Yet another reason to be outdoors

[MattR 2659]

During covid I started watching a YouTube series that gets deep into the science of human biology. It's called medcram and the original intent is to help med students learn. It's very geeky but well explained.

Anyway, I learned yet another reason why we should spend time outside: near infrared sunlight (the stuff that warms us up) helps create melatonin within our cells during the day,  which in turn is used to clean out mitochondria from oxidative stress (caused by creating energy for cells) thus helping our immune system deal with such things as covid.

One cool part is that near infrared will go deep into the body, including going through bone. So, sunshine literally helps clean your brain.

Another cool thing is that green plants do a great job of reflecting infrared light (but not UV) so hanging out under a tree is great.

People that sit inside all day clearly don't get as much sunshine but new, high efficiency windows and lights make it worse because they create or transmit less infrared.

Bottom line, spending time outside is good for you.