The Vital Role That Sunlight Plays

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12 elements for health

As promised in my first blog, we will explore 12 key elements that are needed for the health of individuals and our planet. After years of study, these are the topics we have determined are most critical:                             

1. Sunlight
2. Clean air
3. Clean water
4. Right diet
5. Rational aerobic exercise/movement/proper stretching
6. Right nutritional supplementation/medicine
7. Right relationships
8. Right creativity
9. Spiritual practice
10. Right social support
11. Community service
12. Global awareness

Let’s begin with sunlight.

Some of us crave it, some shun it, and except for those whom some people deprive of it, we all generally take it for granted. Intuitively we all seem to understand that everything requires sunlight to survive here, that without it there would be no life.

Sunlight carries a deep and powerful symbolism of life and creativity to our hearts and minds, a symbolism that has been formally set forth in many of the world’s indigenous, spiritual and religious traditions from the beginning of human life on this planetary pearl of wonder. It is the primary energetic key that is required for optimal human and planetary health.

Sunlight warms us, and gives us very specific health benefits both directly and indirectly. Indirectly, it is essential for plant life, for photosynthesis, the required energy generating activity of plants. Without plant life, of course, there would be no human or other animal life. All kingdoms of nature are inextricably bound together in a web of connection that is part of the special design of life on Planet Earth. 

Exposure to sunlight is important for vitamin D production

As a direct effect on health, sunlight triggers a very a complex but elegant interaction with our skin, assisting our bodies to manufacture vitamin D (a misnomer, by strict definition, as vitamin D is actually a hormone), an essential agent for many healthy functions in our bodies, including calcium metabolism and cancer prevention. Because of damage to the ozone layer high in the atmosphere, sun exposure has become more hazardous, in part causing an epidemic of skin cancers.

Oddly, however, in non-Westernized countries where people are outside during much of the daylight hours due to the requirements of survival, skin cancers are not a big problem. Part of the problem of skin cancer in Westernized nations may be due to other unhealthy habits that are also causative in other degenerative and neoplastic (cancerous) diseases.

In fact, in the United States, vitamin D deficiency is pervasive. This is due, in part, to the outstanding educational program of the conventional medical system (especially dermatologists) about the dangers of sun exposure.

The relative truth (as all truths are relative in this world of duality) is that some rational daily exposure to sunlight is safe and healthy. Staying too long in the sun without protection and proper hydration however, can be hazardous to your health. However, there are other diseases associated with sunlight deficiency that lead to low levels of vitamin D in the body – more than a dozen types of cancer, multiple sclerosis, diabetes mellitus, heart disease, and high blood pressure, as well as the bone diseases of rickets, osteoporosis and osteomalacia. Vitamin D deficiency also causes infertility, and if a mother is deficient in vitamin D during pregnancy and lactation, it can lead to growth retardation of the brain and other organs in the fetus and the newborn.

Can tanning be healthy?

Sun exposure is a natural and necessary activity, especially for human beings who live in northern environments. Although you won’t hear this from most conventional medical people, tanning also provides a benefit: By causing pigment to be deposited in the skin, protection from burning in the summer sun occurs, protecting us from sun damage, and potentially from skin cancers. Tanning does lead to the death of some skin cells, but there is no evidence to suggest that, from a health standpoint, this is other than a natural process.

Exposure to sunlight also is important for psychological health. It is well established that sunlight deprivation can contribute to the development of depression, seasonal affective disorder [SAD] and other mental health problems, including schizophrenia.

As well, we have all become more aware of the fact that as we move forward into the millennium, the importance of sunlight in the generation of electrical energy must and will be vastly expanded, for the fossil fuel reserves, which were once generated by the action of sun upon decaying remains of ancient plant and animal life, will be exhausted.

These are just a few of the aspects of sunlight that make it the primary and primal key ingredient to individual human and planetary health.

Throughout this series, we will provide a set of simple exercises designed to bring practical action relative to the keys to health into your life. Some of these will be more exacting of the participant than others, and thus it will be important that you understand your personal health and any limits that might impose. Before practicing any of the exercises each participant should determine his or her level of fitness for these exercises by checking with their healthcare provider. 

Exercises for healthy sunlight intake

Rational sunlight exposure is a healthy practice. Most of us today have been told to avoid sunlight as much as possible and to use sunscreens to prevent the emergence of skin cancers, such as melanomas.  But incidental sun exposure provides good health benefits, including the synthesis of vitamin D. Even light-skinned people can derive benefit from regular and rational sun exposure.

For this exercise, expose as much of your skin as comfortable to direct sunlight for two to eight minutes daily, limiting exposure to especially sensitive areas to half the time. We recommend starting with two minutes and gradually increasing to the maximum of eight minutes for each area of the skin.

For those who prefer to use sunscreen, the time can be extended to 10-20 minutes using a 15-30 SPF product. Some manufacturers of sunscreens claim that their products block all ultraviolet [UV] light and therefore also synthesis of vitamin D, but this is not the case. An SPF [sun-protection factor] of 30 still allows 1/30 or 3.33 percent of UV photons to penetrate to the skin.

We recommend using products that use physical filters that reflect instead of absorb UV radiation.  Examples are products that use 20-25 percent zinc oxide.

Disclaimer: Nothing in these writings is designed to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. Information presented is of a general nature for educational and informational purposes only. Statements about products and health conditions have not been evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration. If you have any concerns about your own health, you should always consult with a physician or other healthcare professional.

Editor's note: You can also read numerous news stories on the latest discoveries about vitamin D in Wellness News. 

You can read Dr. Mikles' next blog, The Importance of Clean Air to Your Health, here.

Read all of Devin Mikles' WellWise.org's blogs here

Click here to return to WellWise.org's homepage.