Light: Why Sunlight Should Not Be Feared or Avoided

In the previous article, I made the claim that nutrition is not #1 for health, and that in fact, our light environment is. You can read that article HERE.

Today's article is the start of a short series where I will dive deeper into why light is so important, and for this first one, I want to address how our modern society has been led astray where light is concerned, and reiterate why it is so important to our health.

I promise I do try to keep these short... lol, but even with how long these end up being, there is always so much that I had to leave out.

Sunlight.

What do you think of when you hear that word?

Summer days?

Sunny beaches?

Warmth and relaxation?

Happiness?

Or, do you think about skin cancer, and how “dangerous” the sun is for our health? (NOTE: it is understood that there are real medical conditions requiring that an individual protect themselves from UV, but it should be noted that they don’t need to completely avoid the sun since AM and PM sunlight does not have UV light.)

The issue I want to tackle today is just this… the fear messaging around the sun; messaging that has been driven in part by industries who profit from this fear. The sunscreen industry alone is a multi-billion dollar industry. (Health tip: If you are someone who uses sunscreen, take care with which brands you choose. Refer to Environmental Working Group's sunscreen guide for pointers. https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/ )

Yes, skin cancer is real, but as you will soon see, sun may not be the primary cause...

It should be noted that if you have health conditions or are on medication that requires you to be very careful around UV light, then please follow your doctor’s advice.

Ultraviolet wavelengths can cause damage, but we might want to reconsider what is meant by damage in this context. UV light does cause changes in our DNA (flipping genes on or off) and does increase oxidative stress in our skin cells – but, this is all a normal part of our biology. Our body is designed to utilize UV, and it is important that we do so.

It is when it goes unchecked that problems arise, when oxidative stress increases and mutations in our mitochondrial and nuclear DNA can occur.

In this article, you will discover that it is the infrared light in sunlight that helps to keeps things in check, and it is concentrated blue light (artificial light) that can actually cause bigger problems where oxidative stress is concerned.

Nature has designed a beautifully complex yet simple system where the sun provides what you need at the beginning and end of each day, (as well as throughout the entire day)… to ensure protection from the UV light received during the middle of the day.

We also have body signals that tell us when we’ve had enough exposure, so we know to go find shelter/shade – just as animals know to instinctively do in the wild.

Our body is truly a beautiful work of art. From any perspective, it is amazingly complex and yet beautifully simple at the same time. We have been perfectly engineered to live harmoniously with nature – at atomic, cellular, organ, and system levels. Our body is designed to use nature to thrive, and it is our adaptability that allows us to do this well.

Understanding this, we see that sunlight is vital to our health, just as it is vital for all life on earth.

Unfortunately, modern life has disconnected us from nature – from the understanding of it and from the natural and necessary rhythms found within it.

In the past century, we have gone far beyond simple disconnection from nature. When it comes to light, we not only avoid exposing our skin and eyes to the sun, but we’ve also introduced artificial light – which is now the primary source of light for most people in modern societies.

Our modern lives have also greatly disrupted our internal terrain… By internal terrain I am referring to the state of your body. Your redox status, antioxidant status, your immune system, levels of inflammation, your mitochondrial health, your biological rhythms, and the levels of many of the compounds known to help you function optimally and/or protect you naturally from UV exposure, among other things.

One of the lab tests for determining levels of sun exposure is Vitamin D… and science has shown time and time again that diseases of all kind can be correlated with low vitamin D levels. Low Vitamin D levels = lack of sunlight. Vitamin D deficiency is epidemic today.

So, given the rampant messaging around preventing sun exposure, which is correct?

Is the sun necessary for our health? (Hint: Yes it is!)

Or is it something we should avoid exposing ourselves to by covering up our skin with clothes and sunscreen every time we venture outside, wearing sunglasses with any hint of sunlight, and staying indoors as much as possible?

With very few exceptions, sunlight exposure is essential.

It is our disconnection from nature and the resulting imbalances within our body that are the true cause of cancer or disease, not the sun.

Sunlight is not inherently dangerous, just like water is not inherently dangerous. Both are vital to our health, yet at the same time, when used incorrectly, both can harm, and even kill. The same can be said about most things in life.

