What is The Health Benefit of Sunlight?

Sunlight makes vitamin D which actually is a pre-hormone and its production requires a pre-cholesterol molecule to get UV-B from sunlight onto the skin. Then the liver converts it to calcidiol (storage form) which then is converted by every body cell into calcitriol (a.k.a. activated vitamin D) Vitamin D is the most potent steroid in your entire body.

Steroid hormones enable the manufacturing of proteins and enzymes by your genetic material (genome). Yet after you've produced about 20,000 units, sunshine begins to destroy vitamin D in the skin.

In other words, the same sunlight that makes vitamin D in the first place begins to degrade it - a miracle of self control and safety. So the active form of vitamin D acts by enabling the genetic expression of proteins and enzymes crucial to health in hundreds of tissues throughout the body.

One of the ways in which to increase vitamin D orally is via good, unpolluted fish oils but these are increasingly hard to find. To find out whether you are deficient, the best vitamin D test is 25(OH)D, also called 25-hydroxyvitamin D and optimal levels are 45-50 ng/mL or 115-128 nmol/L (these values are higher than the 'normal' values).

The amount of vitamin D produced from sunlight depends on exposure time, latitude and altitude of location, amount of skin surface exposed, skin pigmentation and season. UV-B also stimulates the production of MSH (melanocyte-stimulating hormone), an important hormone in weight loss, energy production, and in giving you that wonderful tanned appearance (a-MSH ).

However, UV-B does not penetrate very deeply into your skin. The darker the pigmentation or more tanned your skin, the less UV-B penetrates. Remember that glass allows only some 5% of UV-B to enter your home or your car, you must go outside to benefit from sunlight. The take home message is that sunlight has an awful lot going for it providing you avoid sunburn.

According to Professor Michael Hollick, Professor of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics at the Boston University Medical Centre it is now estimated that the 1,000 IU of vitamin D a day is needed to satisfy the body's requirement and maintain circulating concentrations of calcidiol of at least 30ng/mL.

Too much vitamin D over a longer period of time can be toxic and cause calcification in the kidneys and heart. Fortunately the warning signs are easy to notice: anorexia, disorientation, dehydration, fatigue, weight loss, weakness and vomiting. Dr. Esther John, an epidemiologist at the Northern California Cancer Center, recommends taking a daily 10 to 15 minute walk in the sunshine as it not only clears your head, relieves stress and increases circulation, but also could cut your risk of breast cancer by 50%.

We all enjoy the sunny weather: it can lift our spirits and make us feel happier and healthier. If you are sensible in the sun and follow these simple precautions including using Aloeride to support your skin from the inside, then there is no reason why you shouldn’t enjoy its positive benefits without the negative side effects.