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It seems sometimes that we live in a bizarro world. We are taught to stay in our homes and to be terrified of outside threats as though our immune system is incapable of defending ourselves. We are conditioned to eat three square meals per day, and the notion of skipping a meal or a day of eating is treated by the mainstream viewpoint as radical or even dangerous. And, we have now gotten to the point in society where we are taught, from a young age, to be scared of the sun.
We are conditioned to slather chemical lotions on our skin which prevent the sun’s rays from interacting with our body chemistry. This is done under the premise that we are not naturally able to withstand the radiation of the sun consistently and still thrive. But aren’t we biologically designed to withstand the sun? Aren’t most animals suited to interact to some degree with the raw power of the sun?
Indeed, there is a risk of damaged or mutated skin cells if the skin becomes over-radiated by the sun’s rays. In all of my studies, it seems like the risk is much more pertinent to develop these types of health risks when an individual gets excessive sun to the point where his or her skin actually sustains a burn. If a person just gets tanned from the sun, without burning, it seems like the risk is quite minimal for serious problems by comparison. So, to me, it only makes common horse sense that a person can reasonably get a frequent amount of sun with relative safety as long as his or her skin is not experiencing burning — the burning of your skin would after all be a pretty good indicator from nature that you are being exposed to too much sunlight and you should stop.
As much as the mainstream scientific community, governments and media obsess over the risks associated with getting too much sun, the equally relevant question is — what is the risk of not getting enough sunshine?
When a human being soaks up sunlight, an amazing thing happens (just as it’s amazing to watch a plant take in sunlight via photosynthesis). There is only one vitamin that our bodies can actually manufacture, with no external inputs in terms of food — Vitamin D3 (AKA cholecalciferol). This vitamin is formed simply by exposure to UVB rays (from the sun) as well as with cholesterol from our bodies.
If humans are biologically designed with the ability to make Vitamin D3 just by simple exposure to the sun, how important must this compound be for our survival and proliferation as a species? Indeed, it is one of the most important nutrients in the human body at any given time. So what is the risk of not getting enough of it?
Vitamin D3 deficiency may lead to:
— Loss of bone density
— Muscle weakness
— Back pain and other pain in connective tissue areas
— Dental and teeth problems
— Association with low immune function
— Increased risk of respiratory infection
— Poor sleep and fatigue
— Feelings of sadness, listlessness and despair
— Poor mood
— Neurological risk factors as there are vitamin D3 receptors found throughout the brain
— Hair loss
If you slap some sunscreen on, your body is impeded from absorbing the sun’s UVB rays. Separately, you’re completely lathered in chemicals which can create a whole other issue of toxicity absorption in the skin. So now you are defended against the radiation of the sun causing any amount of damage to skin cells. But how are you supposed to get the Vitamin D3 levels needed?
You could always supplement, but let’s take a step backwards just for a moment. We all need to constantly remind ourselves to look upon nature for the answers. If we were designed to absorb UVB rays and manufacture our own Vitamin D3, and D3 vitamin supplement products must be manufactured and synthesized via a modern process, then that means humans have been completely incorrectly designed by nature. Really?
This doesn’t make common sense to me. What does make intuitive sense is that our bodies are designed to be able to withstand a certain amount of the sun’s radiation, just as we would be able to live in balance with the sun in a natural setting while surviving and living our lives in the outdoors.
Sure, we can recognize that certain fairer skin types are more biologically suited for colder climates with less sun and therefore have greater limits on how long they can be exposed to the sun. In fact, not only is that scientifically the case where fairer-skinned people will make more Vitamin D3 with less sun (and are also at risk of burning quicker), but somebody with a darker skin complexion will require more time in the sun to produce adequate levels of Vitamin D3 in comparison (the melanin in the skin acts as a natural sunscreen and slows down Vitamin D3 production). So if you have any heritage which is not Caucasian, like I do, then pay special attention because your Vitamin D3 production may be especially low.
This premise that humans are meant to exist as many animals do — in harmony with the sun, which provides life to this solar system — only makes natural and intuitive sense. How do you feel when you go outside in the sunshine? There is something so comforting and enlivening about this feeling to which we can all relate. I recall when my niece was only about six months old. Sometimes she would get fussy and irritable, but if we carried her outside to the back porch into the natural sunlight, she would immediately calm down and become contented and at peace.
