Role of Sunshine in Human Health
By: SudbyTotal Views: 110, Word Count: 616,
There is a reason why November has been conventionally known as the healthiest month of the year especially in the Northern hemisphere. The reason is that our bodies have been accumulating ever rising levels of the sunshine vitamin i.e. vitamin D during the spring, fall and summer. Vitamin D3 reaches its uppermost yearly level in the body in October. The unhealthiest month of the year is February as by then our levels of vitamin D3 have been exhausted through less exposure to sunshine.
The role of sunshine in human health is immense because when rays of sunlight go through your skin, vitamin D is created within the skin. Surplus studies show that vitamin D is one of our body’s most important nutrients furnishing all the benefits to our health.
Vitamin D – Paramount Chemical Messenger
Sunlight is the finest and only natural source of vitamin D. Vitamin D is necessary for health when it’s in best possible supply. There is a high degree of association between vitamin D levels and degenerative disease. Researchers and medical scientists have found that serum vitamin D levels are low in 90% of people with degenerative disease such as cancer, heart disease and autoimmune disease.
Scientific and researchers have gathered data showing that autoimmune diseases and cancer are mostly absent from areas close to the equator. They think that this is because the angle of the sun is more direct near the equator and therefore, stimulates a moderately much larger production of vitamin D in the human body than in areas further from the equator.
Vitamin D Linked with Cold and Flu
Scientific studies show decisively that a person is much less likely to get sick with flu and colds when there is ample amount of vitamin D in his/her body. That’s the reason sickness is more rampant during the later months in winter when people have less exposure to sunshine resulting in less accumulation of vitamin D in the body.
Vitamin D from Sunshine (Role of Sunshine in Human health)
Vitamin D is created almost immediately and in large quantity as direct sunlight reaches the skin. Just half an hour of daily mid-day sunshine in Florida or other tropical latitudes would get a person the entire vitamin his/her body needs. The only problem is that most of us don’t get that much mid day sunshine on our skin in a month, leave aside each day.
Factors which interfere with the human body’s capability to make vitamin D include:
- The more distant we are from the equator, the more difficult it is to get sufficient vitamin D from the sun. At the equator, full body exposure to sunlight produces up to 21,000 units of vitamin D per hour (depending on skin complexion as fair skin produces the most vitamin D). However, if one is located more than 30 degrees south or north of the equator, it could take two to ten times longer to get vitamin D from sunshine.
- Sunlight is most efficient in producing vitamin D between 10 am and 2 pm after which the angle of the light isn’t direct enough to kindle as much production of vitamin D.
Thus, you can conclude by saying that the role of sunshine in human health is huge as it provides the necessary vitamin D needed by our body for its growth.
About the Author
Robert Sudby has practiced as a General Physician in Cleveland for a number of years. He is retired but still likes to share fitness secrets and tips with people. You can benefit from his articles on fitness and general well being.
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