Posts Tagged ‘sunlight’

It’s officially over; there is no ban on the sun. As crazy as that sounds that has been the position of the enlightened medical establishment. For the first time in years the sun is not seen as the number one public enemy. Just like many of the other retractions about previous positions and advice given over the years by the medical establishment this one has to be the most glaring. In fact many of our health problems can be traced to inadequate levels of vitamin D.

Vitamin D

Most Americans living north of Atlanta are short on vitamin D. The best and safest ways to get vitamin D is from the sun. Taking it in supplements can cause an overdose of the vitamin. That is a danger when you get your vitamin D from a concentrated source. On the other hand you can not overdose on vitamin D when it comes from the sun. Only recently has the role of vitamin D from sunlight been given credit for a whole host of health benefits. Vitamin D comes from sun exposure and to a limited extent from a few food sources.

Sun Protects You

Sun exposure could help prevent and arrest cancer cells. Skin cancer is more prevalent in the northern latitudes where there is less sun exposure throughout the year. Malignant melanoma the type of skin cancer that everyone fears when they step outside is lest likely to occur in the southern latitudes of North America. The same holds true in Europe.

Smear Campaign

Let’s get to the point, if the sun has been falsely accused of a crime against humanity, than how about the advice. The sun has been put in a bad light by the fear campaign waged by the medical community. Sunlight is healthy for many reasons. UVB is known to be our primary source of vitamin D which helps with the absorption of calcium. UVB is beneficial in that it helps with psoriasis, eczema, acne, and seasonal affective disorder. There is a relationship to health and vitamin D that makes getting sun a good idea. Sunlight can be gotten in a controlled environment by you choosing the amount of exposure. You have the option of getting some of the benefits of vitamin D with some sunlight.

Too Little Sunlight

Many people have office jobs that call for long hours. The week-end may not give workers enough time to get out in the sun for long enough periods. A good way to moderate the amount of sun you get is to use lunch hours. Letting people utilize the benefits of sunlight during the winter, means getting out noon time when the sun is the strongest. Your best bet for controlled exposure to UVB.is working 9 to 5. The real problem is that people do not get enough sun throughout the year.

Conclusion     

Educating people that moderate tanning is fine. Promoting a very gradual approach is what should be the emphasis. It is impractical and dangerous to promote sun abstinence because of the many health benefits that the sun provides. The truth is that 20 minutes of sunlight is healthy and essential for good health. This should be done without globs of suntan lotion.

TANNING BENEFITS

It is estimated that the elderly are more at risk of having a vitamin D deficiency. The national percentage of adults in the United States who are low of vitamin D is anywhere from 25% to over 50%. This vitamin is known to protect you from type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and help prevent many types of cancer from prostate to breast. Because vitamin D is only found in a few food sources that include tuna, sardines, herring and mackerel, supplementation is usually recommended. Natural tanning benefits include a lower risk of many age related diseases.

Supplementation is risky,  if you do not monitor your intake you can wind up with too much vitamin D. The only way to avoid that is to get your vitamin D from the sun. This means that those who live outside the tropics are probably not getting enough sun from late fall to early spring. Here is where you  can pick up the slack, by getting outdoors between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.  With all the warnings about the risk of getting some sun, the public has been kept in the dark about the dangers of not getting enough. Having low levels of vitamin D has been associated with higher risk of prostrate and breast cancer in ecological studies.

AGING

As you age, your skin’s ability to convert vitamin D to its active form decreases significantly. By the time you are 65 your skin will reduce production of vitamin D by up to 60%. The baby boomers and beyond can get many benefits from some sun exposure. The reason that vitamin D deficiency is a silent epidemic is basically because of the guide lines that the public has followed concerning sun exposure. This has also influenced how much time people spend outdoors. This is a viable choice; get a healthy tan with some vitamin D.

The baby boomers and the retired crowd should consider tanning as a health issue, information is emerging that people need higher levels of vitamin D than were established by the National Academy of Sciences. It is becoming established fact that higher levels of vitamin D is needed to prevent and reverse some of the top chronic illnesses of the 21^st century. The outdoor life is protective because you are exposed to the sun.

VITAMIN D DEFINCENCY

Vitamin D plays a role in regulating cell division and differentiation. These findings link the danger of a vitamin D deficiency to common age related health problems. The cells division and differentiation ability is problematic as you age. The dangers of not getting vitamin D from the sun is real. Studies now show that sun actually cuts your risk of most diseases. With that in mind, getting enough sun exposure should become a priority. Natural tanning benefits; it provides a powerful weapon against age related conditions, and supports health.

The cancer and vitamin D connection is finally getting the coverage it deserves.  It has been known that people in more industrialized northern countries have higher cancer rates than those in developing countries and there are many theories from dangerous pollutants spewed out by industry, food supply, stress levels etc. 

But research into vitamin D is suggests that cancers and other disorders in rich countries aren’t caused mainly by pollutants but by a vitamin deficiency known to be less acute or even non-existent in poor nations. This again proves being overfed does not mean all nutritional needs are addressed.

The medical establishment theories behind the development of chronic conditions have looked at everything except nutrition. From all kinds of studies they are “looking for a bogeyman that doesn’t exist,” argues Reinhold Vieth, professor at the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto and one of the world’s top vitamin D experts. Instead, he says, the critical factor “is more likely a lack of vitamin D.”

Low vitamin D status is tied to a host of serious ailments, including multiple sclerosis, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, influenza, osteoporosis and common infections.  Professor of medicine Robert Heaney of Creighton University in Nebraska says vitamin D deficiency is showing up in so many illnesses besides cancer. 

In the last few years scientists have been able to validate the role vitamin D plays in regulating a host of body functions. Men who have a deficient vitamin D level have a greater risk of myocardial infraction then men who had a sufficient amount. Harvard researchers reported this in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The authors cited vitamin D’s effect on smooth muscle cell proliferation, inflammation, vascular calcification, and blood pressure as possible protection against heart attacks.

Vitamin D deficiency may be a major player in the many illnesses. However the cancer connection is intriguing, in that the sun is blamed for causing it in the case of skin cancer. The main way to get enough vitamin D is thought sunlight without suntan lotion, which blocks vitamin D synthesis. People through the ages have been exposed to the sun without suntan lotion, or a great deal of protective clothing.

Being exposed to sunlight reduces breast, prostate, and colon cancers. The sun advice has been misguided information “of just breathtaking proportions,” said John Cannell, head of the Vitamin D Council, a non-profit, California-based organization. “Fifteen hundred Americans die every year from [skin cancers]. Fifteen hundred Americans die every day from the serious cancers.”

This is akin to throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Melanoma the most dangerous kind of skin cancer rarely occurs on the face and hands, it appears on areas of the body not sun exposed as often. There are more cases of melanoma in people living at northern latitudes, where the sun is less intense.

Vitamin D from food sources are inadequate compared to what is needed for cancer prevention, and what we produce in our skin. Humans in the past have spent much more time outside, and had a lower incident of all kinds of cancer including skin.

Vitamin D is converted into a hormone, and it has role in fixing damaged cells, and maintaining the cells health. The cancer and Vitamin D connection is being established by researches. What this says is nutrition is the most underused tool in preventing and treating cancer, and a host of other ailments.