Science Says Charging Your iPhone In Your Bedroom Makes You Fat. And It’s Not As Mental As It Sounds

It's all about circadian rhythms, guys

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by Stevie Martin |
Published on

Yes, we've all heard that everything gives you cancer and smartphones will melt your head just like the pesticides on cucumbers will cause you to spontaneously combust. But there may be something in the idea that charging your iPhone in your bedroom while you snooze might be making you pack on the pounds.

OK, so it's not specifically the charging of the iPhone (or Android – hi, guys!) that's the problem, but the artificial light given off when you charge your myriad devices. Whether that's a laptop, a tablet or a phone, scientists from the University of Granada have found that artificial light stops the body producing an obesity-fighting hormone called Melatonin.

Pumped around your bod to keep your sleeping patterns regular, Melatonin is also a metabolism-booster that also acts as an anti-inflammatory. When you're exposed to light at weird times throughout the night, this disrupts your circadian rhythm and means that your body gets all confused and isn't able to settle into a normal cycle. This, in turn, is likely to make you gain weight.

READ MORE: Charge Your Phone Under Your Pillow? Yeah, It Could Electrocute You

'Many people are in the habit of sleeping with their lamps, televisions or their computers switched on, or with the blinds drawn up,' says Professor Ahmad Agil, who led the study. 'For all these reasons, it is important to try to sleep in absolute darkness, to avoid interference in the generation of melatonin.'

Apparently a sedentary lifestyle, high-calorie processed foods and all the other usual suspects are the main causes of rising obesity – but we're not helping ourselves through the night, either. For anyone wanting to top up their Melatonin, it can be found in herbs, spices, fruit, nuts and seeds – so chomp on them if you wake up to find your iPhone whirring away next to your head on the pillow.

Time to invest in a blackout blind, and banish those devices to your living room.

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** Follow Stevie on Twitter @5tevieM**

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.

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