Should Sunshine be Called Vitamin S?

We all feel better when we’re exposed to sunshine, but why?

This answers can be found at the two ends of the visible light spectrum.

At the lower end of the visible spectrum, you find red and infrared light, which is between 600 to 1,000 nanometers in wavelength. Those frequencies of light help to increase our healing. This light energy is picked up by the chromophore. molecules of our cells. These molecules transfer that energy to the mitochondria. The mitochondria then increase the production of ATP molecules, which promotes healing.

Above the high end of the visible spectrum is ultraviolet light. This light helps to produce vitamin D in the skin. 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 is the major circulating form of vitamin D in the human blood stream. This is the form you want to measure to determine your vitamin D status.

While taking an oral vitamin D supplement will improve your vitamin D status, you will not be taking advantage of the additional benefits sunlight offers beyond vitamin D production.

Sunlight for Your Health:

Sunlight makes vitamin D in your skin, but it also makes beta-endorphins, which make you feel better and elevates your mood. Nitric oxide is also produced in the skin by sunshine, which can help lower your blood pressure. A whole host of other chemicals are also produced. I am sure that some of those chemicals have not even been identified yet.

Vitamin D is produced in your skin and is then activated in your liver to the 25-hydroxyvitamin D form and then travels to your kidneys, where it gets activated to 1,25 dihydroxy vitamin D.

Vitamin D works locally at the cellular level. There are about 30,000 genes in your body and vitamin D impacts nearly 3,000 of them in some way. Vitamin D can directly activate and deactivate about 290 genes. This may be the key for explaining how vitamin D helps to prevent cancer.

Vitamin D also plays a major role in neurotransmission. Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with a number of neurological and brain disorders, including; cognitive dysfunction, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, epilepsy and depression.

Sunlight is important for the regulation of your daily biorhythms. Light therapy has been shown to be effective against seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and non-seasonal major depression.

Sun exposure also has a number of cardiovascular benefits, causing vasodilation of blood vessels and reducing risk for peripheral vascular disease and heart attacks.

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