Industry (and science paid for by industry) capitalizes on this – using fear messaging and inadequate science to steer you in a direction that benefits their bottom line.

This is why seeking truth and understanding is so important when you are on a journey towards health and longevity.

Science doesn’t provide true knowledge, only partial and incomplete (and sometimes inaccurate) bits of knowledge about nature and life. Honest scientists will tell you that science is simply a process of inquiry… and the more anyone gets stuck within an idea or a paradigm, the less accurate any answers found will be.

When it comes to biology and biochemistry, the majority (almost all) of the studies ignore all or some of the big three: light, electromagnetic fields, and water… making the majority of what we believe we know either incomplete or completely inaccurate.

Why am I spending so much time seemingly harping on science?

I am not anti-scientific inquiry… it is an essential aspect of us trying to understand life. I am trying to, especially after the previous three years, help people to regain a realistic view of where science fits. Today, science has become more of what could be termed “scientism”… more of a religion versus an open system of inquiry, where censoring, conformity, and centralization are the name of the game, and this leads many astray, and can therefore cause unintentional harm.

Truly, all you need to do is look at what the previous 100+ years of scientific and technological advancements have done to our health. Disease is skyrocketing, and with it goes our quality of life - until we can find a way to truly heal. This healing comes from nature more often than not.

When we can keep science in its place, and use it with a bit of skepticism and caution, we are more likely to identify the best paths forward for ourselves, because believe it or not, your own Inner Self instinctively and intuitively knows what is best for you.

Nature is complex, but it is also very simple. When we get back to nature, we no longer need to overcomplicate our life, and we will often find it best to simplify it. This is true for nutrition, exercise, and really any health approach towards achieving a longer health-span for your life.

Nature also does not need a randomized controlled trial. It is decentralized and proves itself constantly. We simply need to learn to properly observe and listen with open minds and open hearts, and stay far away from conformity, established paradigms, and dogmatic approaches if we want to truly understand. This applies in the world of nutrition and natural approaches just as much as it does to centralized medicine.

So, when we look to nature as our guide and use science in the way it is meant to be used, what does it show us about the sun?

It shows us that sunlight is vitally important to our health, and that artificial light can be incredibly harmful.

How do we overcome the messaging, and for some a very real inner belief and fear that the sun is dangerous?

1. We first understand that if it was truly dangerous, if it was truly the cause of cancers that kill, humans would not have made it this far… so we must ask ourselves, what is out of balance in our body and in our life today that is causing us to suddenly (supposedly) have problems with the sun in modern times? Ironically, the lack of sunlight is one of these imbalances today.

2. Second, we empower ourselves to understand why it is important, and how to incorporate it into our life in a healthy and balanced way that optimizes our health.

3. Third, we make the appropriate changes in our lives to invite more sunshine in.

We live in a society where sunlight exposure is mostly absent and where we are exposed to an excessive amount of high energy visible (HEV) light (as blue light via our indoor environments and screen use).

The differences between different light exposures can be found at a cellular level.

Sunlight changes through the day. These dynamic changes are important for us to understand so we can begin to change our relationship to the sun - and welcome its healing benefits back into our lives.

When we look at the infrared (IR) to visible (VIS) ratios within the sun we find that they are 3:1 at sunrise, 1:1 at noon, and 3:1 at sunset. Campfires have a IR/VIS ratio of 10:1 which is why it does not interfere with our circadian rhythm when we sit around a campfire at night.

Within the visible (VIS) spectrum of light through the day, blue (HEV light) is only one of several of the different colors found. Yet, due to its high energy, it is also one of the more potentially damaging wavelengths of visible light.

UV, also known to be potentially damaging, is found only during the middle of the day – year-round at the equator, and seasonally at higher latitudes (Health tip: you can get winter exposure to UVB in high latitudes when you are above 5000 feet in elevation – and therefore winter mountain activities can help to maintain vitamin D levels when you allow yourself to be exposed to some of that light).

Our body has adapted to the shifting wavelengths of light from the sun and has found ways to mitigate potential damage from exposure to the higher energies of UV and blue light - and it does this by utilizing Infrared light, which is 50% of the sun's light, as well as by using the UV light itself to synthesize protective molecules within our skin.

