Sunshine is Nature's Disease Fighter

[Erik]

Medical researchers are growing increasingly excited about a wonder drug that may significantly reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and many other diseases -- sunshine.

A recent study found that men who are deficient in vitamin D, which your body produces in response to sunlight, have more than double the normal risk of suffering a heart attack.

In fact, men with vitamin D levels below 15 nanograms per milliliter had 2.5 times the risk of having a heart attack or dying -- even after controlling for all other possible risk factors such as hypertension, obesity and high lipid levels.

Another study found that low levels of vitamin D increased the risk of diabetes, and yet another linked vitamin D deficiencies to an increased risk of dying from breast cancer.

These findings all join a growing body of evidence indicating that an adequate level of the vitamin, which many people can get from 20 minutes in the sun each day, is crucial to maintaining good health.

Sources:
* Los Angeles Times June 10, 2008
* Archives of Internal Medicine June 9, 2008; 168(11):1174-1180

[Erik]

Commentary on the above:

If spending some time in the sun each day this summer is not on your list of priorities, I urge you to reconsider. This simple act can drastically reduce your risk of major diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Not to mention that the feel of the warm sun on your skin is one of life’s great pleasures -- and it’s free, so what have you got to lose?

The evidence just keeps pouring in.

It’s no coincidence that northern countries (with less intense sunlight and colder winters) have higher levels of heart disease than sun-filled southern countries, and more heart attacks occur in the winter months, when sunlight is scarce.

This recent study found that low vitamin D levels more than doubled the risk of heart attack and death. That’s a huge jump! Past studies have also found that getting a daily dose of vitamin D boosts your natural anti-inflammatory response, which can help to treat congestive heart failure.

Just how does vitamin D help your heart?

Well, there are a number of mechanisms triggered by vitamin D production that help fight heart disease, including:

* An increase in your body's natural anti-inflammatory cytokines
* The suppression of vascular calcification
* The inhibition of vascular smooth muscle growth

Vitamin D also works by lowering insulin resistance, which is one of the major factors leading to heart disease in the United States.

Using Sunlight for Your Health

Unfortunately, in the United States the sun has been vilified. Many people have been convinced that staying out of the sun is necessary to avoid cancer, when actually the exact opposite is true. Why would anyone in their right mind want to exchange the risk of a few harmless skin cancers with that of serious life-threatening challenges like colon, breast, prostate and colon cancers?

Of course, you always want to avoid getting burned, but generally speaking you can safely spend anywhere from 20 minutes to two hours in the sun every day with beneficial effects. If you have dark-colored skin or live far from the equator, you will need to spend more time in the sun than someone who is light-skinned living close to the equator.

If you are a person who regularly spends time outdoors, without sunblock (sunblock screens out ultraviolet light, which interferes with vitamin D production in your body), then your vitamin D levels may be OK. However, most people spend a lot of time inside and do not get adequate sun exposure on a daily basis.

For this reason, I strongly encourage you to have your vitamin D levels tested. If you are currently facing chronic disease, it’s even more important that you get your levels checked, as vitamin D deficiency could be a factor.

The test is a simple blood test called 25(OH)D, or 25-hydroxyvitamin D. You can request it from just about any doctor, but ideally you will get it from a holistic physician who understands the importance of vitamin D, and can guide you into getting your levels optimized.

What’s the Best Way to Get Vitamin D?

Sun exposure is always the best method of getting vitamin D, but some people do need to take a vitamin D3 supplement to keep their levels up. You should only do this under the care of a knowledgeable physician, however, as you can overdose on vitamin D supplements.

In fact, the only time you don’t need to worry about whether or not you’re getting too much, or too little, vitamin D is when your body makes it naturally from the sun.

There is still massive confusion out there, even among health care professionals, about what’s healthy and what’s not when it comes to sunlight and vitamin D. For instance, certain vitamin D supplements (vitamin D2) are highly inferior to vitamin D3, and should not be taken.

Meanwhile, some doctors will tell you your vitamin D levels are “normal” if they’re over 20 ng/ml. In reality, your vitamin D level should NEVER be below 32 ng/ml and should really be 45-52 ng/ml to be optimal.

My new book, Dark Deception, is coming out shortly and it will help to clear up all of this confusion once and for all.

In the meantime, you can find out the vital details you need to know to keep your vitamin D levels where they need to be throughout the year in my Sunshine Special Report. I decided to make this report available to you now so you don't have to be at the mercy of my publisher and wait until later this year.

[nb1313]

Very interesting, I am looking forward to reading more. I have done a little research on this (getting vitamin D levels from sunshine) and agree 100%.
There is a huuuuuuge negative aspect portrayed in all the media starting in the spring and continuing all summer with regards to covering up, spf-ing, and staying out of the sun. I always feel better with a little sunshine, mentally, physically.
Hey, wrinkles and weird moles can be fixed, but heart failure...............well, that's a little more difficult.
Nadine

[rogmel]

Very interesting, I am looking forward to reading more. I have done a little research on this (getting vitamin D levels from sunshine) and agree 100%.
There is a huuuuuuge negative aspect portrayed in all the media starting in the spring and continuing all summer with regards to covering up, spf-ing, and staying out of the sun. I always feel better with a little sunshine, mentally, physically.
Hey, wrinkles and weird moles can be fixed, but heart failure...............well, that's a little more difficult.
Nadine

be careful assuming all "weird" moles can be fixed! Skin cancer can be deadly!

