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Being Smart in the Sunlight

By: Marc Sorenson, Sunlight Institute–

The website, mcall.com, has posted an excellent article called Smart Sun Exposure. It discusses sunlight as being the only natural way to obtain vitamin D and points out that pharmaceutical companies promote 24-hour sun protection products—advice that poses the problem of vitamin D deficiency—leading to breast cancers, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, premature labor and other women’s health problems.

Perhaps the most interesting part to the article is the mention of high-antioxidant fruits and vegetables as the best SPFs available to replace the dangerous chemical sunscreens. This is something I have been saying for years: eat colorful fruits and vegetables to reduce skin damage.

Read the article at: http://www.mcall.com/health/inspirehealth/tips/inspire-health-mc-smart-sun-exposure-story,0,4170416.story. Also click on the tips below the article, especially the one entitled Protect Yourself from the Inside Out. In those tips, dark, organic dark chocolate is mentioned as a potent antioxidant containing 712 compounds, many of which are potently antioxidant and skin protective. But remember that typical milk chocolate is not worth anything in terms of enhancing health. I have been touting the benefits of dark, natural chocolate for some time, but did not know about its skin-protective effects.

Everyone who loves the sun should read this article.

 

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The Latest on Breast Cancer and Vitamin D. The Real Answer is Sunlight!

By: Marc Sorenson, Sunlight Institute–

The evidence of the relationship of vitamin D deficiency to increased risk of breast cancer (BC) continues to mount. The latest indication of the crying need for sunshine was recently reported in the July 2013 issue American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.[1] In this research, the serum levels of vitamin D among 120 Saudi women with BC were compared to 120 controls who were BC-free.  Questionnaires were given to each group to determine medical and dietary background so that those factors could also be considered as possible causes.

The research showed that women who serum levels were below 10 ng/ml had 6 times the risk of having BC as those whose levels were above 20 ng/ml. Interestingly, both 10 and 20 ng/ml indicate severe deficiency, and one must wonder if even higher levels of vitamin D could have correlated to an even lower risk of the disease. We may never know, since it unlikely that the lifestyles of these women could produce levels much higher than 20 ng/ml; they receive too little sunlight.

This is a result that should have been expected, as it has been known for some time that lack of sunlight and/or vitamin D has a profound predictive influence for increased breast-cancer risk.  Remember that about 80-90% of vitamin D is produced by the skin in response to sunlight exposure; therefore, research on vitamin D deficiency and disease is really research on lack of sunlight.

Let’s stop the insanity and get back to regular, non-burning sunlight exposure.

 


 

[1] Yousef FM, Jacobs ET, Kang PT, Hakim IA, Going S, Yousef JM, Al-Raddadi RM, Kumosani TA, Thomson CA. Vitamin D status and breast cancer in Saudi Arabian women: case-control study. Am J Clin Nutr 2013;98(1):105-10.

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Embrace the Sunlight for Pleasant Dreams

By: Marc Sorenson, Sunlight Institute–

Forbes Magazine online has run and excellent article on sunlight and sleep[1], in which they state the following statistics: “In 2012, 60 Million Americans filled prescriptions for sleeping pills, up from 46 million in 2006.”

The article discusses the potential dangers of sleep medications, showing that those who take 18 pills per year have a tripling of the risk of death compared to those who take fewer than that 18.[2] It then describes the results of recent research showing that people whose workplaces have windows are able to sleep about 46 minutes per night more than those who have no natural light access.[3] Those who had more exposure to sunlight also were generally happier, had fewer ailments and experienced better vitality than their counterparts without windows.

This research is particularly interesting because the effects of sunlight had nothing to do with vitamin D, since the sunlight exposure came through windows, which block the UVB light necessary for vitamin D production. It is likely that the positive effects of sunlight in this case were produced by increasing serotonin levels (a natural mood enhancer) in the brain during the sunlight exposure, and then allowing melatonin (a natural relaxer) to take over during the night for a restful sleep.

Lack of sleep is a common, and perhaps deadly, malady. The sun is not our enemy, but a vital friend. Embrace it, but do not burn.


[1] http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2013/06/18/to-get-more-sleep-ge…

[2] Iel F Kripke, Robert D Langer, Lawrence E Kline. Hypnotics’ association with mortality or cancer: a matched cohort study. BMJ Open 2012;2:e000850 doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2012-000850.

[3] http://www.journalsleep.org/resources/documents/2013AbstractSupplement.pdf

 

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Sunlight, not Vitamin D, Profoundly Reduces the Risk of Eczema and Hay Fever in Adolescents.

