The Reasons Why Your Weight Growing When Cold Weather

According to a recent study published by the University of Alberta in Canada, how many factors, lack of sunlight can cause your body to store more fat in cold weather.

The study found that fat cells located just below your skin will shrink after exposure to blue light.

"We are doing this experiment, and we consistently see small and measurable responses to fat cells," said study author Peter Light, Ph.D., director of the Alberta Diabetes Institute. This proves that cells exposed to light store less fat than those not exposed to light.

There may be other factors that can play a big role in your weight gain in cold weather is eating lots of fatty foods.

In order for your fat cells to experience this shrinking effect, you need a very bright blue light source. "The sun is the only thing that will do it," says Light, because only 1 to 5 percent of the blue light can penetrate your skin.

The most important system in your body that responds to this blue light is found in your eyes, which is responsible for regulating your circadian rhythms. It acts as a clock for your sleep patterns. And the same molecular pathway is found in your fat cells.

Light believes that the path can serve as the biological clock of your fat cells that could potentially explain why you tend to gain weight in cold weather than when the weather is hot.

"As the weather gets colder and darker, we can store more fat as food reserves, because our ancestors once found it hard to find food during the winter," Light said.

But there may be other factors that can play a big role in your weight gain in cold weather: You may be less active in cold weather and eat less healthy foods that cause your weight gain.

Comments