Get Healthy - Go Outside!

Yoni Whitten, D.C., C.C.W.P

Why are we so afraid of the sun nowadays? Without the sun, there would be no life on earth. For centuries sun exposure has been used to successfully treat disease. And yet, 85% of the American public is deficient in vitamin D – the vitamin which is produced when sun light reacts with our skin.

The significance of this number cannot be fully appreciated without mentioning that vitamin D deficiency is implicated in most, if not all, chronic degenerative diseases – conditions like heart disease,  cancer, obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, stroke, asthma, osteoporosis, atherosclerosis, depression, Alzheimer's disease, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. These “Diseases of Civilization” are responsible for 75% of all deaths in Western nations.
Vitamin D is so much more than “just a vitamin.” In fact, of the 30,000 genes in your body, vitamin D has been shown to influence more than 2,000 of them. Among other things, vitamin D up-regulates genes directly related to our body’s immune function and specifically, our ability to fight infections – which some researchers now believe is the primary reason for the winter flu season. Vitamin D also helps us produce over 200 anti-microbial peptides, including our body’s naturally-occurring antibiotics.
The list of diseases known to be impacted by our vitamin D levels is constantly expanding. New studies are pointing to problems stemming from vitamin D deficiency for things we would’ve never expected. In December of 2008 researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine found that pregnant women with vitamin D deficiency were four times more likely to require Caesarean birth than women who were not deficient.

A recent meta-analysis of 18 randomized controlled clinical trials indicated that having adequate levels of vitamin D appears to reduce your risk of dying from virtually ANY disease. In 2007, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that vitamin D cuts cancer risk by a startling 77%. Since deficiency in vitamin D has become so commonplace and because it’s associated with so many different diseases, it is fast becoming one of the most important medical problems in modern society.

Staying indoors all day or avoiding the sun creates an unnatural environment which our bodies are forced to adapt to. This forced adaptation can manifest with any number of unusual symptoms. Consider Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression or winter blues, is classified as a mood disorder in which people who have “normal mental health” throughout most of the year experience symptoms of depression during the winter. What’s the most common treatment? Full-spectrum light therapy, in an attempt to mimic sunlight.

The sun has been the source of all life on this planet for over 4.5 billion years. Our genes evolved to expect a certain amount of sun every day. One of the most important steps we can take towards health is making time for daily sun exposure. As moderation suggests, too much of anything is dangerous. The amount of sun exposure an individual requires will vary depending on ethnic background and skin tone.

Action Step:

Get 15 minutes of sun exposure every day – Expose as much skin as possible.

Remember:

• Sunglasses & sun screen/sun block impair our body’s ability to produce vitamin D.
• The key to sun exposure is to never burn (especially during the first 10 years of life).

References:

1. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. (2007) 85.6 1586-1591.

2. http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE53F69B20090416

3. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/12/16/my-one-hour-vitamin-d-lecture-to-clear-up-all-your-confusion-on-this-vital-nutrient.aspx

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