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Bright Light Exposure Improves Your Workouts Sign. (~8%)

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Would be interesting to compare sunlight and artificial light in future studies. You will remember the circadian rhythm series in which I have previously discussed the relevance of light exposure as a means to set, reset and entrain your internal clock in order to reap all sorts of health and performance benefits. Bright (>4000 lux), preferable blue (at least having a blue component) light has repeatedly been shown to increase athletic performance. Studies like Kantermann et al. (2012) show, however, that the efficacy of bright light exposure significantly depends on the chronotype of an athlete. Learn more about the health effects of correct / messed up  circadian rhythms Sunlight, Bluelight, Backlight and Your Clock Sunlight a La Carte: "Hack" Your Rhythm Breaking the Fast to Synchronize the Clock Fasting (Re-)Sets the Peripheral Clock Vitamin A & Caffeine Set the Clock Pre-Workout Supps Could Ruin Your Sleep In said study, the athletes ...
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Lack of Sun Exposure & Type II Diabetes - Contemporary Evidence Suggests: There is a Link!

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"No sun, no diabesity protection." The evidence is equivocal and the number of studies low, but there is evidence that this statement could be true. Ok, it's November and not exactly sunny in the Northern hemisphere, but if you look back at the months June-August, how much sun exposure did you actually get, this year? Hardly any? Well, that's bad news, because a recent review of the scant scientific evidence suggests that there is "a role of recreational sun exposure in reducing odds of T2DM incidence" (Shore-Lorenti. 2014). In view of the fact that the contemporarily available evidence is not exactly comprehensive, you should yet consider the following overview of the potential effects and mechanism as a "work in progress". The effects on circadian rhythm could be behind the Sun's anti-cancer effects Sunlight, Bluelight, Backlight and Your Clock Sunlight a La Carte: "Hack" Your Rhythm Breaking the Fast to Synchro...
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Hack Your Biological Clock: Light-Induced Circadian Phase Shifts Work So Well That You Better Watch Out to Avoid Accidental Phase Shifting When You Check Your Mails

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If you do it on purpose, "hacking" your biological clock can be highly beneficial. If you're doing it out of pure ignorance, though, you're in trouble. In view of the impeding return to standard time, it's probably a good thing, in view of the iPhones, iPads and Facebooks of this world it could turn out to be a serious health problem, though: the ease with which you can "hack" your biological clock - on purpose, but also incidentally. How easy it really is to turn the biological clock of life forward and backward has in fact only recently  been confirmed by Seong Jae  Kim and colleagues from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the Technology Evaluation Center of BlueCross BlueShield Association (Kim. 2013) Fast forward / backward, please! All the scientists had to do to make sure that the 29 healthy young (25.1 ± 4.1 years, M:F=8:21) and 16 healthy older subjects (66.5 ± 6.0 years, M:F=5:11) who participated in the sa...
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Prepare for the Winter: Get your Supply of Vitamin D Supplements

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Figure 1: In Great Britain Vitamin D3 supplementation appears indicated at least in the winter month A recent study by researchers ( Webb. 2010 ) from the School of Earth Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences at the University of Manchester highlight the importance of maintaining "late-summer 25-OH(D3) levels" throughout the winter month. In their investigation among 125 white Caucasians aged 20-60 years in Greater Manchester they found: Dietary vitamin D remained low in all seasons (median 3.27 mug/day, range 2.76-4.15) while personal UV exposure levels were high in spring and summer, low in autumn and negligible in winter . Mean 25(OH)D levels were maximal in September (28.4 ng/mL; 28% optimal, zero deficient (< 5 ng/mL)), and minimal in February (18.3 ng/mL; 7% optimal, 5% deficient). A February 25(OH)D level of 20ng/mL was achieved following an average late summer level of 30.4 (25.6 to 35.2) and 34.9 (27.9 to 41.9) ng/mL in women and men, respecti...
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Further Evidence: Sunlight Alone is Insufficient to Rise Vitamin D Levels in Non-Western Immigrants

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Wicherts et.al. ( Wicherts. 2010 ) published the results of an investigation into the effectiveness of a) sun exposure or b) supplementation with daily 800 IU or 100,000 IU once in three months on serum 25(OH)-D3 levels in 211 otherwise healthy non-western immigrant in the Netherlands.  As you can see in table 1, the initial high dose of 100.000 IU raised 25(OH)D levels significantly faster but to a lower extent than the 800 IU daily dosing: Table 1: Proportion (%) of participants with serum 25(OH)D<25, 25−50, 50−75, or >75 nmol/l at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months according to treatment group 800 IU/day, 100,000 IU/3 months or sunshine exposure ( Wicherts. 2010. Table 2 ) Otherwise, Wickerts' study confirms the results of earlier investigations, mean serum 25(OH)D increased to 53 nmol/l with 800 IU/day, to 50.5 nmol/l with 100,000 IU/3 months, and to 29.1 nmol/l with advised sunlight exposure. ...
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