Sun exposure causes obesity in men

What is the relationship between stayingman in the sun and obesity? It would seem that the body usually sweats in the Sun, and with sweat, as you know, fat also comes out. This contributes to a good slim figure. However, employees of Tel Aviv University have a different opinion - they concluded that prolonged exposure to the sun can harm men who monitor their weight. In their study, they found that during the warm season, men consume 17% more calories than women. Given that there is no such difference in calorie intake between men and women during the cold season, the researchers concluded that the Sun is to blame. At first glance, it sounds like an absurdity, but the assumption was confirmed by experiment.

After being in the sun, men have an appetite

Men get an appetite for the sun

Israeli scientists studied statisticaldata from another large study. It collected data on three thousand people aged 25-65. It was these data that showed that in the warm season, men begin to consume more calories.

To verify their findings, the researchersconducted a simple experiment with volunteers - men and women went out into the sun, after which the authors found out how much they want to eat. The assumption was confirmed - men feel more hungry than women. Accordingly, they consume more food.

After sun exposure, men consume more calories than women.

Interestingly, rodents have been found to have the sameEffect. Scientists irradiated mice with medium-wavelength ultraviolet light. Medium-wave ultraviolet is one of the elements of solar radiation that reaches the surface of the Earth and, accordingly, affects the skin.

During the experiment, rodents were irradiated with the samethe dose that they could receive by being in direct sunlight for half an hour at the latitude of Mexico or Florida. The procedure was carried out every day for five days. As a result, irradiated males began to consume more food than females or males that were not exposed to ultraviolet radiation. More information about the results of the study can be found in the journal Nature Metabolism.

Hunger in men and the Sun - what is the relationship

From the foregoing, the question arises - howDoes ultraviolet light affect appetite? In general, the feeling of hunger is caused by various physiological signals. One of these signals is the hormone herlin, for which he received the name “hunger hormone”. Although, in fairness, it must be said that there are many hunger hormones, but Guerlin is the most famous among them.

The hormone gerlin, which is produced in the stomach, is responsible for the feeling of hunger.

Ghrelin originates in the stomach, from where it is transported tothe brain and performs its function in the pituitary and hypothalamus - it stimulates appetite, as a result of which a person concentrates on searching for food. As a study by Israeli scientists showed, the level of this hormone in the blood occurs not only before meals, but also when exposed to sunlight. But, most interestingly, after exposure to the sun in women, the level of this hormone in the blood remained the same. The same thing happened in mice.

But why does solar radiation stimulate synthesishormone? The fact is that this hormone is formed not only in the stomach, but also in the fat cells of the skin. Moreover, it is synthesized under the influence of the p53 gene. By the way, this is an interesting and important protein, which, in fact, provides DNA quality control. If there are errors in the DNA, the protein stimulates their elimination or cell death. Otherwise, the mutation can harm the entire body, for example, it can cause cancer.

As we have already mentioned, ultravioletdamages DNA, causing mutations. For this reason, it is dangerous to stay in the sun for a long time. In this regard, the p53 gene becomes more active, and, as a result, the fat cells of the skin begin to produce the hunger hormone.

In women, the activity of the p53 gene suppresses the sex hormone estrogen.

Why don't women begin to develophunger hormone? It's all about the female sex hormone estrogen, which suppresses the activity of the p53 protein. As a result, ultraviolet radiation does not lead to an increase in the hunger hormone in the blood. However, experts say that it is too early to draw final conclusions. The relationship between ghrelin and the p53 gene in humans needs to be studied in more detail. But, in any case, as we said above, prolonged exposure to the sun should be avoided.

Finally, we note that, even if the output,made by Israeli scientists will be confirmed, the sun still cannot be called an important cause of obesity in men. Recently, scientists have discovered a gene that causes problems with being overweight. You can read more about it here.