Benefits of sunlight
If humans don’t get enough sunlight, many things will go wrong.
It’s foundational to our health and wellbeing.
Gut, reproductive, metabolic, musculoskeletal, neurological, and immune function—sunlight impacts our most critical biological functions.
However, like with many things in life, balance is key.
Too much sunlight causes tissue damage, and may lead to skin cancer.
So, avoiding the sun completely is a bad idea.
And getting burned is also a bad idea.
Basically, we need to get adequate sun exposure, then find shade, or cover up.
Use an app like D-minder to track / learn more about safe sun exposure.
And if you need a sun cream / sun screen, find one that doesn’t contain loads of harmful chemicals.
Go here to learn more about sunlight and safe sun exposure.
References
Baggerly, CA, Cuomo, RE, French, CB, Garland, CF, Gorham, ED, Grant, WB, … Wunsch, A 2015, ‘Sunlight and Vitamin D: Necessary for Public Health’, Journal of the American College of Nutrition, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 359–365.
Bosman, ES, Albert, AY, Lui, H, Dutz, JP & Vallance, BA 2019, ‘Skin Exposure to Narrow Band Ultraviolet (UVB) Light Modulates the Human Intestinal Microbiome’, Frontiers in Microbiology, vol. 10, p. 2410.
Hamblin, M, 2017, ‘Mechanisms and applications of the anti-inflammatory effects of photobiomodulation’, AIMS Biophysics, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 337–361.
Hoel, DG, Berwick, M, de Gruijl, FR & Holick, MF 2016, ‘The risks and benefits of sun exposure 2016’, Dermato-Endocrinology, vol. 8, no. 1, p. e1248325.
Parikh, R, Sorek, E, Parikh, S, Michael, K, Bikovski, L, Tshori, S, … Levy, C 2021, ‘Skin exposure to UVB light induces a skin-brain-gonad axis and sexual behavior’, Cell Reports, vol. 36, no. 8, p. 109579.