So, when we receive the blue light via sunlight, it is automatically balanced with exactly what we need, whereas artificial blue light does not provide this. This is similar in nature to how a whole food is much more balanced, providing us all the information we need from that food/plant in comparison to a targeted supplement - which when taken alone or in excess can sometimes cause undesired downstream effects.

Let's take a look at how UV or concentrated blue light can cause damage, especially the risk of skin cancer.

At a cellular level, both UV and blue light (HEV) exposures cause increased reactive oxygen species (ROS). Recent evidence is showing that there is a close connection between oxidative stress and cancer. (Source: Genic Crosstalk Between Oxidative stress and Cancer)

This is where science begins to help reveal some of the truth behind the real cause of skin cancer:

“It is evident that unlike UV photons, High Energy Visible (HEV) (400 -500nm) photons form free radicals in the fat rich dermis and sub-fat layers of the skin and retina. UV photons generate mainly reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in the outer layers of the skin which are replaced every 20 to 24 days. HEV photons generate large amounts of lipid free radicals in cells that have life cycles of months or longer. This represents a first step in understanding how photons interact with our cells.”

HEV photons are generating large amounts of lipid free radicals. Lipid free radicals have been linked to skin cancer and other diseases. “From a dose standpoint, 8 hours in the office generates the same number of free radicals as 30 minutes laying out in the sun in accordance with the theory of reciprocity used in photochemistry.” Yet remember that those 8 hours in the office do not come with the healing benefits of infrared light.

(Source: View of Melatonin and the Optics of the Human Body)

Here is a paper reviewing the connection between oxidative stress and skin cancer… notice the blatant assumption made that the majority of the cause is due to UV (versus other environmental factors), and nowhere in this paper is concentrated HEV light even considered. You will find this is often the case in most studies involving UV light. As I said, read all studies with awareness.

(Source: Skin Cancer, Free Radicals and Antioxidants)

The majority of skin cancer has also been correlated with low vitamin D levels… which is caused by low sun exposure (or lack of a solar callus that allows adequate synthesis of vitamin D). If sun exposure caused skin cancer… nature dictates it would be correlated with high vitamin D levels…

What this is saying, is that artificial light exposures are more likely to put you at risk of skin cancer, in comparison to sunlight.

Of course, paying attention to other environmental factors is critical as well… to include healthy and responsible exposure to UV light. However, since these factors all lead to increased oxidative stress, than it would seem that addressing the oxidative stress and raising vitamin D through sunlight exposure is the best answer for prevention.

What is one of the best ways to address oxidative stress in your cells and at a mitochondrial level? Sunlight. Exposure to AM and PM sunlight, which is where we can get infrared light without the UV light. Remember that near-infrared light triggers synthesis of melatonin, a powerful antioxidant, so it is there to be used where and when it is needed.

So, the big question is, how to incorporate sunlight in your life in a healthy, balanced, and responsible way?

How do you make the transition from sun deficient and blue light toxic towards a biological state where you can be outside all day and never burn - and therefore receive the full complement of benefits the sun can provide?

Below I lay out a few steps that are all essential to establishing healthy and balanced sun exposure, and I provide you with some of the why. I am a huge believer that understanding the why behind an action can be extremely empowering.

1. Get out in the sunlight – and build your solar callus. This will not only protect you, it will also enhance the benefits you can receive from the sun – to include increased vitamin D production. Without a solar callus, many will struggle to make much vitamin D even with sun exposure (and remember, supplementation is not an ideal way to get our vitamin D.) (Health tip: if you are very low in vitamin D than it is recommended you supplement while at the same time you build up your solar callus until you can get your Vitamin D levels to a healthy level, but it is not recommended to just blindly take vitamin D on a long-term basis. Additionally, any time you become very ill, that is also a good time to supplement with Vitamin D.)

How to do this Nature's way?

• Seafood and astaxanthin (found in seafood but also in supplemental form). Seafood such as oysters, shellfish, and wild salmon are all great options.

