The Healing Power of the Sun ☀️
Laying in the sun feels amazing. Admit it.
There’s a reason it feels so blissful and brings such great joy to us, and it’s silly to think that we humans evolved as primates living mostly outside windows closed to constant full-spectrum sunlight for hundreds of thousands of years and and relying on the sun and fire as our primary forms of light and yet we don’t really need any of this essential nutrient: Vitamin Sun!
It’s a fact that getting the sun into our naked eyes and onto our bare skin is essential for countless beneficial physiological processes in our bodies. Despite our sun-phobic culture, we do actually truly NEED the sun to facilitate and spur many normal body functions that actually falter without adequate stimulation from direct sunshine or bright outdoor light. The sun bestows upon us the ability to achieve truly vibrant, radiant health — and happiness — and yet the average American human spends over 90% of their time indoors and most people have a massive deficiency in proper light exposure.
Please consider that sun itself is NOT inherently evil or cancer-causing, but that perhaps we’ve been misled when taught that the sun is an enemy of our good health, to be feared and avoided at all costs. Maybe sunshine truly is a forgotten health cure, a light force without which we cannot truly thrive as healthy, radiant human beings? I think it is!
Full spectrum sunlight has so many benefits
Sunshine is so much brighter than any regular indoor lighting. Sunny days can be 100-1000X brighter in lux than indoor lights. Even shady days are much brighter, and being outside even when it’s cloudy still offers many benefits, as the ambient light still has irreplaceable effects. Being outside can have profound positive effects on mood, fertility, and libido. Seasonal Affective Disorder can result from lack of brightness leading to more fatigue, sickness, insomnia, and depression. If you or someone you know is depressed, a regular daily dose of being outside in nature with exposure to natural outdoor light and sunshine ought to be one of the first “prescriptions” offered to them!
But the light from the sun has so many more benefits…
ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT FROM THE SUN:
can increase metabolism and thus increase weight loss
naturally improves the gut microbiome
can improve hormonal balance and increase libido and is crucial for healthy synthesis of serotonin and dopamine
enhances the production of melatonin, crucial for regulating burble circadian function and healthy sleep rhythms as well as being the body’s master antioxidant
elevates nitric oxide and has been shown to lower blood pressure
activates a special cholesterol in our skin to make Vitamin D, which is necessary for proper immune function as well as the absorption of calcium and many other minerals
actually can reduce cancer risk and related cancer mortality
and so much more!
INFRARED LIGHT FROM THE SUN:
stimulates mitochondrial health
can reduce pain and inflammation
promotes insulin sensitivity
enhances bone regeneration
leads to better wound healing
promotes neurogenesis and cognitive improvement
stimulates hair growth
can lead to more optimal hydration by making more EZ water in the cells
Indeed, the sun’s benefits cannot be argued once researched even minimally, and rather than implicate it as the cause of cancer and other diseases, let’s maybe please admit that very often there is a combination of factors of the average person's modern lifestyle that correlate with the harm that has been blamed on the sun. (IE toxin exposure and chemicals from personal care products or even from sunscreens themselves, not to mention the inflammatory conditions and mitochondrial dysfunction that can come from lack of sufficient exposure to natural light with naked eyes and onto bare skin.)
Vitamin D comes only from the sun
Sunshine is imperative to stimulate the production of the vital nutrient vitamin D. When ultraviolet rays from sunlight strikes the skin, it triggers vitamin D synthesis, which is needed throughout the body where it serves a wide variety of functions, and without enough of it, our overall health suffers. In fact, most cells in your body have receptors for vitamin D, including all of your organs. It's needed for healthy bones, neuromuscular and immune function, and reduction of inflammation. I
Vitamin D is also necessary for modulation of cell growth, as it regulates cell proliferation and differentiation, and it plays a vital role in apoptosis, which is the programmed death of cells that occurs as a normal and controlled part of an organism's growth. Cells that are no longer needed or are a threat to the organism are destroyed by this tightly regulated cell suicide process. Apoptosis protects us from the invasion and proliferation of nasty mutating cancer cells, and we need Vitamin D for apoptosis to happen.
It's important to understand that only sunlight itself can activate your body to produce Vitamin D sulfate by activating the Vitamin D you take as a supplement, so even if you're taking a supplement, you still NEED to get your body in some sunshine.
Get out in the sun, but be responsible
It's incredibly important to be responsible with your sun use and to not burn, so you are able to receive the benefits of the sun and not the detriments.
Please do not go out at noon in the middle of summer when the sun is highest in the sky and the strongest, with no gradual and deliberate sun exposure beforehand, and then complain that you got a nasty sunburn in only twenty minutes!
No no NO! It is necessary to start slowly with daily exposure in the springtime to condition your skin to future exposure as the days lengthen in summertime, and you must be judicious with your exposure until you understand how your body reacts.
It is incredibly important to make it a point to get a base tan, with regular midday sunshine starting in February or March when the days are beginning to lengthen. By getting some midday sunshine everyday when the sun is not at its most strong, you are allowing your skin to start building up a base. With conscious, regular exposure over the coming months, by high summer, your tolerance will be increased and with continued conscious and judicious exposure, you will likely become a lovely bronzed version of yourself.
Avoiding overexposure is key, so using umbrellas or wearing hats and covering up with clothing with a tight weave can be a good idea if you’re going to spend a long day in the sun.
