Take air when it’s hot and humid, good idea?

Stained job! It’s a section where Oliver Schmocker answers your toughest questions [et les plus pertinentes] In the modern business world…and of course its failures. A reading date Tuesday and the Thursday. Would you like to participate? Send us your question at [email protected]

Q: Is it summer? high temperature? Wet and sticky air? I’ve lost the taste for a short lunchtime walk. And I get the impression that I feel less healthy, have less energy, and work less hard than before. Is all this related? And if so, should I “force” myself to get some fresh air more often? “ – Elodie

A – Dear Elody, It is not surprising that studies abound to show all the benefits of walking outdoors: muscle strength, joint flexibility, cognitive relief, etc. So we can only recommend everyone to take short walks during workdays, whenever possible.

Now I’ve noticed a loss of motivation on your part, no doubt due to the hot and sticky summers we’ve been having on and off for a few years now. Hence my desire to tell you about a recent study that revealed completely insane and unexpected effects of walking outside, effects such as those that should, I think, give you wings, even if the outside air seems overwhelming the moment you step out of your house. Office or home air conditioner.

Together with five other researchers, Angus Burns, a researcher at Harvard Medical School, searched the UK’s massive Biobank database. The latter contains biological samples and various information on voluntary and unknown Britons in order to analyze, among other things, the impact of the environment on people’s health.

Specifically, Angus Burns and his team studied data from a sample of 502,000 people between the ages of 37 and 73, from all kinds of social and professional backgrounds. Leur objectif était de voir si les personnes qui exposaient à la luminaire du soleil une heure de plus que la moyenne des genders (moyenne qui est de 2,5 heures per day) available, en general, une meilleure santé que les autres, Firstly. In my opinion, they certainly did not expect such amazing results:

– Those who expose themselves to the sun for at least 3.5 hours a day are less likely to develop a major depressive disorder during their lifetime: waves of sadness, feelings of exhaustion, loss of self-confidence, loss of appetite, etc.

– They use less antidepressants than others.

– They are less likely to suffer from anhedonia, that is, the loss of the ability to experience pleasure: the feeling of being without being, the feeling of emptiness, etc.

Their mood is often less somber than that of others: and it often happens that they are neither cheerful nor pleasant.

– Their neuroticism is weaker: they are less likely than others to experience negative emotions (disappointment, frustration, shame, jealousy, anger, fear, etc.)

They are usually happier than others.

That’s not all. Digging deeper into the data, Angus Burns and his staff also discovered that:

Those who are exposed to sunlight for at least 3.5 hours a day have a greater ease of getting out of bed in the morning.

They feel less tired than others.

They suffer less from insomnia symptoms.

And they have an earlier chronotype, which means they go to bed earlier than others.

In short, the more air we take in, the more we are in a good mood, the more pleasant we sleep, and the better our physical and mental health. No more, no less.

There you are, Elody. I hope all of this convinces you to get out of the air conditioner more often to get a taste of the outdoor air. As the benefits of this habit far outweigh, it seems to me, the negative aspects are connected with the fact that the natural air can sometimes seem, in summer, to us hot and humid.