Growing up, I am sure that you’ve been told time and time again, “Don’t get too much Sun out there,” or something along those lines. However, there are actually a number of benefits of natural sunlight that you probably would not have considered. While too much Sun over an extended period can wind up becoming a negative, what about the incentives that can come through more concentrated exposure? If you would like to know, here is a list of 4 benefits that sunlight can offer.
Vitamin D Production
When you think about the foods which contain vitamin D, you are most likely going to turn to things like fish, right? After all, fish is a great source for this nutrient but what if you are looking to attain vitamin D without much in the way of physical effort on your part? It might seem hard to bel
ieve but the Sun is a great source of vitamin D. When one’s body is exposed to sunlight, the body in question is able to naturally produce vitamin D. To say the least, this is a point that those with such a vitamin deficiency should take into consideration.
Better Bone Health
The older that you become, the more that you have to remain wary of the stature of your bones. This is especially true for those who live, for the most part, sedentary lifestyles and do not typically engage in physical activity to the degrees that they should. As a result, it is worth noting that the Sun can help in this regard. Because of the way that the Sun can aid in the production of vitamin D, the body now has a strong source of energy that it can use to increase bone density. Without such a nutrient, the bones can become soft with age and, as a result, grow prone to fracture or breakage.
Elevated Moods
When talking about the cognitive benefits of the Sun, it’s hard to deny that it can prove useful in this field as well. WebMD posted a report that spoke about the Sun’s role as an antidepressant for the brain and how serotonin was greatly responsible for this elevation of mood. From what the report stated, serotonin levels were higher during times where days were longer and nights were shorter. As a result, sunlight was deemed effective for this reason. Medical authorities like Gabriel Pediatrics can tell you that when you’re feeling unusually down on yourself on a murky day, it might not be a simple matter of coincidence.
More Effective Sleep Patterns
From my experience, those who do not get enough sunlight from day to day are those who are more likely to have trouble sleeping. The Sun is useful in this regard, as it has the ability to help the brain produce melatonin. For the uninitiated, melatonin is a hormone that is responsible for the regulation of sleep cycles. As you might imagine, higher levels of melatonin are usually associated with the times of rest that humans take. In short, if you are someone who finds that he or she is not sleeping as well as they should, maybe the Sun can assist your schedule.
With all of this said, though, the Sun can become harmful when exposure becomes too prolonged. You are going to want to limit the amount of sunlight you take in – ten minutes or so under the Sun should suffice – so that your skin does not suffer as a result. With that said, it’s hard to deny that there are many benefits to the Sun that the general public would be better off knowing about.
*Reference: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/A_warm_minute.jpg