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Sunlight LooksMaxxing (Backed by Science) — Transcript

by Nick Norwitz MD PhD · 2,615 words · 444 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00You can increase your attractiveness to
0:01the opposite sex by just
0:04going outside. I know that sounds insane
0:07and too good to be true and I thought so
0:09too until I read this paper and then
0:13something interesting happened.
0:15Once the scientist in me got over his
0:17intellectual enthusiasm, my [music]
0:19boy brain turned to a slightly more
0:22mischievous thought.
0:23I'm going to use this science to hack my
0:26girlfriend's brain.
0:28>> [music]
0:30>> Babe, what are you doing? Now pause. If
0:33you're worried this is going to be some
0:34sort of misogynistic manosphere video,
0:36don't worry. [music]
0:37I'm going to give my doctor surgeon
0:38girlfriend the chance to hack my brain
0:40as well.
0:43But not with the scalpel. This isn't
0:44about taking advantage of anyone, but
0:46rather how everyone can benefit
0:48neurologically, physically, emotionally
0:50and maybe even sexually from the science
0:53of a light.
0:55Today, I'm going to walk you through
0:56something that is deeply surprising and
0:59surprisingly well supported. How
1:00exposure to specific wavelengths of
1:04light can increase testosterone in men,
1:06>> Bro. [snorts] No. Bro. increase
1:08attractiveness of women to their
1:10partners, I'm going to take a shower. Do
1:12you care to join me? and alter
1:14reproductive biology in ways that sound
1:17almost too strange to be real until you
1:21see the data for yourself. This is one
1:23of those stories where my goal is to
1:25take you from where you are now, which
1:27is there's no way this is true, Nick
1:29[music] is exaggerating, to a place of
1:31oh my god, this actually makes a lot of
1:34sense. So, put your skepticism in a dark
1:36little box for the next few minutes and
1:39let's turn to the science
1:41of a light. Light has been shaping our
1:44biology since the very beginning matter
1:46of evolutionary survival. Light
1:48influences hormones, becomes more
1:51attractive, more desirable, more
1:54compelling, more chosen. Light, skin,
1:57more hormones, brand more hormones. Can
1:59you directly confirm preference for
2:01mates? UVB treatment induces female
2:04[music] sexual attractiveness to males.
2:08Now, before we begin, just a quick note.
2:10If you want extra nuances, early access
2:13to this sort of content, you should
2:14check out our best-selling science
2:15newsletter, Stay Curious Metabolism.
2:17>> [music]
2:17>> Find out why it's the fastest growing
2:19premium letter on the Substack platform.
2:21But, plug over, let's dive [music] into
2:24this video. I want to start with a
2:26mental image to hold on as we begin our
2:28journey. Imagine two identical people.
2:32Same genetics, they're identical twins.
2:33Same personality, even. Same appearance,
2:36exactly. They dress the same.
2:38Only one difference.
2:40One is exposed to a different light
2:43environment, [music]
2:44and as a result, becomes more
2:47attractive, more desirable, more
2:49compelling, more chosen. [music]
2:51At a high level, part of the reason that
2:53this sounds so implausible is because we
2:56don't tend to think of light in the way
2:57we think of nutrients, like vitamins and
3:00minerals. Those feel tangible,
3:03ingestible, real. Light feels ephemeral.
3:06We don't really swallow it. [music] But,
3:08that distinction is, in many ways,
3:10itself an optical illusion. Kind of meta
3:13there.
3:13Light has been shaping our biology since
3:16the very beginning. It is our oldest
3:18biological partner.
3:22And modern research is beginning to show
3:24that it interacts with our metabolism at
3:27the deepest possible level. For example,
3:30mitochondria, the powerhouse of the
3:32cell, undergo cycles of fusion and
3:34fission that influence [music] our
3:36metabolisms, our metabolic efficiency.
3:38And these cycles are directly governed
3:41by [music] light. But, we can shift from
3:43looking at a sub-cellular mitochondrial
3:45level to looking through an evolutionary
3:47[music] lens.
