Sunlights Crucial Role in the Body

There was a time, back in the 19th century, when lack of getting enough sunlight was the major cause of a disease called rickets in children. In that time period there were no child labor laws so children often worked long hours in factories and mines. Because they did not receive enough sunlight in addition to poor diets, their skin was not kissed for a sufficient amount of time to produce vitamin D, thus affecting imperfect calcification, softening and distortion of their growing bones – resulting in bow legs. Vitamin D is essential for strong and healthy bones in growing children. Then came restrictive laws on young children in the workplace. The result? Children were released from the 12 hour, indoor workplace and were reacquainted with child-play out of doors, in the sunshine. That was a long time ago – but I see an alignment with those days when presently I see kiddos attached to screens around the clock. For many, when given a choice between TikTok and bike riding, TikTok wins. I’m not ragging on kids, nor do I feel that rickets is an inevitable result of our culture, but I see a parallel in our adult lives. Yes, our moisturizers have SPF, but plants need sunlight and so do humans. If we don’t get enough sunlight, we droop like a plant would and we cannot thrive. Sunlight is required for photosynthesis in plants and our skin cells need to take in some sunlight, too. Get sun-kissed safely in a SunHugg.

Something we commonly call “vitamin D” is not actually a vitamin. Huh? It’s a hormone that is created in the body, sparked by UV light rays on skin cells. But if my name is “John” and my friends all call me “Jack,” that’s what I’ll answer to. So “hormone D” answers to “vitamin D” and I’m okay with that. If we have a sunlight deficiency, we’ll likely have a vitamin D deficiency. Taking vitamin D supplements can be helpful, but nothing is a substitute for the real thing: sunlight on the skin causing a natural production of vitamin D. If you, instead, are taking the supplement, your doctor should be aware of how many IU you are taking per day because too much can be toxic; vitamin D (like vitamin A) is a fat-soluble vitamin that is stored in the body. So, let’s say you have a healthy abundance of vitamin D; that’s something to celebrate because, in order for calcium to be processed in your body, there needs to be vitamin D stored in your cells. Calcium without the power of D is almost of no value. Sunlight is an important environmental link to good health. Knowledge is truly power, and knowledge about your body is good sense equaling health