Sunshine makes me high & healthy!
Vitamin D - It’s not just any Vitamin
Do you know; why most of us feel better and healthy during the sunshine months? Think for a moment, and you may get a clue... But it's just one of the many amazing wonders of the Sunshine Vitamin D.
Exposure of Ultraviolet B rays from sunshine penetrates cholesterol-like molecules in our skin and produce preliminary form of Vitamin D. It then circulates with blood toward receptors in the liver and the kidneys, where it turns into “Activated Vitamin D” to do its amazing job of keeping us healthy.
Quick Facts - Here are some more health benefits of Vitamin D and the conditions caused by its deficiency:
- For prevention & cure of Osteoporosis, that greatly impairs calcium absorption and commonly caused by a lack of vitamin D
- Adequate exposure of sunshine is the best way to prevent cancer related to prostate, breast and even colon. Moreover, it helps to overcome depression and symptoms of schizophrenia
- Sunshine Vitamin D cures children having rickets, and prevents children from getting it
- Control the activity of the immune system, helping to thwart infections and protect against auto-immune diseases like multiple-sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis
- Important to muscle growth and cellular function, prevent inflammation (linked to heart disease) and extraordinary cell growth
- Sunshine is the effective treatment for common ailments to deadly diseases acne, eczema, psoriasis, neonatal jaundice, seasonal affective disorder...you Name it
Although many people knew that sunlight is the best source of Vitamin D, still they're spending lesser time in the sun than at any point ever in human history. This is the reason Vitamin D deficiency has become an epidemic throughout the world and most of the developed nations including Canada, United States and United Kingdom are worst affected.
Avoiding sun exposure partly attribute to the high stakes of cosmetic skin care industry for spreading ruckus and misleading the public to believe that UV (ultraviolet) exposure from sunlight is harmful; even though there is no research supporting their claims about so-called harmful effects of natural & non-burning sun exposure.
Simply put, fearing nothing but massive bottom-line, the sunscreen industry does not want you to know that your body needs regular sunlight exposure to stay healthy.
Now comes the official guidelines
The recent guidelines published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal clearly pointed out that Canadians need higher doses of vitamin D, on the daily basis. Let’s have a quick overview:
- 400 to 1000 IU (International units) daily = Age 50 and under (without conditions affecting vitamin D absorption like Osteoporosis)
- 800-2000 international units every day = Adults over 50 should be taking 800-2000 IU every day (with Osteoporosis)
(Source - Calgary, Canada. July 15, 2010 United Press International)
Repeatedly, many scientific studies confirmed the evidence based health benefits of Sunshine vitamin but (as a usual trend worldwide) it always took public health officials a while to catch up.
Now the official guidelines once again challenged the fundamental beliefs of the modern medicine because till date many people are prescribed or advised to coat themselves with sunscreen whenever they're in the sun, and the researchers are worried now because doing so may actually contribute to far more cancer deaths than it prevents (just think about it…)