It is awesome at reducing a range of chronic diseases, including metabolic conditions like diabetes, various types of cancer, high blood pressure, and improved mortality for cancer.
Yet it’s been shunned by mainstream doctors for decades... and doctors are only recently slowly starting to recognize the truth.
These are just a few of the insights in today’s newest podcast – an interview with world renowned vitamin D expert Dr. Michael Holick, who has been researching vitamin D for five decades and is a walking encyclopedia on the topic.
Examples of Health Benefits from Sunlight
From the Harvard Women’s Health Study, we learned that with a sufficient level of vitamin D of 40 or more nanograms per milliliter, you reduce your risk of breast cancer by a stunning 40%.
When a cancer cell becomes active, one of the first things it often does is to mutate your p53 (cancer fighter) genes. That mutant p53 shuts down access of vitamin D and prevents it from regulating cell growth.
They started giving 2,000 units/day to people with cancer to see if it had any effect on mortality. Turns out it improved mortality by 150%... by increasing your immune system's response to the mutant p53.
Sunlight helps you produce nitric oxide, which helps lower blood pressure. It creates endorphins in your skin, which puts you in a better mood.
Related to metabolic syndrome and diabetes, people with higher vitamin D and calcium levels have a 33% lower relative risk for diabetes.
During the Middle Ages, children who lived in the polluted cities (limiting sunshine) got rickets. But those who lived in the countryside remained healthy.
Rickets is a childhood condition characterized by soft bones that warp, bow, or break easily. It is often caused by a vitamin D deficiency. Some parents have been falsely accused of child abuse because their child's bones break without provocation.
The Sun as a Potent Healer
The historical view of the sun was that it was a great healer. There’s evidence of sun-worship in cultures from ancient Egypt to the Greeks.
Sunshine was used as a treatment for various conditions including tuberculosis and has an actual name – heliotherapy.
Podcast guest Dr. Michael Holick says that while we know the sun affects our vitamin D, nitric oxide, endorphins and more, there are many benefits still waiting to be discovered.
We still don’t know all its mechanisms of action, but we can be sure that prudent sun exposure is a potent health ally.
While we don’t suggest literally worshipping the sun, having a healthy respect for it seems like a great ally for your health. Why not spend 15-30 minutes outside during your lunch hour today?
For more information, be sure to listen to the full podcast with Dr. Holick here. The life you save might be your own.
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