natural light can help people with diabetes improve their blood sugar levels, new study suggests

• What is emotional minimalism: practice in search of calm and well-being
• Bryan Johnson: Youth-Obsessed Billionaire Says He’ll Achieve Immortality in 15 Years

Daylight is known to improve mood and benefit health. However, according to the research team, most people living in Western societies typically stay indoors about 80 to 90 percent of the time in artificial light, which is not as bright or vibrant as sunlight.

This is important because the human body operates according to circadian rhythms, internal 24-hour clocks that orchestrate a series of biological processes, such as digestion and temperature regulation.

These processes are synchronized by light. Previous studies have shown that artificial light at night interferes with these rhythms and that natural light can improve the body’s response to insulin, which helps control blood sugar levels. However, no previous research has examined the impact of natural light from a window on people with diabetes.

For the study, scientists recruited 13 volunteers with type 2 diabetes to examine how their bodies responded to natural window light and artificial indoor lighting.

All participants underwent two separate 4.5 day periods in a controlled office environment. During one of the sessions, they sat at a table facing large windows, from morning until late afternoon.

• Alcohol: The American Heart Association is reviving the theory that moderate alcohol consumption can be good for your health; to understand

In the other, they sat in the same room and at the same table, with the windows blocked and standard office lighting. All participants ate similar meals three times a day and performed the same exercises at the same time during both sessions. They also continued to take their medications.

As a result, even though average glucose levels were similar across the two sessions, participants spent significantly more time in the normal glucose range when exposed to natural light.

The body’s metabolism has also changed. During the day, the volunteers burned more fat for energy and fewer carbohydrates.

The researchers also collected muscle biopsies and cultured muscle cells in the laboratory. They found that genes involved in their internal cellular clocks were better synchronized with the time of day under natural light. This suggests that sunlight acts as a signal to keep muscles “in rhythm,” making them more efficient at processing nutrients.

The scientists, however, point out certain limitations of the study, such as the small group of participants. However, the results indicate that natural light may help reduce the sudden spikes and fluctuations in blood sugar that often affect people with this condition.