Natural Life
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How to do natural sun exposure.
The cases of Vitamin D deficiency has risen by (490%), since 2020. Shockingly, the average time stepping foot outdoors is only (35 minutes) within an entire day! To give context, the average person spends a third (36%) of day sleeping, which is an increase of (31 minutes) since the 1970s and while sport and exercise has increased by (58%) since the 1970s, the average person watches TV for (147 minutes) per day. Sadly, in recent years, the main focus having to do with the sun has been around its damaging effects rather than it positively affects our health.
Studies have linked the decreased amount of sun exposure to an increasing level of vitamin D deficiency and the overall importance of vitamin D cannot be overstated. It plays a huge role in the life cycle of our cells as well as regulating our immune system. If you look at the numbers of cases from 2000 to 2019’s, diagnoses have increased by (987%). In fact all kinds of diagnoses having to do with a Vitamin D deficiency has increased (477%).
WAYS THE SUN CAN HELP US:
1. Improves Your Sleep
Our bodies create a hormone called melatonin that is critical to helping you sleep. Because your body starts producing it when it’s dark, you usually start to feel sleepy two hours after the sun sets, which is one of the reasons our bodies naturally stay up later in the summer. Research indicates that an hour of natural light in the morning will help you sleep better. Sunshine regulates your circadian rhythm by telling your body when to increase and decrease your melatonin levels. So, the more daylight exposure you can get, the better your body will produce melatonin when it’s time to go to sleep.
2. Reduces stress
Melatonin also lowers stress reactivity and being outside will help your body naturally regulate melatonin, which can help reduce your stress level. Additionally, because you’re often doing something active when you’re outside (walking, playing, etc.), that extra exercise also helps to lower stress.
3. Maintains Strong Bones
One of the best (and easiest) ways to get vitamin D is by being outside. Our bodies produce vitamin D when exposed to sunlight—about 15 minutes in the sun a day is adequate if you’re fair skinned. And since Vitamin D helps your body maintain calcium and prevents brittle, thin, or misshapen bones, soaking in sun may be just what the doctor ordered.
4. Helps Keep The Weight Off
Getting outside for 30 minutes sometime between 8 a.m. and noon has been linked to weight loss. There, of course, could be other factors to this, but it seems there’s a connection between sunlight in the early morning and weight loss.
5. Strengthens Your Immune System
Vitamin D is also critical for your immune system, and with consistent exposure to sunlight, you can help strengthen it. A healthy immune system can help reduce the risk of illness, infections, some cancers, and mortality after surgery.
6. Fights Off Depression Your Sleep
It’s not just in your head; there’s a scientific reason being in the sunshine improves your mood. Sunshine boosts your body’s level of serotonin, which is a chemical that improves your mood and helps you stay calm and focused. Increased exposure to natural light may help ease the symptoms of seasonal affective disorder–a change in mood that typically occurs in the fall and winter months when there are fewer hours of daylight.
7. Lengthen Your Life
A study that followed 30,000 Swedish women revealed that those who spent more time in the sun lived six months to two years longer than those with less sun exposure. More research needs to be done in this area, but it’s something scientists are continuing to study. Of course, a little sunshine can go a long way (and too much is harmful for our skin). Depending on the shade of your skin, scientists estimate your body can produce vitamin D in about 5 to 30 minutes in the sun. If you’re wearing sunscreen, you may not produce as much vitamin D. If you’re outside for some much-needed vitamin D, don’t expose bare skin longer than 5 to 30 minutes.
There are ways to be in the sun and go outside within healthy ranges. In fact we need the sun to be healthy! Think about it, plants turn to face the sun and grow, animals sun bathe often naturally, historically people did not spend 90% of their time inside. Sadly, sats show that most people only spend 30 minutes a day outside! That is so sad, and we wonder why we struggle mentally and physically so much…
Did you know, the areas in the world where people receive the least amounts of sun exposure, have the highest rates of melanoma and the ones that receive healthy amounts live longer? We think that The sun supports several critical functions in the body, including the production of vitamin D, which is vitally important to our health.
Vitamin D: Strengthens bones and the immune system. and reduces the risk of various cancers, including breast, colon, kidney, and pancreatic cancers. It Regulates at least 1,000 different genes governing virtually every tissue in the body.
Unfortunately, in the last 20 years or so, we have been sold the lie that we need to avoid the sun and in fact slather chemicals all over our body to protect ourselves. As a result, vitamin D levels in the U.S. have steadily declined over the last two decades, creating a growing epidemic of Vitamin D deficiency.
1. Acclimate slowly – We must acclimate to the sun, starting off slowly and gradually building up our sun exposure over time. The best time of day for sun exposure is early morning to about noon. Allow the sunlight to shine on your unprotected arms and legs for at least 15 minutes, and work up to 30 minutes. After this amount of sun exposure, covering up for prolonged periods of time is very important.
2. Choose the healthiest sunscreen – Synthetic sunscreens may effectively block UVA rays, but they don’t block UVB, which is what contributes to cancer and many of them use filtering (SPF) agents that are toxic and are absorbed into our skin, which causes a host of potential health problems. The commonly used SPF chemical, oxybenzone, penetrates the skin, acting like estrogen in the body, and is linked to allergies, hormone disruption, cell damage, and low birth weights, among other problems. Other chemical SPF agents include Octinoxate and Oxycinnamate, Octyl Salicylate and Octisalate, and Homosalate; these should all be avoided. For a much safer and more natural approach, look for all-natural ingredients like Zinc coconut oil and tallow. These natural minerals form a broad-spectrum barrier that remains on the skin, with little if any penetration into the body. You can find more information on our resource on natural ingredients with SPF.
3. Protect your eyes, but don’t overdo it – The use of sunglasses has become mostly a fashion statement in recent years and while protecting our eyes is important, our eyes do need some natural sunlight to be healthy. When a full spectrum of light is received by the eyes, our bodies produce hormones and neurochemicals that keep us happy and healthy. Wearing sunglasses all of the time will block this process and reduces our immune system and nightly dose of melatonin. This process helps to regulate sleep and other health functions. Wear sunglasses only when be in the sun for prolonged periods, or when the sunlight is intense. Use common sense; certainly protection is called for if you’ve just had cataract or other eye surgery, and when spending a day at the beach or anywhere the sun’s rays reflect off water and snow, but you do need to let your eyes see sunlight.
4. Hydrate your skin – Dry skin is not just a winter problem and too much sun exposure and stressors such as air conditioning and chlorine in pools take their toll on our skin’s integrity, leading to advanced aging, rashes and other irritations. Being well-hydrated helps you to have healthy skin and that also means that you are less likely to react negatively to sun exposure. Remember, your skin is your body’s largest organ; nourish it from the inside out with quality products.
5. Boost your internal sun resistance – The real secret about sun exposure that no one talks about is that you can significantly boost your internal sunscreen by eating a clean, healthy diet loaded with antioxidant-rich foods and superfoods. The more natural antioxidants you have in your diet, the more sunlight your skin will be able to handle without burning. The greatest levels of antioxidants are found in the most colorful foods, so eating a variety of richly-colored fruits and vegetables is the best way to load up on antioxidants.
Fruits: cranberries, blueberries, and blackberries.
Vegetables: red, orange, and yellow peppers and dark leafy greens like kale and chard.
Superfoods: chlorella, wheat grass juice, and broccoli sprouts.
Supplements: One of the best for sun is astaxanthin, which is a fat-soluble carotenoids and is actually transported to skin cells where they protect those cells from UV exposure. For maximum benefit, it should be taken each day, as well as one hour before heading out into the sun