We are not meant to be cooped up indoors and constantly hiding from the sun. Sunbathing and especially ‘nature bathing’ where you get out into the outdoors and really soak up the elements is a great gift of Mother Nature and a way to accelerate your path to true healing. Vitamin D3 production aside, it just absolutely makes you feel good. Sitting or laying in the sun for 30 minutes or even an hour (depending on your skin pigmentation and risk of burning) can be a great way to promote self-healing and even inner happiness.
Definitely be mindful of your skin type and getting burned by the sun. Getting so much sun where your skin actually peels would be the worst case, followed by sustaining a burn where you actually feel pain but the skin doesn’t peel off. These two scenarios should be avoided. If you haven’t gotten sun in a long time, keep in mind that it can take a little while to build up your tolerance, so start with shorter sessions and you should find that you’ll be able to go longer and longer without getting burned.
Most sunscreen products are among the most toxic things that you could put on your skin, containing many synthetic preservatives, hormone-disrupting ingredients, and toxic fillers. Most of these products can cause your skin to become clogged up, inflamed, and can even cause direct oxidative damage to cells.
If you do want to frolic around outside but are concerned about getting burned, then consider using an all-natural product with natural sun-blocking qualities, like raspberry seed oil. Do keep in mind that this offers only a mild degree of sun protection in terms of SPF and so it can likely hold you over for a while of being outdoors, but you shouldn’t expect it to prevent you from burn if you’re out for a long extended amount of time.
RapidRegeneration.com/RaspberrySeedOil
If you are going to be out in the sun for hours and hours, it would be advisable to use a hat or appropriate clothing, especially to avoid burning of the more sensitive skin on your face. But if you absolutely are going to be exposing your skin to the sun for an excessive amount of time, then at this point it would likely be better to use a natural mineral sunscreen than to incur a serious sunburn. While zinc oxide — as contained within a natural-ish sunscreen that does not contain the synthetic toxins and fillers — is not a great thing to put on your skin, in this case, it seems like it would be the lesser of two evils.
RapidRegeneration.com/Sunscreen
Aside from long excursions out into the sun for hours, I find I am able to get out into the sun on a regular basis without experiencing sunburn. I look for opportunities to get direct sun exposure while actually being outside (UVB rays do not get absorbed after traveling through a car or house window). Getting out into the sun feels good, and we can feel the power of nature working in real time. The great thing about getting sunshine is that you can combine it with other modalities that are also self-healing such as grounding/earthing, meditation, gardening, breath work, or exercising.
Benefits of having adequate amounts of Vitamin D3 may include:
— Helping the body absorb and retain phosphorous in your bones
— Helping the body absorb and retain calcium throughout the skeletal system, connective tissue and nervous system
— Helping prevent fractures, broken bones and skeletal issues
— Helping preserve muscle fibers and promote muscle strength
— Promoting good oral and dental health
— Support for the immune system to protect against infection
— Linked to healthy weight management
— Support for healthy hair growth
— Help for reducing inflammation
— Reducing growth of abnormal or mutated cells
— Assisting in regulating mood and feelings of happiness
— Support for brain and nerve function, in terms of neurotransmitter synthesis and nerve growth and repair
— Improved depth of sleep
— Increased energy
While I don’t go so far as to engage in sun worship, truly the sun is our great giver of life and it’s about time that humanity more appreciates this basic fact. Even looking at the statistics, you can see how life expectancy of a human being drops off as you get further and further away from the equator. This is a big problem for us humans who have migrated out of the tropics and live in more unnatural settings as compared with what our warm-weather species is designed to handle.
So even if you get regular sunshine, if you’re far from the equator, then the sun is going to be quite a lot more distant for a good portion of the year (late fall, winter and early spring). The sun is also less strong in the morning and late in the day. So what if you’re getting adequate sun for part of the time but not all the time, and how are you supposed to produce enough Vitamin D3 within your body to have optimal health and avoid serious health risks?