By: Marc Sorenson, Sunlight Institute–

 

The positive effects of sunlight continue to mount; a study of 415 subjects showed that 16-year olds, who spent more than 4 hours per day in the sunlight during summer, had a significantly reduced risk of eczema and hay fever.[1] The researchers could not pinpoint the reason for the protective effect of sunlight, but surmised that it could be due to a change in the immune system.

There was no correlation of vitamin D levels to the risk of these two disorders, meaning that sunlight exposure worked independently of vitamin D. This is another in a growing list of sunlight benefits demonstrating that sunlight has splendid healing powers beyond its ability to stimulate vitamin D production in the skin. I expect many more such findings in the coming years.

The message is this: get plenty of regular, safe sunlight exposure, and don’t rely on vitamin D supplements to furnish all of Sun’s healing powers; it can’t. Remember also that if vitamin D is needed to improve health, sunlight is the most natural source.

[1] Andrew Stewart Kemp, Anne-Louise Ponsonby, Angela Pezic, Jennifer Ann Cochrane, Terence Dwyer, Graeme Jones. The influence of sun exposure in childhood and adolescence on atopic disease at adolescence. Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, article first published online: 3 Jun2013.

 

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Can Sunlight Exposure Reduce the Risk of Prostate Cancer by 50%?

By: Marc Sorenson, Sunlight Institute–

 

I have previously written that sunlight exposure correlates to a profoundly reduced risk of prostate cancer (PC). I also and noted that that sunlight exposure per se appeared to be much more important in reducing that cancer than was vitamin D. In fact, some vitamin D studies showed only weak correlations between vitamin D and a reduction in cancer, and the highest levels of serum vitamin D showed a J-shaped curve, meaning that the highest D levels actually correlated to a slightly increased risk. No such increase has been shown with the highest levels of sunlight exposure–quite the opposite. The highest levels of sunlight correlated to the highest levels of protection against PC.

This would indicate that sunlight has protective effects beyond the production of vitamin D. Such effects may be due to the production of serotonin, endorphins and nitric oxide, substances other than vitamin D that are produced by the skin in response to sunlight.

It was with interest, therefore, that I read a recent article describing the effect of sunlight on PC, called “Sunlight could decrease prostate cancer risk.” After reading that sunlight exposure could reduce the risk of PC by 50%, the author unfortunately stated that “this does not mean that men should deliberately sunbathe to reduce their risk of prostate cancer. Outdoor exercise and an adequate amount of vitamin D from diet should be sufficient to afford protection from the disease.” This is not a statement based on science.

The author assumed, of course, that it was vitamin D that caused the correlation of sunlight exposure to reduced risk of PC—a conclusion that may be wholly in error. What we can glean from the research is only that Sunlight exposure correlates to reduced risk of PC. There is no proof whatsoever that the correlation was caused by vitamin D, which is only one of several metabolites produced in the body after stimulation by sunlight.

I have not as yet been able to find the original research on which the article was based and cannot provide a reference at this time. However, you can read the article by going to: http://www.newsfix.ca/2013/05/06/sunlight-could-decrease-prostate-cancer-risk/.

 

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The Desperate Need for Sunlight

By: Marc Sorenson, Sunlight Institute

It is surprising to me, that when most of the world’s newspapers are chanting the mantra of the sunscare movement, papers from India are often sounding the clarion call to return to the sun. In this article from the Times of India, the authors list several reasons to be in the sunlight, including strengthening teeth, improving vision, preventing breast cancer, building sexual prowess, lowering blood pressure and enhancing immunity.

Eighty percent of those living in urban areas of India suffer from vitamin D deficiency, so the need for sunlight exposure is critical. It is good to see that one country understands that sunlight is the only natural method to produce optimal vitamin D levels, and that we need to focus on getting plenty of it.

Read the article.

 

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Health Benefits of Sunlight far Outweigh the Risks

By: Marc Sorenson, Sunlight Institute–

 

Health Benefits of Sunlight Outweigh Risks of Overexposure: New Study

MAY 8 — A British dermatologist — armed with a new study showing how UV from the sun and sunlamps triggers the natural production of nitric oxide in the skin to reduce blood pressure and lower the risk of heart disease — is challenging the dermatology industry worldwide to step back and re-think its position on UV exposure.

Edinburgh University Dermatologist Dr. Richard Weller will present findings from his new study Friday at the International Investigative Dermatology conference in Edinburgh, one of the world’s largest dermatology conventions.

“We suspect that the benefits to heart health of sunlight will outweigh the risk of skin cancer. The work we have done provides a mechanism that might account for this, and also explains why dietary vitamin D supplements alone will not be able to compensate for lack of sunlight,” Weller said in a press statement this week. “If this confirms that sunlight reduces the death rate from all causes, we will need to reconsider our advice on sun exposure.”

