Working up a sweat and watching your diet aren't the

only paths that lead to fat loss. Check this out.

by Mike T Nelson, PhD | Yesterday

NEW
Tags: 
 Living Better
 Health & Longevity

Imagine you just stepped out of your time machine after being transported
back to Muscle Beach in its prime. You arrive to spot the likes of Vic Tanny,
Joe Gold (of Gold's Gym fame), Jack LaLanne, Steve "Hercules" Reeves,
Jack Delinger, and later, Dave Draper or even Arnold with his friends.

They were all hanging out and lifting outside instead of being inside a
commercial gym. Did they know something special about sunlight?
The New Science

Fast-forward to modern bleeding-edge research from Dr. Peter Light who's

been investigating the effects of light on fat cells, or what researches call
adipocytes (1).

When the researchers subjected fat cells in a dish to blue light, it caused an
increased glycerol release and reduced lipid droplet size. Yep, that means the
fat cells got smaller.

This is from an increased rate of fat being broken down (lipolysis) or reduction
in the free fatty acids and glycerol backbone being reassembled, known as
fatty acid re-esterification. In addition, smaller fat cells are healthier since
 large fat cells are associated with increased insulin resistance and
inflammation (2, 3).

"When the sun's blue light wavelengths – the light we can see with our eyes –
penetrates our skin and reaches the fat cells just beneath, lipid droplets
reduce in size and are released out of the cell. In other words, our cells don't
store as much fat," wrote Dr. Light (4).

The Caveat

It's not a double-blind randomized controlled trial in lifting bros, but it is super
fascinating. Maybe the old-school Muscle Beach lifters were onto something.

Using Light to Fix Injury Related:

The Easiest Way to Get Healthier Related:

References
1. Ondrusova K, Fatehi M, Barr A, Czarnecka Z, Long W, Suzuki K, et al.
Subcutaneous white adipocytes express a light sensitive signaling pathway
mediated via a melanopsin/TRPC channel axis. Sci Rep. 2017;7(1):16332.
2. Henninger AM, Eliasson B, Jenndahl LE, Hammarstedt A. Adipocyte
hypertrophy, inflammation and fibrosis characterize subcutaneous adipose
tissue of healthy, non-obese subjects predisposed to type 2 diabetes. PloS
one.