DeepSummary
In this episode, Dr. Alexis Cowan discusses how junk light, or artificial light sources like LED lights and screens, is a major contributor to chronic disease due to its lack of red and infrared light and enrichment in blue light. She explains how blue light disrupts our circadian rhythms and metabolic processes, leading to issues like poor sleep, hormonal imbalances, and mitochondrial dysfunction. On the other hand, sunlight exposure provides essential wavelengths like UVB that stimulate the production of beneficial compounds like endorphins and vitamin D.
Dr. Cowan emphasizes the importance of getting enough midday sun exposure, ideally exposing the abdomen and calves which are rich in UVB light receptors. She recommends building up sun tolerance gradually and using red light therapy to support mitochondrial function and prevent burning. She also highlights how sun exposure improves dopamine levels, mood, motivation, and decision-making abilities.
The discussion also covers the gut-skin axis, where UVB light modulates the microbiome and increases microbial diversity. Dr. Cowan shares her journey of discovering the significance of light biology and how it complemented her previous work on the microbiome and metabolism. She offers practical tips for reducing blue light exposure indoors and incorporating more natural light into daily routines.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Junk light from artificial sources like LED lights and screens lacks red and infrared wavelengths and is enriched in blue light, which disrupts our circadian rhythms and metabolic processes.
- Sunlight, especially UVB and red/infrared wavelengths, is essential for regulating circadian rhythms, supporting mitochondrial function, boosting mood and motivation, and promoting a healthy microbiome.
- Getting midday sun exposure, particularly on the abdomen and calves which are rich in UVB receptors, is crucial for optimizing health benefits.
- Building up sun tolerance gradually, using red light therapy, and following a diet and lifestyle that supports skin health can prevent burning and promote a healthy tan.
- Living an indoor lifestyle and relying on artificial light sources leads to deficiencies in essential wavelengths like UV and infrared, contributing to chronic health issues.
- Listening to our body's natural cues and signals, rather than constantly overriding them, can provide simpler solutions to many health problems we face.
- Optimizing light exposure can improve mood, motivation, decision-making abilities, and overall well-being by supporting dopamine levels and nervous system regulation.
- UVB light plays a crucial role in modulating the gut microbiome and increasing microbial diversity through the gut-skin axis.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “So I really want to highlight here that it's not only the junk light that's the problem. I would argue that the bigger problem is the absence of sunlight, and specifically the absence of uv light in the environment.“ by Alexis Cowan
- “If you're living an indoor lifestyle, and even if you're getting natural light through windows, the glass in normal windows blocks 100% of uv light and about 40% of near infrared light. So just by the very nature of living an indoor lifestyle, you're going to be deficient in UV light, which includes both UVA and UVB.“ by Alexis Cowan
- “So I recently, within the past twelve months, actually about a year ago, exactly, really got involved in the area of circadian and light biology and just completely changed my entire approach to health and life, which was already kind of charted out pretty extensively.“ by Alexis Cowan
- “I would not be surprised because we know cancer is essentially stemming from mitochondrial dysfunction and mitochondrial damage on some level. There's also can be a genetic component, but I think largely the metabolic derangement that happens first is probably what's creating this kind of environment that's leading to genetic changes to happen, that kind of spitballs and leads to malignancy down the line.“ by Alexis Cowan
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Episode Information
Dhru Purohit Show
Dhru Purohit
5/27/24