Weight gain, it’s everywhere these days. You can’t move for the secret fats and saturated calories lurking in every grain and on every street corner. And now it’s catching up with you through your phone, while you sleep. Or so the scientists are telling us, at least.
Scientists in Spain have said that artificial light from mobile phones, tablets, streets lights and televisions will stop the body producing the hormone melatonin. And what does melatonin do? It’s key to regulating sleep patterns and boosts the metabolism. So if it’s not present then the body can’t burn off food as it should.
So what has this got to do with your phone? Well, the short-wavelength blue light that some devices emit while they charge are disruptive to sleep, meaning that on top of not spending enough time in bed due to your busier lifestyle, you’re also not making the most of the sleep you do get because the blue light found in electronic devices keeps your mind ticking over. Blue light is the most disruptive to sleep of all colours on the light spectrum – not only does it stop you sleeping properly, it can also disrupt your circadian rhythms and put you in a bad mood. So when you;re asleep, with your phone charging nearby or - as many do - the phone lying next to your pillow, your sleep is being disturbed by the nearby electronic device.
And to emphasise the importance of natural darkness - scientists now believe that melatonin levels are inhibited by sunlight, so night-time is the time to be restocking and getting the benefit.
In the experiments, at the University of Granada, obese rats lost weight and fought type two diabetes when their consumption of melatonin was increased, and scientists believe the same results would be found in humans.
Dr Simon Kyle, a sleep researcher at Manchester University, told The Daily Mail: "A lot of people are interested in this at the moment given that as a 24-hour society, sleep deprivation is increasing and we are exposing ourselves to artificial light at night.
"We are interested in how an alteration in the sleep-wake pattern may be involved in the onset of diabetes and obesity and if, when you improve the timing of sleep you can also have a positive effect on conditions like diabetes and obesity.
"There is a lot of research showing we are meant to be asleep at night when darkness falls and melatonin rises and when the sun rises the melatonin is blocked by the sun. This light-dark cycle is good for our bodies to predict changes in the environment.
"So if you start sleeping shorter, or receive light at the wrong time late into night, it disrupts melatonin secretion and that could contribute to alterations in metabolism."
So what's the answer to all of this? Put the phones, tablets, TVs and laptops away as early as you can - don;t have them in bed - and if it's possible leave them all outside the bedroom while you sleep.