Personally, I have taken to using a Vitamin D3 lamp which has been specially designed to emit UV-B rays so that the receiver of the light frequencies from the lamp can manufacture Vitamin D3. I find that daily or near daily usage of only about five minutes has helped to raise my overall Vitamin D3 levels from a clinically deficient level to a much more healthy range. It’s not always possible for me to make 30 minutes of time (or more when the sun is farther away in the off-season) to get out into the sun, so the lamp acts as a way to compress this ritual into a smaller chunk of time.
If you know that you don’t get enough sunshine, or you live in a part of the world which is far from the equator, or you are concerned with your Vitamin D3 levels, or you have gotten tested and determined they are low, and you don’t want to supplement orally and want to make Vitamin D3 the old-fashioned way, consider tricking your body into getting the light spectrum rays it needs to produce D3 via a D3 lamp.
RapidRegeneration.com/VitaminDLamp
You could also consider oral supplementation of Vitamin D3. This is a less natural way for your body to utilize this compound because it is a more contrived input into the body. There are not very many natural sources of D3, but there are some, including fish, eggs, and some mushrooms. Taking an oral D3 supplement will not provide all of the other helpful reactions that the light of the sun will create in interaction with our bodies, which can help with other things aside from D3 production like cellular function, hormone balance, and oxygen management.
A good quality Vitamin D3 lamp can be several hundred dollars and for some taking a supplement is simply the only thing that they can afford. Some people object to taking any kind of supplements. My opinion is that supplementing with an oral Vitamin D3 supplement would be preferable to being deficient in this vitamin and incurring the extreme risks to good health that low D3 levels entail. If you are going to supplement orally, D3 is the superior form as compared with D2 and it seems best consumed with some fat as it is a fat-soluble vitamin.
Some people will advocate for also supplementing with K2 in addition to D3, because K2 is needed in order to help to body actually absorb calcium into the bones, which is promoted by D3 but works in conjunction with K2. My personal preference is to allow the body to make its own K2 and give it the raw ingredients needed to do so. There is some debate about whether the human body can manufacture adequate amounts of K2 by means of Vitamin K1 via the diet and a healthy microbiome of probiotics which assist in this process. If you wish to take K2, that would be your personal decision. My personal approach is to make sure I support my probiotic microbiome and consume a healthy bioavailable source of Vitamin K1 daily via this superfood supplement here:
RapidRegeneration.com/GreenPowder
In terms of dosage, people generally find success with around 5,000 IUs per day, although it depends on the skin type and regular sun exposure frequency of the unique individual, among other factors. Some people require less and some people even take more. The goal is to get the blood levels up into the healthy range of Vitamin D3 and so the dosage amount can be related to the progress towards that goal. It is possible to take too much Vitamin D3 and so do exercise caution and consult with a nutritionist or medical professional if it is nutritional or medical advice that you seek.
Figuring out if or by how much to supplement with D3 is best informed by blood testing of Vitamin D3 levels, with a healthy range being between approximately 50 to 90 ng/mL. Many conventional mainstream recommended ranges unfortunately promote that the healthy range starts much lower around 30 ng/mL so do be careful where you get your information. Personally I would not want to be in a situation where I was between 30 and 50 ng/mL of D3 in my body and being told this is acceptable as some kind of a false sense of security.
Your blood levels of D3 can help you figure out if you need to get more D3 or how much to take. You can find an easy at-home test for D3 levels in your body here:
RapidRegeneration.com/D3Test
If you do prefer to supplement orally, this is a plant-based D3 source which is of good quality and value:
RapidRegeneration.com/D3
Act wisely, and of course definitely don’t bake yourself outside like a lobster. Free yourself from actually being scared of the sun — that’s like being scared of our own shadow. The sun is what breathes life into this solar system and causes the life on this planet to source the energy needed to grow. We are quite different from plants but at the same time our needs for a few basic things from nature are similar — light, gravity, air, and nutrients.
As you interact with this special amazing and divine light source, do appreciate that sunshine does expound healing benefits onto us that go even beyond our own understanding of what is happening. Do what you need to do to give your body what it needs. Do not accept being dangerously low in arguably the most important vitamin in the human body. See you at the beach!