Why? Seafood provides DHA and astaxanthin (the red color), and astaxanthin is one of the most potent antioxidants we have available to us in our food.

From Dr. Jack Kruse: “Astaxanthin is one of the most effective carotenoids at "singlet oxygen quenching," making it a an ideal way to build the retina and skin's ability to build the solar callus. Astaxanthin is unusual because it can also penetrate the blood brain barrier and the blood retinal barrier in the eye to offer protection that few other bio-molecules can. Nature does not make things easy it just makes them worthwhile..........You must comprehend Nature and copy her lessons.” (Source: How Do You Build a Solar Callus Nature’s Way? – Dr. Jack Kruse (note, you have to be a Patreon member to read the full article))

• Get morning sunlight prior to any UV exposure. AM morning light has no UV light but has balanced blue and infrared light frequencies. This type of light is excellent for building your callus. You must get infrared-A (IR-A) light on your skin prior to any UV-A or UV-B being placed upon your skin.

Why? It provides key molecules necessary that both provide protection from the coming UV exposure, and allow us to make Vitamin D (which is another layer of protection as well).

– Filaggrin – a protein found in the skin, but absent in those lacking sun exposure. When filaggrin is missing or deficient, the skin can't retain water, and this makes synthesis of sulfated Vitamin D impossible. Filaggrin is also involved in the creation of urocanic acid.

Filaggrin is made during exposure to the balanced VIS and Infrared light in AM sunlight.

– Trans-urocanic acid - is the primary ultraviolet-B (UV-B) filter in lightly-pigmented individuals and helps prevent damage when melanin (pigmentation) is absent.

– Melatonin production in your mitochondria.

Get as much early AM sunlight as you have time for – and with minimal clothing or very light material and no glasses or contacts of any kind. Ideally, you would be grounding yourself to the earth at the same time in order to absorb as many electrons as possible.

• Slowly increase your exposure to UV sunlight during midday How long of an exposure will depend on how your skin reacts. Once your skin begins to slightly flush (showing signs of increased blood flow at the surface), it is time to either "flip over" or remove yourself from the sun. Usually, at the beginning you are looking at no more than 10 to 15 minutes on the front and same on the back. You do not want to allow yourself to burn. If you miss your skin's signal, and you accidentally burn, than use two things: fresh aloe vera gel, and a high quality lavender essential oil (diluted in a carrier oil). These will speed healing and minimize and heal any damage.

Why do we need some UV exposure to our skin and eyes?

– It is involved in the running of our biological rhythms

– To synthesize sulfated Vitamin D

– To increase release of nitric oxide

– To increase production of melanin

– Production of circulatory melatonin in the pineal gland

– It interacts with insulin

– It is involved in the balanced production of neurotransmitters

– It is involved with key hormones

– And more...

2. Minimize artificial light exposures – especially at night after the sun goes down, and particularly those in the high energy visible (HEV) light frequencies of 400-500nm – which is going to be LED, fluorescent, and all screens in daylight mode.

Why? I will mention a few big reasons:

• Circadian Rhythm - nighttime blue light is one of the biggest disrupters to your circadian rhythm

• Sleep - ANY blue light exposure in the evening will significantly reduce melatonin production and release from the pineal gland - which than leads to insomnia and a less healing quality of sleep

• Oxidative Stress and increased risk for diseases such as skin cancer.

• Insulin – nighttime blue light exposures, especially repetitive, can bring on a form of diabetes, and/or worsen any diabetic condition you already have – especially when coupled with lack of IR and UV exposures from the sun.

3. Hydrate. Hydrate. Hydrate. Quality of water matters. Avoid fluoridated and chlorinated water… which means invest in a high-quality filter such as a Berkey or Reverse Osmosis (add minerals back in with RO water). Natural spring water is best. Do not attempt to build a solar callus while even remotely dehydrated. When people say the sun ages you? It’s primarily from dehydration. More on why water is important below where I dive a little deeper into infrared.

4. Nutrition. Eat a diet rich in antioxidants (think richly colored fruits and vegetables), low in simple sugars, rich in healthy fats (seafood, coconut, avocado, olive, etc), and rich in key nutrients: sulfur, magnesium, potassium, selenium, copper, vitamin A, C, and all B vitamins, etc. - and devoid of processed foods and chemicals. Eat local and in season (this is the most important piece of nutritional advice).

