Let There Be Light!
Our relationship with the sun has radically changed in recent decades, to our detriment. Our ancestors revered the sun, instead we now fear the sun. This essay explores what has happened to produce such a drastic shift – and how many of the commonplace ideas about the harms of sun exposure are incorrect – and describes how can we come back into a healthy relationship with the sun again.
The Power of the Sun
Exposure to the sun is vital for numerous bodily processes and systems, including the endocrine, reproductive, digestive, and immune systems. When you start to dig into the research on sunlight, you’ll find an almost never-ending list of benefits, including improving eye health, regulating hormones, lowering blood sugar, lowering inflammation, protecting against cancer, reducing the incidence of cavities, and more. This is in large part due to the fact that exposure to the sun results in the production of vitamin D. Vitamin D has such a wide range of health benefits because almost all of the cells and tissues in our body have a receptor for it.[1]
Even though many sources, such as the American Academy of Dermatology (which receives funding from companies that produce sunscreens, like Johnson & Johnson and Neutrogena)[2], will try to scare you about sun exposure, there is ample evidence out there that sun exposure is essential for health. Further, exposure to sunlight is essentially the human form of photosynthesis as “our bodies, through the mantle of melanin, can convert the sun’s light into cellular, mitochondrial energy.”[3] Additionally, research into skin cancer has shown that people who spend the most time outdoors actually have the lowest risk of the most fatal form of skin cancer – melanoma.[4] On the other hand, exposure to fluorescent lighting has actually been shown to be associated with the formation of melanoma.[5] In other words, our skin and bodies are meant to be exposed to the sun and its full-spectrum light in order to maintain health and vitality.
Sunglasses: Not So Cool
Sunglasses can be harmful to the body because they work by blocking out important rays of the light spectrum that our bodies need for essential biological functions. When sunlight reaches our eyes, it stimulates the hypothalamus, which is connected to the pineal gland. The pineal gland, in turn, is responsible for regulating the sleep/wake cycle through the secretion of melatonin. Melatonin not only impacts our circadian rhythm but is also a “powerful immune booster and antiaging antioxidant that protects nuclear and mitochondrial DNA and delays neurodegeneration.”[6] The “natural contrast of light during the day and night that your body (and eyes) are exposed to helps assure healthy hormonal secretions and healthy sleep.”[7] However, when you wear sunglasses it inhibits this process and decreases the production of melatonin. Further, wearing sunglasses make your eyes less adaptable to light since you are not consistently exposing them to a range of UV light. Another downside of wearing sunglasses is that it can result in eye fatigue. This is because your eyes are supposed to interact with sunlight but instead when you wear sunglasses your eyes “are being forced to operate, perceive, and take in data through an unnatural ‘tint.’ In this way, your eyes are actually being forced to work HARDER than normal.”[8]
Exposure to the sun is especially important for healthy eye development in children and research has shown that “spending three hours a day in natural light reduces the risk of nearsightedness in children.”[9] This is because sunlight triggers “dopamine production in the eye, which stimulates normal growth.”[10]
Part of the reason why we have been scared into believing that sunlight is harmful for our eyes is because there is a profit to be made off of this fear. The eyewear industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that profits not only from our fear of the sun, resulting in sunglass purchases, but also the false belief that vision decline cannot be healed, resulting in the purchase of glasses (but that’s another story for another time). Try forgoing sunglasses as much as possible (except when absolutely needed, like while driving) and allow your eyes to acclimate to sun exposure. You’ll start to notice that you don’t need to squint as much when you’re outside on a sunny day and you and your eyes will end up feeling refreshed and renewed.
