REGENERINT on Nostr: Why the Food You Eat Should Match Your Light Environment ☀️ The food you eat is ...

Why the Food You Eat Should Match Your Light Environment ☀️

The food you eat is encoded with information about the light environment in which it grew. Our bodies rely on light as a primary cue to regulate our daily circadian rhythms and our seasonal infradian rhythms. When the light information you consume through food doesn’t align with the light information that your eyes and skin detect, it confuses your body’s ability to determine the time of year and the appropriate metabolic program to run. This mismatch can lead to metabolic stress and chronic inflammation. By eating foods that are seasonally and locally available, you ensure that the environmental signals your body receives are coherent, supporting a healthier and more balanced metabolism.


Photosynthesis & Electron Excitation:

All food webs begin with the capture and storage of light. During photosynthesis, plants transform photonic energy into chemical energy, effectively alchemizing light into the physical matter that fuels their growth. This transformation occurs due to the excitation of electrons by photons. When photons of light strike chlorophyll molecules in plant leaves, the electrons of these molecules absorb the photon’s energy and jump to higher orbital levels around the nucleus of the atom they orbit. This excitation creates potential energy which is transferred to a reaction center inside the chloroplast, where it powers the conversion of water and carbon dioxide into glucose and oxygen.


Food as an Electromagnetic Barcode:

Different photons carry varying levels of electromagnetic energy. Higher-energy photons, such as ultraviolet (UV) light, excite electrons to higher orbital states. In this way, the specific wavelengths of sunlight absorbed by a plant are imprinted onto the electrons within the plant matter. As a result, food acts like an electromagnetic barcode—a unique marker of the light environment in which it grew. Just as a barcode contains information about a product, the electrons in plant matter carry information about the light conditions that produced them. When we consume these foods, we’re not just ingesting calories or nutrients; we’re also taking in this stored light information.


Biochemical Responses to Light:

Foods contain different chemical compounds depending on the light energy levels they are exposed to during growth. High UV exposure triggers plants to produce photoprotective compounds like certain polyphenols, carotenoids, and anthocyanins. While the electrons in chlorophyll molecules will eventually return to their lower energy states after absorbing high-energy UV photons, the UV-adaptive compounds the plants produced remain. These compounds reflect the specific light conditions under which the plants grew, and act as another form of stored light information.


Light Modulates the Gut Microbiome:

Light exposure, particularly UVB light, has been shown to influence the gut microbiome. Seasonal changes in light—such as longer days with higher UV exposure in summer versus shorter days with less UV in winter—affect which bacteria thrive in our gut and the types of digestive enzymes our body produces. In summer, increased UV exposure and abundant carbohydrates promote a microbiome optimized for digesting fruits and plant-based sugars. In winter, with lower UV exposure and nutrient scarcity, the gut microbiome shifts to better support the digestion of fats and proteins.


How Light Informs Metabolic Programs:

When we consume food, we ingest information about the light environment in which the food grew. As our mitochondria metabolize food, the light information is released, informing our cells about external conditions. This enables our bodies to regulate metabolic programs according to seasonal cycles and the availability of light.

Summertime conditions — marked by longer daylight hours, abundant nutrients, and increased ATP production — activate the mTOR pathway, an anabolic process that promotes growth and the buildup of energy stores.

Wintertime conditions — marked by shorter daylight hours, higher melatonin levels, nutrient scarcity, and reduced ATP production — activate the AMPK pathway, a catabolic process that breaks down energy stores and promotes autophagy.

While mTOR fosters a growth-focused, inflammatory state, AMPK supports an anti-inflammatory state that prioritizes energy conservation and cellular repair.


Issues with Eating Non-Local, Out-of-Season Foods:

Consuming out-of-season imported foods creates a mismatch between the light signals your body receives from the environment and the light information in your food. If your body is experiencing winter (low UV light) but you eat tropical foods grown in high UV conditions, you send mixed signals about which metabolic program to run, making it harder to prioritize growth or repair. Your gut may also lack the bacteria and enzymes to digest these foods due to light’s influence on the microbiome. Over time, chronically overactivating the mTOR pathway by mimicking perpetual summer can lead to inflammation, insulin resistance, weight gain, and accelerated aging.


Benefits of Eating Seasonally and Locally:

Eating foods that contain light information that matches your current environment provides your body with coherent signals to help determine which metabolic programs to run—whether to store or burn fat, grow or repair tissues. Seasonal eating also supports digestion, as shifts in the gut microbiome are influenced by changing light conditions. By embracing nature's seasonal cycles rather than resisting them, you allow your body to fully switch between metabolic states, promoting metabolic flexibility and enhancing mitochondrial health. This gives your body the opportunity to complete its natural cycles, entering a state of winter regeneration instead of remaining in a constant state of summertime inflammation.

#quantumbiology #seasonaleating #metabolichealth