3:48If you were designing a species, our
3:50species, through natural selection,
3:52you'd want reproduction to be timed
3:54[music] for maximal survival of the
3:56offspring, right? Conception wouldn't be
3:58random. It would align with
4:00environmental conditions that optimize
4:02for chances of survival of your babies,
4:05so they thrive. And in fact, we see
4:08exactly those [music] patterns. If you
4:09look across much of Europe in the
4:11northern hemisphere, births peak around
4:14April and May. Let's do some math.
4:17Subtract 9 months. That [music] places
4:19us conception in July and August, when
4:22sunlight exposure is actually at the
4:24highest and exposure to a particularly
4:27relevant wavelength of light, UVB
4:29[music] light. We'll get to that in a
4:31minute. And this is also when men's
4:33testosterone peaks, too. Isn't that
4:36fascinating? And we'll get to women in a
4:38minute. And as I was reading these data,
4:39I actually got really excited, so I did
4:40an experiment to use light to increase
4:42my testosterone. I'm going to show you
4:44how to do it later. Hang on, there's a
4:45little curiosity loop there for you. But
4:47start connecting the dots, it makes a
4:49lot of sense. Light influences hormones,
4:52hormones [music] influence behavior, and
4:54the timing of both shapes outcomes as a
4:57matter of evolutionary survival.
5:00Now, of course, modern light has
5:03dramatically altered our environments. A
5:05lot of light pollution, and if you live
5:06in a city, you know what I'm talking
5:07about. But the underlying biological
5:09programs haven't disappeared. [music]
5:11They're the exact same as they've been
5:13for hundreds of thousands of years.
5:15They're still running, and if you
5:16understand [music] them, you can begin
5:18to leverage them. You can, in a very
5:21real sense, leverage light to create
5:24what my generation calls the glow up,
5:26enhancing not just how you feel, but how
5:29you're actually perceived by others.
5:31Now, here's another fact, key groundwork
5:33as we move on. Skin is an active
5:36endocrine organ capable of producing and
5:39releasing hormones into your
5:40bloodstream, including vitamin D
5:41>> [music]
5:41>> and various peptides. Now, let me really
5:44hammer home this point because it's
5:45important. Think about your pancreas,
5:47for example. [music] When you eat carbs,
5:49your pancreas spits out insulin into
5:51your blood as a hormonal response. Your
5:53skin isn't that different. When you hit
5:55it with sunlight or particular
5:56wavelengths of light, it releases
5:58hormones, too. And then many of these
6:00skin-secreted hormones can go from the
6:03blood to the brain, reach [music] the
6:05brain's hypothalamus, and influence a
6:06downstream hormonal cascade. So, it's a
6:08domino chain. Light, skin, hormones,
6:11brain, more hormones.
6:13So, the question becomes, what is the
6:15ultimate consequence of light hitting
6:17your skin
6:18>> [music]
6:18>> and then skin spitting out hormones into
6:20your bloodstream? Truly, what is the
6:22consequence? And this is where the story
6:25gets really interesting.
6:27And while we'll get to the human data in
6:29a bit, we do want to start with animal
6:31models because that's where the
6:32mechanism starts to gain some clarity.
6:36I'm going to call this next section of
6:37this video, "Oh My Lordosis."
6:41That will make sense in a moment, so
6:42stick you know that in your brain.
6:44In one set of experiments, researchers
6:46exposed mice to full-body UVB radiation.
6:48They did shave the mice for this
6:50purpose.
6:51The results, they were not subtle.
6:53Female mice exposed to UVB triggered
6:56noticeable behavioral changes in the
6:59males.
7:00For example, when females were exposed
7:03to UVB, [music]
7:04their male partners exhibited more
7:07grooming behavior. Maybe because they
7:09were secreting pheromones or something?
7:11The human equivalent, this would be like
7:13if my girlfriend shone a special light
7:15on herself without my awareness, and
7:17then somehow, as a result, again,
7:19perhaps through the pheromones she's
7:20giving off that alter my subconscious
7:22perception, I decided to put more effort
7:25into getting dressed up to go out. Woo!
7:27Nick Norwitz with his hair brushed in a
7:30button-down and a jacket. I think that's
7:32irrefutable proof that this stuff
7:33[music]
7:34is powerful.
7:36Someone needs to call the New England
7:37Journal. But, it gets better.