Weller’s study, a randomized controlled trial considered the strongest evidence in science, used a sunlamp to demonstrate that UV exposure triggers nitric oxide production in the skin which lowers blood pressure and reduces the risk of heart disease, which kills 60-100 times more people than skin cancer.

There are no randomized controlled trials connecting sun exposure to skin cancer. Dermatology’s blanket condemnation of sun is based on survey studies and inferences that, properly analyzed, target sunburn but not regular UV as a potential risk factor for skin cancer.

“It’s time to revisit how dermatology groups have mischaracterized skin cancer’s complex relationship to UV while denying that there are benefits of sunlight,” said Dr. Marc Sorenson, founder of the Sunlight Institute. “Dr. Weller’s new study should put this center-stage.” 

According to Medical News Today, “This new study is important because until now it was thought that sunlight’s only benefit to human health from sunlight was production of vitamin D, which rises after exposure to the sun. Previous studies have found that while increased vitamin D levels link to lower cardiovascular disease, oral supplements do not have an effect on this. ”

The Sunlight Institute believes overzealous sun avoidance is the biggest public health mistake of our time. For more information visit www.SunlightInstitute.org.

Click here to visit Medical News Today’s article on the Weller study.

Click here to view Weller’s talk about the study on www.Ted.com.

 

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Youngsters Should have at Least TEN HOURS of Sunlight Exposure per week to prevent myopia.

By: Marc Sorenson, Sunlight Institute–

 

Research from the University of Sidney in Australia suggests that children under the age of six should spend at least 10 hours per week in the sunlight. This is another in a series of research studies that show that sunlight exposure is vital to the visual health of children; it profoundly reduces the risk of myopia, or short-sightedness. Without sunlight, the eye develops an oval rather than a round shape.

One of the researchers also noted that “prevention of myopia is important for future eye health as even low levels of the condition place you at higher risk of cataracts and glaucoma in adulthood.” This is an important statement, since many physicians believe that sunlight exposure leads to cataracts and other eye disorders.

This is an excellent article and belies the idea that sunlight exposure is harmful to children.

 

Read more at:  http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-eyes-sun-child-sunshine-exposure.html#jCp

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Worried about a Hysterectomy? Sunlight Exposure Reduces Risk of Uterine Fibroids.

By: Marc Sorenson, Sunlight Institute–

 

Hysterectomy, or the removal of the uterus, is an extremely common surgery among women in the United States, second only to childbirth by cesarean-section.[i]There are many experts such as Dr. Stanley West who believe that up to 90% of hysterectomies are unnecessary, since they are usually done in response to the presence of uterine fibroids, which are not cancerous.[ii]

Nevertheless, if uterine fibroids lead to hysterectomies, anything that would prevent fibroids from forming  would lead to a dramatic decrease in these procedures.

According to one recent research report, women who spent at least an hour outdoors daily, had a 40% reduced risk of uterine fibroids.[iii] Dr. Donna Baird the leader of the research team, stated, “It would be wonderful if something as simple and inexpensive as getting some natural sunshine on their skin each day could help women reduce their chance of getting fibroids.”

Once again, we see the power of sunlight. It reduces the risk not only of a benign fibroid, but also the risk of unnecessary surgery. Perhaps we should also mention the reduction in health-care costs.

Since sunlight is free, it seems irrefutable that a daily dose of sun would be far superior to an expensive and unnecessary surgery. What do you think?

 


 

[i] http://womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/hysterectomy.cfm

[ii] http://www.repmed.com/hysterectomy.html

[iii] http://news.yahoo.com/exposure-sunlight-lowers-risk-uterine-fibroids-100815575.html

 

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Sunlight and Vitamin D Deficiency in India

By: Marc Sorenson, Sunlight Institute–

Rekha Sharma, president of the Indian Dietetic Association, states that “Close to 40 per cent of Indians are vitamin D deficient.” He blames the condition on the modern lifestyle that is becoming more and more common. Dr. Sharma then goes on to list a few of the causes, including lack of sunlight, that are correlated to vitamin D. He is doing a great service with this article, but states that exposing the face and arms for a few minutes per day is adequate to optimize blood levels of D. He is totally wrong on that statement.

Another Dr. in the article states that those with dark skin may need 10-30 times the exposure time to sunlight to produce the same amount of vitamin D that a light skinned person would require. There is a large disconnect between the statement that a bit of exposure to the arms and face is sufficient, compared to the idea that dark-skinned people need profoundly large quantities of sunlight to make sufficient vitamin D. Notwithstanding the differences between these two docs, It is an interesting an worthwhile article.

Read the article.

 

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