By Guest Blogger Charles Wills

The light bulb was one of the greatest inventions of all time. Can you imagine what life would be like without artificial light? How would you see at night? Would you need to be home by sunset? How would this affect your nightlife or relaxation time in the evenings?

Although there are many benefits to artificial light, did you know that exposure to long hours of artificial light can actually make you crave carbohydrates? Over thousands of years, our subconscious minds have been conditioned and fine-tuned to react to light based on the natural instinct of feast-or-famine and ultimate survival.

So how does this work?

• Long hours of artificial light trick your mind into believing its summer.
• To prepare you for the shorter, colder days during winter when, in another place and time, you would have had less access to food, your brain signals famine to your internal controls.
• Famine on the horizon signifies instinctive carbohydrate craving to store fat for hibernation and scarcity.

This storage is accomplished by:

• Increasing carbohydrate consumption until your body makes so much insulin you become insulin resistant.
• The extra carbohydrates are now stored as fat.
• Your liver kicks into high gear to process the extra sugar caused by high cholesterol, which in turn, stops your cell membranes from freezing to death due to low temperatures.

Although times have changed, and it is no longer necessary to hibernate during winter and eat as many carbohydrates as possible during summer, this explanation provides some insight into why extended exposure to light can cause you to subconsciously crave carbohydrates. It is important to be aware of this so you do not eat too many carbs month after month, year after year, which can lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and inevitably heart disease.

But wait, exposure to light also has many benefits! It contains the three main ingredients (Dopamine, Serotonin and Melatonin) that help you maintain balance in your life. Light can affect feelings such as being:

• Happy or Sad
• Healthy or Sick
• Relaxed or Stressed
• Paranoid or Trusting

I hope this article helped you gain a better understanding of how light can affect your food cravings as well as your emotional feelings. Remember you are the one responsible for your health!

I am here at Zoëtry Wellness & Spa Resorts offering you the chance to really make a change, with tools that will enable you to follow through for the rest of your life. Stay tuned for future posts.

Charles Wills
www.TheWillsSystem.com   
Available at ZoetryResorts.com