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Sunlight (UPDATED)
“Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.” Genesis 1:16 Is it purely co-incidence that sunlight feels so good on our skin? No. Sunlight is very good for humans - in the right amounts. Many people think sunlight is aging to the skin, but there is something most people don't know. Eating mostly whole plant foods (foods grown in the soil, mostly unprocessed, organic is best) and avoiding overexposure to sunlight, keeps the skin soft and flexible and gives it a healthy glow. Did you know we need sunlight on our skin to produce vitamin D? Many people have heard about vitamin D, but don't realise the incredible mechanism God built into our bodies. Vitamin D is made from a waxy, fatty substance called cholesterol. But Vitamin D can ONLY be made by the body when the skin is exposed to the sun.So exposing the skin repeatedly (and carefully) to sunlight draws a tiny amount of cholesterol out of the blood into the skin to create vitamin D and this is one way God built into our systems for cholesterol levels to be balanced in our blood. Since we first wrote our healthy lifestyle books in the 1990's the research around health sun exposure and healthy cholesterol has changed so much! But we can be sure that sunlight is vital for our human bodies. Sunlight has been a healer of a wide range of human illness for thousands of years. There are many lifestyle habits and circumstances (such as good versus bad sun screen creams) to take into consideration, but sunlight in general, and in moderation, is healthy. Here are some well researched advantages of sunlight, these are also part of having good levels of Vitamin D in the body:
Do you know of one medicine which can achieve so much? We can compare the healing properties of the sun with the healing which the Son of God brings to the whole person - mentally, physically and spiritually: “To you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings.” Malachi 4:2 As we enjoy the healing effects of the sun, we can reflect on the great love God has for each and every human being: “‘But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you. do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.’” Matthew 5:44-45 To get the most out of the sun’s healing rays, we need to know how much sun we need and when to get it. For the best vitamin D intake, we need sunlight every day. “That can’t be true,” you say, “what about skin cancer?”Because of the risk of skin cancer, many people shun sunbathing entirely.
How much sun is needed every day? This has changed over the years too. Your body is so marvellously created, that Vitamin D production will automatically STOP when enough has been absorbed for production! This may be in 15-
30 minutes for some people or much longer for others. You won’t sense
that you have enough sunlight to produce Vitamin D, but you can use your senses. Some sources say the “average healthy person” with large parts
of their body exposed (legs, arms, back, torso) will produce 15,000- 20,000 international units per day during high summer (remember Vitamin D is not measured in
milligrams but in units).1
If the average healthy person manufactures 15,000-20,000
units of vitamin D per summer day from soaking up the UVB sunlight, and then the
average healthy body STOPS producing Vitamin D, we could ask the question: “Why
are only 600 international units of Vitamin D recommended by government health
authorities?” The general recommendation from enlightened practitioners now is to be out in sunlight until your skin turns a very pale pink. So use your senses, get to know your very own skin. If your skin is pale, you will be able to see a faint pink colour - then cover up, or put on a very carefully researched sunscreen. Many sunscreens are not as safe as we are led to believe. If your skin is darker, detecting a change in colour might be a little trickier, but you will notice a change. Now we know that the human skin cannot make use of sunlight to produce Vitamin D, unless the sunlight is strong enough, or hits
the skin at the “right” angle. Sound confusing? Well, here’s an easy Tip: Use the
“Shadow Trick” to know if the sun’s rays are at an angle to enable your body to use
them for vitamin D production. Stand outside around noon. Is your shadow longer
than your height? If your shadow is longer than your height, your body is NOT able to
use the sun’s rays to produce much, if any vitamin D Never sunburn - this increases the risk of skin cancer but there are other factors involved too. Even on a moderately overcast day about 80% of the sun’s ultra violet rays get through to the earth. So we can still be assured of getting enough sunlight for good health. In fact, if we wear light coloured, loosely woven clothing, such as cotton, the rays can reach through to our skin. At the beach, where sand reflects about 17% of the ultra violet rays, it is safer to be clothed than to risk sunburn. But an overdose of sunlight is not the only factor in skin cancer. Research from July 2018, shows that frequently eating food high in polyunsaturated fats and omega 6 fats is an increased risk for the three main types of skin cancer - melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Most people don't realise that these attractive golden coloured oils in nicely shaped bottles are often the major ingredient in varnish. That's right, those brown burnt on oil slicks on your waffle iron is oils which have baked into varnish! Stay away from any golden oil in a clear bottle sitting on a store shelf. Why? This means the oil has been highly processed, probably with a chemical agent, contains little if any nutrition at all, and contains too many omega 6 fatty acids for the human body to safely handle. Much safer to eat a small handful of walnuts with a better balance of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acids, and walnuts are a whole food with fibre and other goodness. You can read the study about skin cancer here: Once again recent research, this time from Moscow University, is investigating how a common chemical ingredient in sun screen creams can break down in the presence of moisture from perspiration or sea or pool water into cancer causing chemicals. You can read about the study here: There are other factors about sunlight, which are developing, for instance mainstream media says the sun is going to get hotter with global warming, but many scientists disagree with this stance. Another school of thought is that the earth is going to cool and there will be less sunlight. So, I encourage you to enjoy the sunlight whenever you can, after all, think of all the benefits of spending sunlight time! |
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