Sunscreen: Harming You and the Planet
“‘There is no substantial evidence that sunscreen protects against any of the three forms of skin cancer. Relying on synthetic chemicals to prevent cancer is laughable.’” - Sears and Herring
Similar to sunglasses, sunscreen is also a profitable industry that makes money by scaring people about their risks from exposure to the sun. In reality, the risks of sunscreens with numerous harmful chemicals being placed on the skin is far more serious than the risk from moderate sun exposure. For instance, one chemical commonly used in sunscreens, oxybenzone, when exposed to sunlight actually becomes carcinogenic – the very thing the sunscreen claims to be protecting you from![11] Many other chemicals in sunscreens are also known carcinogens and/or endocrine disruptors.
In addition to the harmful chemicals, sunscreen is dangerous because it blocks your body’s production of protective melanin – the pigment in the skin that is responsible for the tanning response. Your body’s natural defense against overexposure to sunlight is a tan but sunscreen inhibits your body’s ability to tan. This ultimately results in greater damage as people stay out longer in the sun than they would without the suppressive action of the sunscreen.
Sunscreens are also damaging because they separate UV-A and UV-B light – blocking the UV-B light (the light that causes sunburn), while allowing UV-A light to penetrate the skin. Current research suggests that it is “isolated UVA that damages DNA” and overexposure to UV-A light accelerates photoaging of skin as well.[12] It is this DNA damage as a result of sunscreen use that is especially problematic and more harmful than a sunburn:
We do want to avoid sunburns, yet getting sunburned is actually easier on our DNA than processing the cell damage from being in the sun with synthetic sunscreen. Sunscreen blocks our biological mechanism called melanin that was designed to guide our skin’s interaction with the sun. When we get sun-burned, our ancient photoprotective melanin ensures that only a tiny fraction of our DNA is damaged by the absorbed photons. Our DNA naturally transforms 99.9 percent of the photons into heat. In this instance, heat is harmless! The remaining 0.1 percent of the photons is what causes sunburn. In DNA, this conversion of photons into harmless heat is extremely efficient. However, sunscreen damages DNA indirectly and without the warning signal of a burn. It is this indirect DNA damage that is responsible for mutations.[13]
Further, sunscreen blocks almost all of your production of vitamin D – a highly protective vitamin (technically a steroid hormone) that is critical for a range of bodily processes and can also help protect the body against internal cancers. A sunscreen with an SPF of 8 reduces your ability to produce vitamin D by more than 95 percent.”[14] Although some people might say that you could simply take a vitamin D supplement to deal with this, there are issues with vitamin D supplementation on its own. For starters, the skin “is innately designed to generate vitamin D in response to sunlight, not solely through digestive intake. Also, it is unclear if supplemental vitamin D ever reaches the upper layers of the skin, the keratinocyte layer, where it plays an important role in our immunity as a germ fighter and as a protector from sun overexposure.”[15]
Another downside of using sunscreen is that the negative impacts are not limited to you and your body. When you wear sunscreen and then go into the water, all of the toxic chemicals you have just placed on yourself end up being washed off into the water, thus impacting aquatic life and vegetation. It is estimated that 14,000 tons of sunscreen wash off annually into the oceans.[16]
In sum, sunscreen is not as protective as you’ve been led to believe and can actually result in serious bodily harm. Sunscreen ingredients “alter the innate intelligence of our cells, increase carcinoma risk, and prevent vitamin D production.”[17] Be mindful about what you put on your body and if you wouldn’t put it in your mouth, then it probably shouldn’t go on your skin.
Sun Exposure 101
“The action of sunshine in the outdoors on the body is of such a nature that sun-baths have a triple significance – as a healing agent in the cure of disease, as a preventative to disease by building up body resistance, and as a sheer pleasure – giving tonic which increases the feeling of well-being.” - Edgar Mayer
Now before you run out and spend time in the sun, I want to make clear that while sun exposure is necessary for health, it is also important to avoid over-exposure to the sun as this can cause damage (sunburn). However, typically over-exposure to the sun is related to the two types of superficial skin cancers (basal cell and squamous cell) that are easy to treat and rarely spread. Additionally, these types of cancer are rarely related solely to sun exposure but rather sun exposure is one co-factor among many that could lead cancer to develop (e.g., exposures to toxins, increased oxidative stress, etc.). On the other hand, as noted previously, melanoma – the most fatal form of skin cancer – is actually not caused by sun exposure and in fact sun exposure can help to prevent melanoma and aid in recovery.[18] Thus, it is important to strike a balance with sun exposure – not too much, not too little. Our society has swung a bit too far to one side with an overemphasis on avoiding sun exposure (and making people fear it) with little to no discussion of the necessity of sunlight for vitality and health.
