce the viscosity of the water within

mitochondria water with reduced viscosity is smoother providing less resistance so this would allow all of

the molecules FS to move around more easily again this is expected to speed up the process of making ATP and make it

more efficient third and lastly there are some data that suggest that Neo infrared light may stimulate the

expression of melatonin within the mitochondria this is really confusing we mentioned earlier that blue light

hitting the eyes leads to a suppression of melatonin production in the pineal gland in the brain and that blue light

therefore Keeps Us awake now what I'm saying here is that elsewhere in the body within the mitochondria of each

cell another part of light namely near infrared light increases the production of melatonin yes that at least is one

hypothesis in the field based on strongly suggestive data now why is this important here well it's highly relevant

because the production of ATP by the mitochondria is a tricky process because oxygen is involved every once in a while

something goes wrong in the process of burning fuel in the mitochondria and some of the oxygen molecules form what

we call reactive oxygen species or RW RW are highly reactive molecules that can damage the entire Machinery of the

mitochondria to stick with the power plant analogy imagine an accident in the power plant a major fire breaking out

and some or all of the machines and instruments being damaged so how do we prevent this a power plant may have some

firefighters and mitochondria have antioxidants to deal with the reactive oxygen species and melatonin is one of

the most powerful antioxidants known to us okay to summarize mitochondria are more effective at converting fuel such

as glucose and fatty acids to chemical energy ATP if they are exposed to red or near infrared light the mechanisms seem

to involve a direct effect on one of the enzymes involved in the energy production process cytochrome C oxidase

by lowering the viscosity of water in the mitochondria and by increasing the production of a key antioxidant

melatonin okay so how is all of this relevant for glucose tolerance well one prediction would be

that if red or near red light really makes the burning of glucose and fat to ATP more efficient then this should a

increase ATP synthesis B increase the uptake of glucose from the blood into these cells and C increase the amount of

CO2 that is exhaled one team tested this hypothesis in a randomized control study they shown red light on the backs of

people before they had an oral glucose Torrance test or ogtt and on another day they repeated the process but unbeknown

to the participants did not Shine the red light onto their backs this was the prbo control and take a look at what

they found the increase in blood glucose levels in response to drinking the 75 G glucose beverage was a lot smaller in

participants after they had been exposed to the red light in other words their glucose tolerance was substantially

improved the increase in blood glucose above the Baseline was a whooping 28% lower after exposure to the red light

and not only that they also exhaled measurably more CO2 as the model would predict now it's important that we don't

get carried away too much here this is one study and even though it confirmed a hypothesis that was based on prior

research it's just one study this needs to be confirmed and in general there's a lot more to learn about this it is for

example unclear whether this effect can be triggered only by a high dose of red light of a very specific wavelength as

in this study or whether this would translate to exposure to normal sunlight however I'd say that there is

reason to be cautiously optimistic that this line of work could give us a better understanding of the factors involved in

the development of glucose intolerance and type 2 diabetes and certainly hold some promise for interventions to

improve the condition these data are certainly also consistent with the data showing better glucose tolerance and

lower risk of type 2 diabetes in people who spend more time in natural sunlight so in addition to the fact that more

sunlight improves our vitamin D status and our regulation of a natural Circa Rhythm this could be an alternative

mechanism explaining this association between sunlight exposure and lower risk of type 2

diabetes Now one particular area of research that I would really like to see in the future is how regular exposure to

near infrared light or a lack of exposure to near infrared light may affect the two key factors that

determine glucose tolerance insulin sensitivity and beta cell function I'm saying this because for years there have

been numerous Publications that have described that in pan iic beta cells that become dysfunctional a key cellular

observation has been mitochondrial dysfunction and similarly in liver and muscle cells a common observation

associated with insulin resistance in these tissues has been mitochondrial dysfunction I'm not suggesting that a

lack of near infrared light is the only cause of mitochondrial dysfunction however it could be one contributing

factor well how may all of this be relevant for you it is relevant because most of us are now living in an

environment that is devoid of near infrared light take a look at the Spectrum of sunlight as mentioned

