Sunlight – The 7th Step to a Happier Life
Sunlight is essential for human health and well-being.
The health benefits of sunlight include generating the production of vitamin D, supporting bone health, lowering blood pressure, preventing disease, and promoting good mental health.
According to some research, increased sun exposure can protect people from the following diseases:
- type 1 diabetes
- multiple sclerosis (MS)
- several forms of cancer, like colon, breast, and prostate cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Sunlight also supports better sleep and sets people’s circadian rhythms by regulating the levels of serotonin and melatonin.
Being in the sun generally makes people feel good.
Exposure to the rays causes human skin to produce beta-endorphins, which are hormones that reduce pain, and also gives us an intake of Vitamin D.
The other benefits include:
- promoting a sensation of well-being and improving mood
- boosting the immune system
- relieving pain
- promoting relaxation
- helping wounds heal
- helping people feel more alert
- increasing job satisfaction when a person’s workplace has access to sunlight
- reducing depression
Why do some find a lack of sunlight hard?
Days without sunshine can be tough for many people, but some individuals find going without the mental health benefits of sunlight more challenging than others. Researchers say that the following characteristics put people at higher risk of developing depression and SAD.
- having a family member who has experienced SAD
- a history of depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, or other mental disorders
- Living far away from the equator
SAD is a specific type of depression. The symptoms develop or worsen when the days get shorter, and they improve when the days get longer.
While it is common for people to have spells of the “winter blues,” SAD is a diagnosable condition that can have a significant effect on people’s mental health.
As with other forms of depression, SAD interferes with people’s ability to live their daily lives and causes a low mood that can feel insurmountable. People may lose the ability to find pleasure in activities that they once loved, have difficulty thinking, or feel worthless. They may also notice changes to their sleeping and eating habits.
Both SAD and depression are treatable. Medication and therapy can both be effective, and some interventions harness the health benefits of sunlight.
Sunshine has a lot of benefits for our bodies.
Here are seven great reasons to get outside and soak in the sun.
1. Improves your sleep
Your body creates a hormone called melatonin that is critical to helping you sleep. Because your body starts producing it when it’s dark, you usually start to feel sleepy two hours after the sun sets, which is one of the reasons our bodies naturally stay up later in the summer.
2. Reduces stress
Melatonin also lowers stress and being outside will help your body naturally regulate melatonin, which can help reduce your stress level. Additionally, because you’re often doing something active when you’re outside (walking, playing, etc.), that extra exercise also helps to lower stress.
3. Maintains strong bones
One of the best (and easiest) ways to get vitamin D is by being outside. Our bodies produce vitamin D when exposed to sunlight—about 15 minutes in the sun a day is adequate if you’re fair skinned.
4. Helps keep the weight off
Getting outside for 30 minutes sometime between 8 a.m. and noon has been linked to weight loss. There, of course, could be other factors to this, but it seems there’s a connection between sunlight in the early morning and weight loss.
5. Strengthens your immune system
Vitamin D is also critical for your immune system, and with consistent exposure to sunlight, you can help strengthen it. A healthy immune system can help reduce the risk of illness, infections, some cancers, and mortality after surgery.
6. Fights off depression
There is a scientific reason being in the sunshine improves your mood. Sunshine boosts your body’s level of serotonin, which is a chemical that improves your mood and helps you stay calm and focused..
7. Can give you a longer life
A study that followed 30,000 Swedish women revealed that those who spent more time in the sun lived six months to two years longer than those with less sun exposure. More research needs to be done in this area, but it’s something scientists are continuing to study.
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Yours in kindness,
Taz