7:40UVB exposure in
7:42increased successful mating behavior,
7:45including intromission, intercourse,
7:48and what's known as lordosis. Remember
7:51oh my lordosis? Oh my lord. osis. It's a
7:55reflexive posture that facilitates
7:57mating.
7:59I can explain it visually. It's um
8:02Well, it's this.
8:04You can tell I'm having a lot of fun
8:05with this. But, on the male side, UVB
8:08exposure drove a measurable increase in
8:10testosterone with levels rising
8:12substantially. Look at this.
8:14There were also changes in mating calls
8:17and broader signals suggesting increased
8:19attractiveness to the opposite sex like
8:21nice more anogenital sniffing. I'll let
8:24you use your vivid imagination to think
8:26about the human equivalent of that.
8:28But, the researchers went a step further
8:30and asked an even more interesting
8:32question. Can you directly confirm
8:34preference for mates
8:36who have been exposed [music] to UVB
8:38light? Remember our original scenario?
8:40In fact, you can.
8:42So, using a three-chambered cage in
8:44which a male mouse was sandwiched
8:46between two female [music] mice in
8:48separate chambers, you can just expose
8:50one female to UVB, all else being equal,
8:53and see who he prefers. And invariably,
8:56he likes the female who's been exposed
8:58to the UVB light. And importantly in
9:00this experiment, females were carefully
9:02matched. The only difference was one
9:04female had been exposed to the UVB light
9:06and the other had not. The male couldn't
9:09see the difference, but he could somehow
9:12sense it like some hormonal pheromone
9:15gravity. And again and again, the male
9:17showed a greater preference to the
9:18female who had been exposed to the UVB
9:20light.
9:22Think about what that means. In a very
9:25literal sense, UVB exposure, without
9:28changing any [music] obvious visual or
9:30physical characteristics in the female,
9:32made her more attractive to a male.
9:35[music]
9:36All else being equal, it is a literal
9:39glow up. And if you don't believe me,
9:41quoting directly from the authors of
9:43this paper, "UVB treatment induces
9:46female sexual attractiveness to males."
9:49That's pretty straightforward. But now,
9:52let's move to the human data.
9:55The researchers recruited a group of
9:57participants undergoing phototherapy
9:59[music] with controlled doses of UVB
10:02exposure. Participants completed a
10:03passionate love scale PLS questionnaire
10:06before and after phototherapy treatment.
10:09Basically, they just asked men and women
10:11questions about their attraction and
10:12desire for their partners and did so
10:14before and after the light therapy. The
10:16protocol involved UVB treatments
10:18administered two to three times per week
10:20for a total of 10 to 12 treatments. If
10:22you want more specifics on the doses and
10:24devices and protocols, you can check out
10:26the newsletter link below.
10:28The results?
10:29Well, take notes.
10:31In men, scores increased significantly
10:34in domains like obsessive thoughts about
10:37her, their partner, yearning to know
10:39everything about [music] her, and an
10:41endless appetite for affection from her.
10:48And in women, the effects were equally
10:51interesting. A strong sense that their
10:53male partner was the perfect romantic
10:55match and a heightened bodily response
10:59to his physical touch.
11:01When you think about it, phototherapy is
11:04starting to look a lot like actual
11:06couples therapy. Funny story. Well after
11:09I recorded the raw footage for the video
11:12you are now watching,
11:14um, but before it came back from final
11:16edit, I was having interaction with my
11:17girlfriend. And she texted me a joke
11:20about a necklace she wanted, a diamond
11:22necklace. Something to the effect of,
11:24"Well, if you're looking to buy me
11:25diamonds now." And I, being the
11:28committed jokester I am, thought it'd be
11:30really funny to reply with a order
11:33tracking number.
11:34So, yes, I bought the diamond necklace
11:36and sent her the order tracking number.
11:38Um needless to say, she was pleased.
11:41And then
11:42the editor from this video came back and
11:44I would just realized
11:46Oh,
11:47I think I spent too much time in light.
11:49[music]
11:51They're pretty.
11:52Now, if you're one of my naughty
11:54listeners, you might also be wondering
11:56if this means you can use light to
11:58improve your chances of picking someone
11:59up at a bar.