earlier about 52 to 55% and maybe more of the energy coming from the Sun is near infrared light this varies a bit

from morning to midday and evening but in all cases much of the light that hits us when we're outside is near infrared

light contrast this to today if we're indoors and use energy efficient lighting such as LEDs these emit only

light in the visible spectrum in contrast the old energy inefficient incandescent light bulbs produced a lot

of near infrared and infrared light which is also why they became hot to the touch and was so

inefficient then add to this that infrared light from the sun used to penetrate simple single pane windows

with energy efficient glass in modern buildings that is no longer the case this Modern Glass is designed to keep

warmth which is essentially infrared radiation inside and the side effect of that is is

that near infrared um and also infrared radiation from the Sun are kept out as a result you may not be exposed to any

near infrared light in your home your office your factory floor your gym or any other modern indoor environment and

if this is indeed an essential nutrient that would almost certainly not be ideal now I'm not suggesting we abandon energy

efficient lighting or switch back to single pan glass windows however I do anticipate that the research I've shared

here will lead to technological advances that help us create energy efficient buildings that also provide healthier

light for the people living in them some LEDs are already available that emit near infrared light and that can be

dimmed or programmed to limit blue light at night but these are quite expensive still and hard to find summary

conclusions and suggestions to summarize our exposure to light can affect glucose tolerance and its key determinant

insulin sensitivity and beta cell function potential mechanisms through which light affects glucose tolerance

includes that first UV light triggers vitamin D synthesis in the skin which helps us avoid vitamin D deficiency

second exposure to bright sunlight during the day and the lack of bright and particularly blue light at night

improve our circadian rhythm and link to this our sleep and third exposure to red and near infrared light improves

mitochondrial function now one very important thing to understand here is that I'm not suggesting that exposure to

light is a cure all kind of thing what I'm suggesting is that our lack of exposure to sunlight or exposure to blue

light at night could be one of the potential causes or contributors to your glucose intolerance and if that is the

case then improving your relationship to Light May well be one step that can help you normalize your glucose tolerance so

what does the science suggest that we can do about this specifically I can see four actionable items first make sure

you are not vitamin D deficient have your plasma 25 hydroxy vitamin D level measured and make sure it's above 20

nanog per ml at all times in my opinion ideally you'd aim for the higher end of the normal range somewhere between 30

and 50 nanog per Mill if you are a vitamin D deficient make sure you get some direct sunlight every day and or

take a supplement second make sure to go outside every day during daylight hours keep exposure to strong midday sun to a

few minutes and wear sunscreen and sunglasses as needed during that time but other than that I'd encourage you to

reconsider your relationship with the sun try to find ways to be outdoors more spending time in Shady Green spaces such

as Parks forests or your backyard is also a great idea near infrared light reflects of many surfaces particularly

green surfaces and so you'll be exposed to near infrared light to some degree even Under The Canopy of a tree or

sitting in the shade in your backyard and even a cloudy day is usually brighter than the light we get indoors

and it's certainly a much wider spectrum light than what our indoors lighting usually provides clouds filter out some

of the near infrared light but I would argue that particularly when near infrared light is hard to get is it

probably important to spend some time Outdoors third sleep in an entirely dark room use blackout Shades in your bedroom

and remove or cover any light source including night lights or the display of an alarm clock and if you need to visit

the bathroom use as little light as possible and fourth keep your exposure to artificial light particularly blue

light limited after the sun has set particularly in these 1 to two hours before you go to sleep use software that

filters out blue light on your electronic screens such as your smartphone tablet computer or TV and use

mostly dim lighting after the sun has set one objective here is to help you avoid circadian disruption my strong

suggestion is to combine these suggestions with a form of Tim restricted eating ideally early Tim

restricted eating and your chances are good that your body will return to its natural circadian rhythm all righty

that's it for this video If you like this I would appreciate it if you left me a thumbs up below and particularly if

you shared this video with anyone you think may be interested as always I have published a separate blog post that

discusses the science in more detail and that provides links to all of the scientific references it is linked in

the description box below before we close I would like to invite you to join the nourished by science prevention

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