Don’t fear the sun!
Since the beginning of humanity, humans have harvested sunlight. For millions of years, society has evolved to utilize the sun as a source of nutrients, energy, and overall health.
Using basic intuition, an individual should be able to denounce the notion that little to no sun exposure is ideal for humans. Nonetheless, many will still refuse to consider the sun as essential to a healthy life.
Government agencies and mainstream newspapers continue to print headlines and stories claiming the sun exists as a danger to human health; therefore, the following acts as an empirical effort to convince the reader that sun exposure is a necessity for all human beings.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is critical for proper functioning of the human body. In maintaining overall health and contributing to biological processes, vitamin D is crucial to humans. There are two main forms of vitamin D: vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol). Since vitamin D3 is synthesized by the body through sunlight, cholecalciferol will be the form of vitamin D discussed below.
1. Vitamin D is found in nearly every cell within the human body.
As demonstrated in Extraskeletal actions of vitamin D:
“vitamin D signaling has a profound effect on most physiologic processes, including cancer prevention, improved cardiovascular function, diabetes prevention, prevention of obesity, improved muscle function, enhanced barrier function of the skin, hair follicle cycling, and prevention of immune-related diseases.”
Examples of vitamin D benefiting our body:
- Benefits our circadian rhythm, allowing us to fall asleep easier and stay asleep longer.
- Prevents a variety of skin issues including vitiligo, acne, and eczema.
- If an individual is pregnant, ensuring they do not undergo vitamin D deficiency is critical. Low levels of vitamin D may lead to a plethora of issues in the baby including scoliosis, hyperactive disorders, enamel defects, and much more.
- Improves asthma by opening up the lungs. More specifically, after two to three months of consistent sun exposure, asthma becomes significantly less prevalent in the body. Another study showcased that admission of children into hospitals decreased rapidly during sunnier months. While there is no exact conclusion as to why the decrease occurs, the study exhibited a possible link between vitamin D and healthier lungs.
- Millions of individuals struggle with high blood pressure, an issue that vitamin D can substantially help. As demonstrated in a 2014 study, “[d]uring and for 20 minutes after active irradiation, the mean arterial pressure fell significantly.”
- Protects against damage to the liver, pancreas, and kidneys.
2. Immune System (COVID-19)
A study titled, COVID-19 fatalities, latitude, sunlight, and vitamin D, demonstrated that nations closer to the equator were less affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Another study further proposed the correlation between latitude and COVID-19 rates by limiting age and population density factors. In the study, the authors confirmed the link between vitamin D and COVID-19, claiming a vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of COVID-19 fatality.
Moreover, avoidance of vitamin D deficiency was accurately concluded to be an effective measure to take against COVID-19.
3. Inflammation (a foreign or toxic antigen: arthritis, lung or breast cancer, allergies, etc.) reduction
While our bodies are spectacular, sometimes the immune system’s response to inflammation is miscalculated: an overreaction (sending too many white blood cells to defend) or an underreaction (sending not enough white blood cells to defend) may occur.
Vitamin D regulates the body, allowing for the correct amount of white blood cells to be deployed upon the presence of antigens.
4. Modulates cortisol levels
Similar to regulating the immune system, vitamin D modulates the body’s cortisol levels. While stress is often looked at as inherently negative, there exists a healthy level of cortisol. Maintaining a balanced amount of cortisol works as an anti-inflammatory tool in the human body.
Testosterone Boost
Testosterone is a hormone that is primarily produced in the testicles of males and in smaller amounts in the ovaries of females. A type of androgen hormone, testosterone is critical to the development of male physical characteristics (hair, deepening of the voice, and muscle mass) and the maintenance of bone and muscle mass in women.
Multiple studies have proven the correlation between higher concentrations of total and free testosterone and sunlight over the last decade:
- In a randomized controlled trial, 1362 males were evaluated to investigate any correlation between their Vitamin D levels, free testosterone levels, and total testosterone levels. The study observed a positive relationship between Vitamin D and both total and free testosterone levels. Moreover, the correlation was consistent across all seasons, without any significant variation.
- Over the span of a year, 165 overweight (nondiabetic) men were given 3000+ IU of vitamin D daily. In the end, the study found a positive correlation between vitamin D and testosterone levels.
- During a cross-sectional study conducted between 1997 and 2000, 2,299 middle-aged men’s blood levels were measured. The study found when vitamin D concentration was above 30 ng/mL and all confounding variables were accounted for, their testosterone levels were significantly higher.
However, one study stands out from the rest: Skin exposure to UVB light induces a skin-brain-gonad axis and sexual behavior
According to Hone Health (a website that summarized the study perfectly),
“[w]hen your skin is exposed to the sun, skin cells called keratinocytes (common skin cells) trigger the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland releases follicle-stimulating hormone (FHS) and luteinizing hormone (LH), the latter of which stimulates testosterone production in the testes.”
While one may see the data as simply “another testosterone/vitamin D sunlight study,” the article concluded much more significant results.
Specifically, the information in the study allows for the best guess society has regarding the mechanism that allows ultraviolet light to boost testosterone in humans.
Not only did the research further solidify the notion that sunlight is incredibly important in sexual and hormonal function but it allowed for a deeper insight into the “scientific actualities” at play.
Nitric Oxide
Nitric oxide (NO) is a gas molecule that is produced naturally by the body. Various physiological processes, including regulation of blood flow, mitigating inflammation, and support of the immune system depend on nitric oxide. Moreover, the gas molecule communicates between nerve cells and dilates blood vessels.
As shown in a 2022 study, moderate exposure to sunlight increases nitric oxide production for over 48 hours. The significance of the increase in nitric oxide production is nitric oxide’s antioxidant properties.
Not only will nitric oxide protect against cell death and oxidative injury but it “modulate[s] cellular and physiological processes,” as demonstrated in Mechanisms of the antioxidant effects of nitric oxide.
Proven in its “rapid release” following ultraviolet exposure, nitric oxide helps mitigate inflammation, heal wounds, limit apoptosis, and inhibit the growth of microorganisms.
From Insufficient Sun Exposure Has Become a Real Public Health Problem:
“Nitric oxide (NO) is a ubiquitous signaling molecule and an important endogenous vasodilator produced by the vascular endothelium (innermost layer of blood vessels) [20]. This knowledge has changed our understanding of hypertension because it shows that high blood pressure can develop not only as a result of an overproduction of vasoconstrictor substances such as angiotensin and adrenalin, but also as a consequence of impaired synthesis production of a continuously produced vasodilator substance such as NO [20]. In addition to acting as a signaling molecule, NO is a potent antioxidant capable of modulating whole body redox status [21,22,23].
Skin contains significant amounts of preformed storage forms of NO [24]…Feelisch et al. [25] hypothesized that these chemical species in skin may be mobilized into the circulation after UVR exposure, thus expanding their action radius from local to systemic.”
In conclusion:
Despite the prevailing narrative that sun exposure is a danger to human health, empirical evidence undoubtedly proves the necessity of sunlight.