I also recommend using the very useful app D Minder to figure out just how much sunshine is needed at your locale to maintain proper Vitamin D levels.
Eat foods that support your body + avoid sugars and PUFAs
If you want to have your best relationship with the sun, it's imperative to eat foods that supports your sun exposure. A rainbow diet that focuses on anti-inflammatory foods and is full of LOTS of antioxidants, polyphenols, and deeply pigmented foods is going to be most supportive. My favorite things to include for healthy harmonizing with the sun are:
bright red and orange veggies for beta-carotene and dark blue and purple foods for antioxidants and anthocyanins
saturated fats from grass-fed, pastured animal products for sufficient bioavailable retinol
supergreens chlorella, spirulina, and chlorophyll
foods containing resveratrol such as dark berries and chocolate
catechin-rich coffee, highest-quality low sugar chocolate, strong brewed chaga tea or extract
cold water wild fish like salmon, and supplemental cod liver oil and/or astaxanthin (an algae oil) can also be a very good idea
magnesium is required for synthesizing vitamin D, and often D deficiencies can be due to deficient magnesium. Supplementation is crucial nowadays.
And it's super important to avoid consumption of sugars as well if you truly desire to have a wonderful symbiotic relationship with the sun. Excessive sugars in the diet contribute to the formation of advanced glycation end products, otherwise known as AGEs, which age you fast; these oxidized free radicals are responsible for sun spots aka “liver spots” and wrinkles. In addition, damaged fats from processed and refined Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) like corn, soy, canola which are detrimental to health. UVA rays are far more toxic to skin that has an excessive buildup of both AGEs and PUFAs
I also recommend that you avoid glyphosate consumption (the deadly pesticide) as it can actually inhibit formation of Vitamin D in the body.
Use skin care that harmonizes with the sun
The common toxins and chemicals in most "beauty products" sensitize the skin and damage and compromise the natural sun protection that comes along with healthy skin microbiome and the protective acid mantle that the skin naturally has. Harsh soaps can wash that protection away, and most sunscreens, even ones found at stores selling mostly organic products, contain ingredients like retinyl palmitate and oxybenzone that chemically react when the sun's rays shine on skin slathered with them. I personally recommend avoiding all commercial sunscreens and instead use mineral-based ones containing non-nano zinc or titanium, like the ones from Living Libations. They are truly the best and I use their products daily, and often make my own summer oil blend containing red raspberry seed (which is known for having natural sunscreen properties), sea buckthorn, jojoba, tamanu, carrot seed, and argan oils, which are all incredibly nourishing and conditioning for skin that will soon be sun kissed. I also include essential oils like Frankincense, Geranium, and Sandalwood as they can prevent abnormal cell growth. I love to condition my skin with these healing oils before and while in the sun and also rub my whole body down with it daily after my shower.
Get just enough ☀️
Let the sun love you up, but don't forget that there IS a correlation between excessive exposure to UV rays and repeated sunburns to (non-melanoma) skin cancer, so it's super important to AVOID REPEATED SUNBURNS. Be responsible so that you don’t have to be afraid of the beloved sun!
Along with meditating, practicing gratitude, getting in cold bodies of water, controlled breathing, and grounding on the Earth, getting adequate exposure to sunshine on as much of your body as possible is one of the lowest cost biohack there is — FREE! Plus, it feels SO GOOD!
I recommend 10-20 minutes of direct sunlight on as much of your exposed body as possible, every single day if you can. Always remember to listen to your body and get into the shade or cover up if you've had too much. Oh, and don’t forget to flip yourself over halfway through exposure to get sun on both sides of your body!! 🥞
Additional Links
Article: The Overlooked Importance of Vitamin D Receptors on Life Extension
Article: Let the Sun Shine In on Living Libations
Podcast: Living Libation's Nadine Artemis on Wise Interaction with the Sun (there are many more recent episodes with Nadine Artemis, just search in your podcast app)
App: You can get in the habit of using the handy D Minder app to figure out what timing and length of exposure is best for your specific location.
Sun Care: Try these products from my favorite skincare company, Living Libations.
Sperti Sun Lamp: If you live in a very dark area or are prone to wintertime blues, using one of these for only a few minutes daily in winter can really help to get adequate UVB. An investment for sure, but can be worth it!
In conclusion, here are a few more facts to pontificate:
(These can all be verified with some savvy googling fyi)
Those who work indoors under artificial light have the highest risk of melanoma and cell mutation
Lying in the sun everyday lowers the count of viral and bacterial infections in the body, and lowers insulin levels in our blood
Melanoma decreases relative to the amount of sun exposure, in populations living near the equator, and in populations of those who work outside
There is a high risk of developing melanoma on skin that is not regularly exposed to the sun - have you ever heard of someone getting skin cancer between their toes? I have.
There is a significant correlation between use of mainstream sunscreens and development of melanoma, with more research coming out about this every day now it seems
Sun exposure was used as an actual medical treatment in the past and as a cure for tuberculosis and a host of other diseases
Adequate amounts of Vitamin D reduced the risk of breast cancer by a whopping 50%; this is also true for some other cancers and diseases
Very interesting to consider, no?
Well, I’m obviously a big fan of Father Sun. I’d love to hear if you have any miracles worked by the sun to share with me!
With love and rays of healing light ☀️💛
Dara