Why? The least important aspect of our food are the calories. It's the quality, freshness, and how close to it's original state as found in nature that matters above all else. A few key points are listed below:

• Antioxidants help combat the oxidative stress – key antioxidants are melatonin (from NIR), glutathione, and astaxanthin (from the red color in seafood – can also take in supplemental form)

• Low in simple sugars prevents overload of metabolic system – which can also drive up oxidative stress.

• Healthy fats are needed for healthy membranes and adequate cholesterol is needed for Vit D production. DHA is really critical here… and the only method I can recommend of getting it is via seafood, grassfed meat, or Rosita brand cod liver oil.

• Avoiding processed foods has to do with deuterium (an isotope of hydrogen), as well as preventing toxic waste accumulation from your body having to turn these foods into energy (which takes your body a lot of energy to do)

• Eating local and in season relates to the sun and photosynthesis and how it impacts your circadian rhythm and biological clocks (not just day/light), which affects hormones, blood sugar status, and fat accumulation/weight gain.

5. Minimize and control exposure to non-native EMF (cell phone, WIFI, Cell and electrical towers, etc.). Keep phone in airplane mode when not using and while it is next to your body, ensure your WIFI router is at least 10-12 feet from you, and use a grounding mat while working on your computer. (this is part of the protocol because it impacts you at a quantum and cellular level – and causes electron loss and therefore loss of what is known as EZ water that surrounds any cell membrane, which isn’t a good thing when it comes to being able to handle UV sunlight.)

Of these, our exposure to infrared light via sunlight throughout the day is the most important. Why?

1. Near-infrared light triggers a complex molecule found in the mitochondria of our cells – Cytochrome C Oxidase in the electron transport chain – to synthesize melatonin… our body’s most powerful antioxidant, and our cells build up stores of this hormone in preparation for whatever antioxidant activity will be needed during the day/night. This is kept locally where it is produced and does not enter circulation (so you can’t just supplement to replace sunlight exposure). Melatonin also naturally increases glutathione as well – another powerful antioxidant.

2. Science has proven that NIR photons can provide up to a SPF 15 level of skin protection if our skin is pretreated with NIR prior to exposure to UV photons in sunlight – this is due to filaggrin and urocanic acid production. So, getting that AM sunlight before heading to the beach for the day is very important – for the melatonin, as well as for this protection.

3. We can’t always avoid artificial blue light exposure… which means we will have daily increased levels of ROS building up in our system. Definitely try to avoid it after the sun goes down!!! (wear strong blue light blocking glasses if necessary).

4. Infrared light charge separates the water that is found around all of the cell membranes in our body. This water is known as 4th phase water, or Exclusion Zone water and is a newer discovery in the field of biology. This newer science is proving that this water is critical in powering our cells, and that it is capable of storing information – similar to silicon quartz in our technology due to the way it organizes into a crystalline structure. To read more on this topic, I would suggest Gerald Pollack’s book: https://a.co/d/7Yp4iGT.

While most of us no longer worship the sun as a god, or create statues in honor of it, we would all be well-served by striving to incorporate more of it into our daily lives – in a healthy and balanced way of course.

Science helps bring light to what nature is trying to show us, not so we can control nature, but so we can understand it and therefore live more harmoniously in alignment with its design.

Nature and ancient wisdom should continue to be our guides… If science alone held all the answers, than it would no longer be science. Science is a system for inquiry, and is there to lead us to new questions more than it is to give us complete answers, which is why it is ever evolving – and the newer understandings around water and light are evidence of that.

In our world today, achieving health is about connectedness, about bringing more of nature back in, and removing as much of the artificial, non-native, and man-made as we can – and this includes light, electromagnetic frequencies, water, and food.

Sunlight is a great place to start, and bonus… it’s FREE.

Take early AM walks outside in nature… a nearby park, beach, trail, or neighborhood. Repeat at lunch, and again in the evening, leaving the sunscreen and glasses behind. Begin to build your solar callus.

Your body, mind, and spirit will thank you.