Dr. John La Puma, a physician specializing in nature-based medicine, discusses the health risks associated with spending too much time indoors in an interview with Fox News Digital. He cites a survey indicating that nearly half of Americans spend less than two hours outdoors weekly and notes that humans typically spend about 93% of their lives inside, contributing to what he calls a "hidden health tax." La Puma identifies four primary issues caused by excessive indoor time: poor sleep due to lack of exposure to natural light, burnout from overuse of screens (dubbed "ultraprocessed time"), and the absence of distant views that can cause eye strain and fatigue. To mitigate these effects, he recommends spending about 10 minutes outdoors soon after waking each day and taking regular breaks to look out a window or step outside during work hours.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Nearly half of Americans spend less than two hours outdoors in an entire week, according to a new national survey from the Nature & Health Alliance involving researchers at Texas A&M University.
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half → spend → University
Dr. John La Puma, a California physician and expert in nature-based medicine, has focused on the potential health impacts of spending less time outdoors.
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Puma → base → time
In his book, "Indoor Epidemic," he discusses how humans spend about 93% of their lives inside, which comes with a "hidden health tax."
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which → discuss → tax
He claims the remedy is a simple 7% outdoor prescription.
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remedy → claim → ?
"Many people don't realize that they're inhibited from feeling as good as they can, because they're exhausted even after a full night's sleep," La Puma told Fox News Digital.
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Puma → realize → Digital
"They need coffee to feel normal.
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They → need → coffee
They crash at two in the afternoon.
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They → crash → afternoon
They're wired at night.
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They → wire → night
They can't go to sleep, but their labs are normal.
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labs → go → sleep
"
"And they come into the office saying, ‘Why do I feel so exhausted?’
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I → come → office
It's the four Bs," he said.
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he → say → ?
The ‘4 Bs’ caused by too much indoor time
No. 1: Bad sleep
Outdoor light can be many times brighter than typical indoor lighting, La Puma noted, making it a powerful signal for setting the body’s internal clock, or circadian rhythm.
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it → cause → clock
"If you don't set your body clock, your body doesn't know what time it is, and it just goes to sleep whenever you can get to sleep instead of on time," he told Fox News Digital.
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he → set → Digital
Getting bright outdoor light soon after waking can help synchronize the body's sleep-wake cycle and support the natural rise in melatonin later in the evening, according to La Puma.
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Getting → get → Puma
He recommends spending about 10 minutes outdoors within the first hour of waking, without sunglasses.
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He → recommend → sunglasses
No. 2: Burnout
La Puma uses the term "ultraprocessed time" to describe hours lost to screens, scrolling and other digital distractions.
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Puma → use → screens
"Ultraprocessed time is kind of like ultraprocessed food," he said.
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he → say → food
"It’s not nutritious.
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It → ’ → ?
It’s synthetic.
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It → ’ → ?
It’s artificial.
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It → ’ → ?
It’s ubiquitous.
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It → ’ → ?
That includes time spent endlessly scrolling, he said, which can seem to simply "evaporate."
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which → include → time
La Puma argues that a person’s environment can contribute to burnout, rather than viewing it solely as a matter of willpower.
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environment → argue → willpower
Spending excessive time indoors can lead to an overload of screen exposure, he said, as people often turn to the same devices for work, entertainment and relaxation.
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people → spend → work
He noted that the body may not interpret screen time as true rest or escape.
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body → note → rest
We are horizon-deprived as a species because indoors, we can't see more than 20 feet in front of us," La Puma said.
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Puma → deprive → us
"Your eyes need distance like your lungs need air."
To combat burnout, he recommends getting up and going to the window and looking outside for a minute every hour.
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he → need → minute
"It relaxes your eyes, relaxes the muscles around your temples, reduces headache if you have it, improves energy and reduces fatigue," he said.
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he → relax → fatigue
"That's the beginning of being able to reverse burnout.
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That → reverse → burnout
Simply going outside during the workday can help to reverse burnout, LaPuma said.
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LaPuma → go → burnout
"Your eyes need distance like your lungs need air.
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lungs → need → air
"
No. 3: Brain fog
People who spend the day indoors may notice that they feel mentally foggy by the afternoon, La Puma said, particularly in poorly ventilated spaces where carbon dioxide can build up.
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dioxide → spend → spaces
Indoor CO₂ levels can climb above 1,000 parts per million in poorly ventilated spaces, and some research has linked elevated levels with reduced cognitive performance.
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research → climb → performance
"So it's not that you're just making bad decisions in the afternoons — there's a biologic reason for it," La Puma said.
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Puma → make → it
"What you need to do is cross-ventilate, but that's tough to do in an office or conference room."
The doctor said that getting outdoors gives the eyes a chance to focus at greater distances while providing a break from potentially stuffy indoor air.
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getting → need → air
The EPA notes that concentrations of some pollutants can be two to five times higher indoors than outdoors.
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concentrations → note → pollutants
No. 4: Belly fat
When someone’s body clock is out of sync, it can disrupt the body’s normal cortisol rhythm, La Puma said.
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Puma → disrupt → rhythm
Cortisol, often called the stress hormone, naturally rises and falls throughout the day.
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Cortisol → call → day
Research has linked altered cortisol activity with greater abdominal and visceral fat, although the relationship is complex.
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relationship → link → fat
"Again, the way to improve your metabolism is to get daylight at the right time, in the right place, for the right duration — early in the morning especially," La Puma advised.
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Puma → improve → morning
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
