There has been so much negative attention focused on the problems associated with excess sunlight exposure that many people are taking to very high SPF sunblocks almost all the time, and some have become almost like vampires – afraid to go into the sunlight for fear they may practically turn to dust if they face the sunlight without sunblock.  However, many people have forgotten about the benefits of the sun and the fact that even very fair skinned people, unless they have severe sun sensitivity, need some sort of sunlight to survive and thrive.

The reason is that sunlight causes our bodies to produce vitamin D, which is an essential vitamin, and now is being shown to possibly have anti cancer benefits as well, so it’s an important vitamin for your body to make.  Even though there are vitamin D supplements on the market that a lot of people take, these supplements are not the same thing as the stuff the body synthesizes from sunlight exposure, and it must not be a substitute for it.

Also, there are certain mood elevating elements to sunlight exposure that can’t really be duplicated by anything else.  Think about when most cases of depression and anxiety occur – it’s in the winter – in fact, it’s so commonly associated with winter time that there is even a disorder named after it called SADD, seasonal affective disorder, where people actually experience depression and a sense of melancholy that is associated with the lack of sunshine that occurs during the rainy or winter months when sunlight is scarse. 

In fact, also many people receive light therapy to combat SADD.  So, although it is still very important to exercise dilligence in protecting your skin from sun exposure, don’t go overboard and never set foot outside for fear you will get skin cancer.  There are certain health benefits of sunlight, it’s just the most important part that you don’t get burned.  Burning is what can initiate the cancerous cell formation, and this is what should be avoided at all costs. 

This entry was posted on Friday, June 20th, 2008 at 11:10 pm and is filed under Natural Depression & Anxiety Relief. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.