Exposure to Natural Light Improves Metabolic Health

An international team has provided the first direct evidence of the beneficial effects of scheduled daylight as compared to artificial light in people with type 2 diabetes.

Metabolic diseases have reached epidemic proportions in our society, driven by a sedentary lifestyle coupled with circadian misalignment - a desynchrony between our intrinsic biological clocks and environmental signals. Furthermore, we spend almost 90% of our time indoors, with a very limited exposure to natural daylight. To investigate the specific role of daylight in human metabolism, particularly in glycaemic control, researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG), Maastricht University, and the German Diabetes Center (DDZ) conducted a controlled study with thirteen volunteers with type 2 diabetes. When exposed to natural light, participants exhibited more stable blood glucose levels and an overall improvement in their metabolic profile. These results, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, provide the first evidence of the beneficial impact of natural light on people with type 2 diabetes.

As in all living beings, human physiological processes are subject to the influence of the circadian rhythm governed by the alternation of day and night. This is controlled by a central clock in the brain, which synchronises the clocks in peripheral organs such as the liver and skeletal muscles.

"It has been known for several years that the disruption of circadian rhythms plays a major role in the development of metabolic disorders that affect an increasing proportion of the Western population," notes Charna Dibner, associate professor at the UNIGE Faculty of Medicine and at HUG, who co-directed this work with Joris Hoeks, associate professor at Maastricht University, and Patrick Schrauwen, professor at the DDZ.

Read More: Université de Genève

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