03-26-2008, 06:24 PM
Johnny Depp may owe his slim physique to blue tinted diet eyeglasses?
Pirates of the Caribbean actor Johnny Depp, 45, is famous for his youthful appearance and slim physique. Hollywood gossip blogger Janet Charlton attributes this to workouts and a healthy diet of chicken, tuna packed in water, soy milk, and fruits such as blueberries, pineapple, and kiwi fruit.
But reports in the Japanese media have raised another possible influence on Depp’s healthy physique: the blue tinted eyeglasses that he was observed wearing during his Japanese promotional tour for the third installment in the Pirates series.
Traditionally eyeglasses and sunglasses have been designed to filter out blue light rather than to emphasize it. The short wavelengths of blue light are harder for eyes to focus and can cause eye strain. Blue light also emphasizes dust and moisture in the air, creating a hazy look. Considering these factors, why would Depp have taken up wearing blue eyeglasses in Japan?
It turns out that for several years prior to Depp’s visit blue eyeglasses had been in the news in Japan for their purported appetite suppressant effect. You might think that any such effect would simply be from the unappetizing appearance of your meal while wearing the glasses. After all, there aren’t many foods that are blue (although those that are contain anthocyanins, cancer-fighting antioxidants that help protect against cell damage).
But there is another possible explanation for the glasses’ claimed effectiveness.
Serotonin and weight loss
In May 2005 a Japanese television program first reported that when the city of Glasgow, Scotland, changed some of their orangish street lights to bluish lights a mysterious effect was noticed: Glaswegians suddenly mellowed out and the city’s crime rate dropped.
Some attributed the change to an increase in serotonin by in the residents’ brains, an increase which has been associated with blue light.
Serotonin has been connected with various effects on mood, sleep and appetite. MAO inhibitors that reduce the breakdown of natural serotonin are often used to treat depression. The illicit drug ecstasy produces feelings of empathy by releasing serotonin.
In excess serotonin can precipitate cardiac disease and other dangerous conditions. The appetite control drug Fen-phen, which was thought to have worked by enhancing the brain’s release of serotonin, has been blamed for causing valvular heart disease in some users.
Following the Japanese television report about Glasgow, in 2006 the municipal authorities in Nono City in Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture installed blue street lights as a pilot project. The results are still pending.
“Blue Diet Glasses” appear on the scene
The 2005 television report was also seen by a twenty-something Osaka entrepreneur named Yasuhira Niioda, who by that time had already spent a couple of years working with lens manufacturers to develop blue fashion sunglasses for dieting purposes. Niioda quickly finalized his design and his company FTF, Inc. has been marketing Blue Diet Glasses through its Blue-Diet.com Web site and other retail channels ever since. The glasses have been introduced to consumers in magazines and on television.
Mr. Niioda is not aware of any purchases of FTF’s Blue Diet Glasses by Depp, or at least he’s not telling. But if Depp went DIY and ordered his own blue lenses, he should know that just any old blue lenses won’t work. According to Mr. Niioda, FTF’s Blue Diet Glasses filter a very specific spectral range to maximize serotonin production.
The editors of Japanese women’s Web site My Birthday Happy organized a diet shootout between the Blue Diet Glasses and a pair of blue tinted swimming goggles. Conclusion: the Blue Diet Glasses were more effective for weight loss, as well as for reducing overall stress.
If you’re buying this story and are interested in trying the glasses, which retail for about $18.00, you’re out of luck unless you live in Japan. At this point FTF is is not shipping its product to the United States, nor are online retailers like Yahoo! Japan Shopping.
Original article
Pirates of the Caribbean actor Johnny Depp, 45, is famous for his youthful appearance and slim physique. Hollywood gossip blogger Janet Charlton attributes this to workouts and a healthy diet of chicken, tuna packed in water, soy milk, and fruits such as blueberries, pineapple, and kiwi fruit.
But reports in the Japanese media have raised another possible influence on Depp’s healthy physique: the blue tinted eyeglasses that he was observed wearing during his Japanese promotional tour for the third installment in the Pirates series.
Traditionally eyeglasses and sunglasses have been designed to filter out blue light rather than to emphasize it. The short wavelengths of blue light are harder for eyes to focus and can cause eye strain. Blue light also emphasizes dust and moisture in the air, creating a hazy look. Considering these factors, why would Depp have taken up wearing blue eyeglasses in Japan?
It turns out that for several years prior to Depp’s visit blue eyeglasses had been in the news in Japan for their purported appetite suppressant effect. You might think that any such effect would simply be from the unappetizing appearance of your meal while wearing the glasses. After all, there aren’t many foods that are blue (although those that are contain anthocyanins, cancer-fighting antioxidants that help protect against cell damage).
But there is another possible explanation for the glasses’ claimed effectiveness.
Serotonin and weight loss
In May 2005 a Japanese television program first reported that when the city of Glasgow, Scotland, changed some of their orangish street lights to bluish lights a mysterious effect was noticed: Glaswegians suddenly mellowed out and the city’s crime rate dropped.
Some attributed the change to an increase in serotonin by in the residents’ brains, an increase which has been associated with blue light.
Serotonin has been connected with various effects on mood, sleep and appetite. MAO inhibitors that reduce the breakdown of natural serotonin are often used to treat depression. The illicit drug ecstasy produces feelings of empathy by releasing serotonin.
In excess serotonin can precipitate cardiac disease and other dangerous conditions. The appetite control drug Fen-phen, which was thought to have worked by enhancing the brain’s release of serotonin, has been blamed for causing valvular heart disease in some users.
Following the Japanese television report about Glasgow, in 2006 the municipal authorities in Nono City in Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture installed blue street lights as a pilot project. The results are still pending.
“Blue Diet Glasses” appear on the scene
The 2005 television report was also seen by a twenty-something Osaka entrepreneur named Yasuhira Niioda, who by that time had already spent a couple of years working with lens manufacturers to develop blue fashion sunglasses for dieting purposes. Niioda quickly finalized his design and his company FTF, Inc. has been marketing Blue Diet Glasses through its Blue-Diet.com Web site and other retail channels ever since. The glasses have been introduced to consumers in magazines and on television.
Mr. Niioda is not aware of any purchases of FTF’s Blue Diet Glasses by Depp, or at least he’s not telling. But if Depp went DIY and ordered his own blue lenses, he should know that just any old blue lenses won’t work. According to Mr. Niioda, FTF’s Blue Diet Glasses filter a very specific spectral range to maximize serotonin production.
The editors of Japanese women’s Web site My Birthday Happy organized a diet shootout between the Blue Diet Glasses and a pair of blue tinted swimming goggles. Conclusion: the Blue Diet Glasses were more effective for weight loss, as well as for reducing overall stress.
If you’re buying this story and are interested in trying the glasses, which retail for about $18.00, you’re out of luck unless you live in Japan. At this point FTF is is not shipping its product to the United States, nor are online retailers like Yahoo! Japan Shopping.
Original article
