Learn about how increased levels of natural light can positively affect our body and mind with an informative infographic.
In the 1600’s people in Europe desired a paler skin, so they prevented themselves from venturing out and covered themselves completely when they ventured out, which led to many children suffering from rickets due to vitamin D deficiency. Also, the fear of cancer due to exposure to sunlight in the recent past have led to people preventing sun exposure as much as possible.
Technology has also taken the world by a storm. Whether it is for work as well as for recreation, almost everyone is using computers, mobile phones, tablets, and other gadgets and gizmos throughout the day, decreasing our exposure to natural light.
This has led to a sedentary lifestyle and staying indoors for the majority of the day, affecting the health and productivity of employees. This sedentary lifestyle has led to several lifestyle health issues with some of the most prominent ones being depression, stress and obesity. Historically, humans were hunter-gatherers and spent a lot of time exposing themselves to the sun. But our bodies haven't evolved to adapt to lower levels of natural light experienced in present day working environments.
Artificial light can decrease levels of melatonin, a hormone that is created in the brain by the pineal gland. Melatonin is fundamental for our body’s health as it controls our circadian rhythms. This is more commonly known as our body clock and when interrupted it will impact our mental and psychological functions such as; our ability to sleep, think clearly, timing & release of hormones and also the regulation of blood pressure.
Since 8-9 hours are spent inside the building working during the daytime, most people are deprived of natural light. Lack of exposure to sunlight can lead to decreased serotonin levels, which is one of the main reasons for depression with the seasonal effective disorder. More hours of sunlight increases the production of the mood-enhancing chemical serotonin in the brain. Studies have found that the more sunlight we are exposed to, the more serotonin we produce.
To know more about how the natural light affects our body and mind, check out the detailed infographic from SJBSashWindows below.
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