We all love to bathe in the sun’s warm rays, but this delicious relaxing activity can also help your body and mind. It is a well known fact that human beings should stay in the sun. Ideally, you should spend at least half an hour in full sun daily. Let’s review the main health benefits of the Sun and Heat!
1. The Sun provides you with Vitamin D.
Most people know that light from the sun stimulates the Vitamin D production in your body. But what does Vitamin D actually do? Well, in scientific terms, Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, or a steroid hormone. Basically, it goes into the nucleus of cells in your body and either turns them on or off. Another example of a steroid hormone is testosterone. Vitamin D helps to reduce your risk of heart attacks, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s, and depression while also boosting your immune system, reducing acne, and combating type ii Diabetes. Perhaps most importantly in this day and age, Vitamin D helps to dramatically reduce your risk of cancer. Vitamin D levels are at an all time low in human beings, especially in America and other First World countries due to the growing dependency on cubicles and offices rather than agriculture. So go to the beach, slap on some sun screen and stay a while. Don’t forget to put on sunscreen of at least SPF 15, because this way you will still get Vitamin D and a tan while not getting skin cancer.
2. Staying in the sun makes you happier.
People who don’t spend at least half an hour daily in the sun are nine times as likely to develop depression. So keep that smile going strong by staying in the sun at the beach. The noon sunshine can deliver 100,000 lux. When we sit in offices for the best part of the day, out of the sun, under neon and artificial lights (150-600 lux), we are depriving ourselves of the illumination of nature. Sunlight deprivation can cause a condition called seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a form of depression. It is more common in winter months, but also common in people who work long hours in office buildings.
3. The sun also makes you look great.
This one is obvious, it’s one of my main reasons for going to the beach. Sunlight stimulates the production of melanin in your skin, AKA, makes you tan and gorgeous. It also lightens hair, giving us natural and lustrous streaks.
4. The sun helps to raise your metabolism.
The sun (and consequently the heat) also makes you perspire which, as it turn out, raises your level of circulation and your metabolism. Sweating is very healthy, it helps your body rid itself of excess toxins while also helping it cool off. The stimulation of perspiration makes your heart rate increase and also increases our metabolism, so don’t be afraid to let out the sweat!
5. Sunlight has a beneficial effect on your health.
Sunlight has a beneficial effect on skin disorders, such as psoriasis, acne, eczema and fungal infections of the skin.
Sunlight lowers cholesterol. The sun converts high cholesterol in the blood into steroid hormones and the sex hormones we need for reproduction. In the absence of sunlight, the opposite happens; substances convert to cholesterol. .
The sun’s rays lower blood pressure. Even a single exposure significantly lowers blood pressure in individuals with high blood pressure.
Sunlight penetrates deep into the skin to cleanse the blood and blood vessels. Medical literature published in Europe showed that people with atherosclerosis (hardened arteries) improved with sun exposure.
Sunlight increases oxygen content in human blood. And, it also enhances the body’s capacity to deliver oxygen to the tissues; very similar to the effects of exercise. The sun has a great effect on stamina, fitness and muscular development.
Sunlight builds the immune system. The white blood cells, which increase with sun exposure, are called lymphocytes, and these play a major role in defending the body against infections.
6. Regular sunlight exposure increases the growth and height of children, especially babies.
Many cultures throughout history have recognized this fact. Studies have shown the amount of sun exposure in the first few months has an effect on how tall the person grows.
7. The Sun provides you with Melatonin.
When people are exposed to sunlight or very bright artificial light in the morning, their nocturnal melatonin production occurs sooner, and they enter into sleep more easily at night. Melatonin production also shows a seasonal variation relative to the availability of light, with the hormone produced for a longer period in the winter than in the summer. The melatonin rhythm phase advancement caused by exposure to bright morning light has been effective against insomnia, premenstrual syndrome, and seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
8. The Sun provides you with Serotonin.
Moderately high serotonin levels result in more positive moods and a calm yet focused mental outlook.
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