In our culture, eating fake food and living a sedentary life indoors is just normal.
The holistic health movement has done good work to move us toward real food and exercise, but what’s often left out of the conversation is SUNLIGHT and the power of our indoor lighting environment.
On a personal note, my health has radically improved over the last year, with the main change I’ve made being getting adequate sunlight, changing my indoor environment, and grounding daily.
Here’s what you need to know:
Morning sunlight balances hormones, improves mood, and keeps the metabolism chugging.
Every cell in the body needs to know what time it is in order to perform optimally. The light entering our eyes provides that information via the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which has a direct connection to the eyes.
Your hormones, your mood, your gut bacteria, and your metabolism all must know what time it is, and sunlight tells your body this.
2. Light from the UVA rise (first 2 hours after sunrise) builds the solar callus, which makes vitamin D synthesis more efficient and reduces the need for sunscreen.
Now that it’s Spring, it’s time to build your solar callus. This is a mostly invisible callus on your skin that prevents you from burning in the Summer and helps you process and utilize UVB light to make vitamin D.
3. UVB in the afternoon is the foundation for full spectrum vitamin D.
After the sun reaches solar noon, there’s move UVB in the sunlight. Exposure to your full body at this time of day will help you make vitamin D.
4. Sunlight sets our circadian clock for sleep. Inadequate sunlight and too much blue light can be a root cause for many sleep disturbances.
Sleep disorders have become so common that there’s a boom in professional sleep coaches. The foundation of sleep is the circadian rhythm, the internal clock that runs every process of the body. To optimize your circadian rhythm, you must:
See morning sunlight in naked eyes
Spend 30 mins outside during the UVA rise (first two hours after sunrise)
Take frequent light breaks throughout the day (looking through a closed window doesn’t count)
Wear blue blockers after sunset and eliminate or reduce sources of blue light in your home
5. Sunlight restores the balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the nervous system.
Sunlight is incredibly regulating to our nervous system. If we’re tired, Sunlight gives us energy and stimulation. If we’re in a state of fight-or-flight, the infrared frequencies from the Sun gives a calming, mood-stabilizing effect.
FURTHER RESOURCES