12:01I don't know. I'm not going to comment
12:02on that, but you can do that experiment
12:04and tell me.
12:05>> [music]
12:05>> Or better yet, invite your date on a
12:07walk in the sun.
12:09And we're going to get to sunlight in a
12:10moment, so put a pin in that, too.
12:12>> [music]
12:12>> But first, let's ping pong back to the
12:14animal data. Because this is where
12:16things get even more mechanistically
12:18grounded [music] and biologically real.
12:20UVB exposure increased levels of
12:23hormones along the brain to gonadal axis
12:25like GnRH, FSH, and LH. And then
12:29brace yourself, this is real. It made
12:32[music] the female mice's ovaries
12:36bigger.
12:37I am not joking. Look at the data. The
12:39ovaries literally increased in size,
12:41likely reflecting a developing pool of
12:44follicles and enhanced fertility
12:46potential.
12:47What is the human equivalent?
12:49Well, consider that male testosterone is
12:51highest when UVB light from the sun is
12:53greatest.
12:55And while nobody has done the definitive
12:57experiment to look in females at human
12:59ovary size as relates to sunlight and
13:01UVB exposure, it's perfectly possible,
13:04if not likely, that sunlight and UVB
13:08enhances females fertility as well. In
13:11fact, evolutionarily, it's downright
13:14logical.
13:15That is
13:17incredible. UVB light is literally
13:20altering [music] reproductive anatomy.
13:23But now, back to humans one more time.
13:26To further test these animal findings
13:28translate to humans, the researchers
13:30recruited 19 men and women between
13:32[music] the ages of 18 and 55. They
13:34instructed them
13:36to avoid sun exposure, [music] go full
13:38Gollum for 2 days, and then on a bright
13:41day spend 25 minutes in direct sunlight,
13:44resulting in [music] a total UVB dose of
13:47about 2,000 mJ per cm². More details in
13:50the letter below. As a sidebar, you
13:52might be curious as to why the summer
13:54months are more effective for boosting
13:56sex steroids and potentially fertility.
14:00Maybe it's just the number of hours of
14:02sunlight we have, but actually no,
14:03that's not the whole story. It has to do
14:05with what's called solar angle. So, in
14:07the summer months, the sun ends up being
14:09more directly overhead, which gives
14:11waves of light a more direct path from
14:13the sun through space to your skin.
14:16It has to go through less atmosphere,
14:17and this is particularly pertinent to
14:19UVB light, which is most important here,
14:22because it's short wavelength and easily
14:24scattered by ozone in the atmosphere.
14:27So, having that more direct path to your
14:29skin really enhances the potency of the
14:31light, not just the number of hours in
14:33the day. Hopefully that makes sense.
14:35It's solar angle and total duration of
14:37light. Anyway, blood samples were
14:39collected the day before and the day
14:41after sun exposure.
14:43And the results? There was a positive
14:45correlation between sun exposure and sex
14:48hormone levels, including testosterone
14:50in men and estrogen and progesterone in
14:53women. I found this relationship between
14:55testosterone and sunlight really
14:56interesting, so I decided to do a little
14:58experiment. For 1 full week prior to a
15:01blood test, I tried to avoid sunlight,
15:03and when I went outside, I put on this
15:04black hoodie just to minimize my
15:07sunlight exposure. And this is what
15:08happened to my testosterone. Next phase
15:10of the experiment was easy. I just tried
15:12to get more sunlight. I went outside
15:14shirtless as much as possible or with a
15:16sleeveless shirt, and then this is what
15:18happened to my testosterone. So now, we
15:21have a convergence of evidence, all
15:23pointing in the same direction.
15:25Sunlight, and specifically UVB light, is
15:28not just something that affects your
15:30skin, maybe gives you a little tan. It's
15:32something that reaches deep into our
15:35biologies, mine, yours, modulates our
15:38hormones in ways that can directly shape
15:41our attraction to one another, behavior,
15:44and reproduction. We are not separate
15:46from our environment. We are tuned to
15:48it, and in this case, turned on by it.
15:52Now,
15:54I'm off to go hack my girlfriend's
15:56brain.
15:57And I hope you found this science
15:58valuable on your quest to get
16:01learning.
16:02To get learning.

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