Israeli Study: Exposure To The Sun Makes Men Hungrier Than Women

A recent study has found that males are more likely than women to want additional food while relaxing on the sand, Judy Siegel-Itzkovich reported for the Jerusalem Post.

Photo Insert: Males exposed to the sun have an increase in production of the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin after activating a protein in their skin called p53.

In a new study, researchers surveyed about 3,000 Israelis about their summer eating habits and then conducted a genetic analysis in a lab model. Males exposed to the sun have an increase in production of the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin after activating a protein in their skin called p53.

Because estrogen inhibits the link between p53 and ghrelin in females, exposure to the sun does not increase the desire to eat.

Tel Aviv University (TAU) researchers found that exposure to the sun enhances male appetite, but not female appetite. The study, carried out on lab models, reveals the disparities in the activation of the metabolic process in males and females.

The groundbreaking study, published in the prestigious journal Nature Metabolism under the title "Food-seeking behavior is triggered by skin ultraviolet exposure in males," was led by Prof. Carmit Levy and doctoral student Shivang Parikh of the human genetics and biochemistry department and Dr. Yiftach Gepner and Dr. Lior Bikovski from TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine.

For the repair of skin-damaged DNA, a protein known as p53 is activated in males of both animal species and humans exposed to sunlight, say researchers. Ghrelin, a hunger-inducing hormone, is produced when p53 is activated. Because estrogen prevents the interaction between p53 and ghrelin in females, light exposure does not trigger the appetite-inducing effects of ghrelin.

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