Here are some helpful tips on how to receive an adequate amount of sun exposure for health and vitality:
If you are fair-skinned, 10-20 minutes of summer sun will produce adequate vitamin D levels. If you have a moderate amount of pigmentation, you’ll need about 20-40 minutes and if you have dark skin, you’ll need up to two hours (or consider taking cod liver oil to supplement).
Expose as much of your body to the sun as possible.
The best time to be in the sun is in the morning to early afternoon.
If you know you will be outside for an extended amount of time, be sure to protect yourself from too much sun exposure by seeking shade or wearing a hat or loose long-sleeved clothes (instead of putting on sunscreen).
If you can’t get outside in the sun enough to produce adequate vitamin D levels and/or you live up north and it’s the winter, then the most effective supplement to increase vitamin D levels is cod liver oil as it is the most concentrated natural food source of vitamin D.
Try Sungazing. It is safe to look at the sun within the hour after sunrise or within the hour before sunset.
Eat a well-balanced diet filled with colorful fruits and vegetables as colorful foods help our bodies to properly absorb the sun’s rays.
Spiritual Connection to the Sun
Our lack of exposure to the sun has soul-level implications as well. According to Sajah Popham of the School of Evolutionary Herbalism, the sun “is a reflection of our will power, our individuality, and spirit. It is ultimately the center and essence of our being, our light that we shine forth into the world.”[19] Connecting to the sun allows us to reconnect not only with these aspects of ourselves, but also with the foundational patterns of life and nature. When we are disconnected from the sun, we come out of balance with the rhythms that all other beings are in tune with. The sun – and plant medicines that are ruled by the sun – can help to open “our hearts to the world, instilling a courage and strength to connect with our essential nature and shine it into the world.”[20] If you are interested in combining a connection with the sun with herbal remedies that are ruled by the sun, consider incorporating plants like Calendula, Rosemary, and St. John’s Wort into your life.
I hope that this information helps you to form a new connection with the sun and revitalize your spirit and body with its healing rays!
Sources:
[1]Al Sears & Jon Herring, Your Best Health Under the Sun. [2] American Academy of Dermatology Association, AAD Corporate Partners, https://www.aad.org/corporate-partners (last visited March 9, 2022). [3] Nadine Artemis, Renegade Beauty; Chen Xu, et al “Light-Harvesting Chlorophyll Pigments Enable Mammalian Mitochondria to Capture Photonic Energy and Produce ATP.” Journal of Cell Science 127 (2014): 388-99. [4] Al Sears & Jon Herring, Your Best Health Under the Sun. [5] Id. [6] Nadine Artemis, Renegade Beauty. [7] The Model Health Show, “Cooler Than Me? The 4 Side Effects of Wearing Sunglasses,” https://themodelhealthshow.com/side-effects-of-sunglasses/. [8] Id. [9] Nadine Artemis, Renegade Beauty. [10] Id. [11] Id. [12] Nadine Artemis, Renegade Beauty; Al Sears & Jon Herring, Your Best Health Under the Sun.[13] Nadine Artemis, Renegade Beauty. [14] Al Sears & Jon Herring, Your Best Health Under the Sun. [15] Nadine Artemis, Renegade Beauty. [16] Id. [17] Id. [18] Al Sears & Jon Herring, Your Best Health Under the Sun. [19] Sajah Popham, Alchemical Herbalism: Sun, The School of Evolutionary Herbalism. [20] Id.