BUT......i do agree that vit. D is essential and time in the sun sans sunscreen is fine, but needs to be moderated! Avoiding sunburns, not the sun is the key to keeping yourself at a lesser risk for skin cancer.

[rogmel]

This recent study found that low vitamin D levels more than doubled the risk of heart attack and death.[/B] That’s a huge jump! Past studies have also found that getting a daily dose of vitamin D boosts your natural anti-inflammatory response, which can help to treat congestive heart failure.

Just how does vitamin D help your heart?

Well, there are a number of mechanisms triggered by vitamin D production that help fight heart disease, including:

* An increase in your body's natural anti-inflammatory cytokines
* The suppression of vascular calcification
* The inhibition of vascular smooth muscle growth

Vitamin D also works by lowering insulin resistance, which is one of the major factors leading to heart disease in the United States.

Using Sunlight for Your Health

Unfortunately, in the United States the sun has been vilified. Many people have been convinced that staying out of the sun is necessary to avoid cancer, when actually the exact opposite is true. Why would anyone in their right mind want to exchange the risk of a few harmless skin cancers with that of serious life-threatening challenges like colon, breast, prostate and colon cancers?

Of course, you always want to avoid getting burned, but generally speaking you can safely spend anywhere from 20 minutes to two hours in the sun every day with beneficial effects. If you have dark-colored skin or live far from the equator, you will need to spend more time in the sun than someone who is light-skinned living close to the equator.

If you are a person who regularly spends time outdoors, without sunblock (sunblock screens out ultraviolet light, which interferes with vitamin D production in your body), then your vitamin D levels may be OK. However, most people spend a lot of time inside and do not get adequate sun exposure on a daily basis.

For this reason, I strongly encourage you to have your vitamin D levels tested. If you are currently facing chronic disease, it’s even more important that you get your levels checked, as vitamin D deficiency could be a factor.

The test is a simple blood test called 25(OH)D, or 25-hydroxyvitamin D. You can request it from just about any doctor, but ideally you will get it from a holistic physician who understands the importance of vitamin D, and can guide you into getting your levels optimized.

What’s the Best Way to Get Vitamin D?

Sun exposure is always the best method of getting vitamin D, but some people do need to take a vitamin D3 supplement to keep their levels up. You should only do this under the care of a knowledgeable physician, however, as you can overdose on vitamin D supplements.

In fact, the only time you don’t need to worry about whether or not you’re getting too much, or too little, vitamin D is when your body makes it naturally from the sun.

There is still massive confusion out there, even among health care professionals, about what’s healthy and what’s not when it comes to sunlight and vitamin D. For instance, certain vitamin D supplements (vitamin D2) are highly inferior to vitamin D3, and should not be taken.

Meanwhile, some doctors will tell you your vitamin D levels are “normal” if they’re over 20 ng/ml. In reality, your vitamin D level should NEVER be below 32 ng/ml and should really be 45-52 ng/ml to be optimal.

My new book, Dark Deception, is coming out shortly and it will help to clear up all of this confusion once and for all.

In the meantime, you can find out the vital details you need to know to keep your vitamin D levels where they need to be throughout the year in my Sunshine Special Report. I decided to make this report available to you now so you don't have to be at the mercy of my publisher and wait until later this year.

The bolded statement is shocking! Skin cancer is NOT harmless.......it does not negate the seriousness of those other cancers, but a stage 4 melanoma is a death sentence......and as a skin cancer survivor and having a parent die from it, i know this for a fact!

like i said in the post above, knowing the difference between exposure and OVER exposure is the key. Avoid getting a sunburn!!!

[nb1313]

I agree about the seriousness of skin cancer, as I have had 3 melanomas removed from me over the past 15 years.

I guess that I should point out that a little is good, but a lot is bad. Sunscreen should be used, care taken at certain times of day, blah blah blah.

But, a LITTLE exposure can be beneficial.

I know a ton about melanoma/skin cancer, and am vigilant about my check-ups and so forth, so I am not being foolish.......actually, melanoma has a very strong genetic/hormonal connection. My two sisters have each had a melanoma removed (from parts of their bodies that the sun never saw) and neither of them had been in the sun while they were kids......my mom made them stay in the shade, out of the pool, etc. as they have white white white
skin and red/blonde hair. I am the darky in the family.......

Anyway, like most people, this finding of a little exposure will most likely be blown out of proportion to "Oh I need to bake in the sun for 3 hours" or "Oh, this is not something that anyone should ever do". Extremes. Welcome to North America!!!!

This is a great topic.
Nadine

[nb1313]

Sorry Rogmel, I did not scroll down far enough and read your entire post.

I am so sorry that you had to watch a parent endure the horrible ravage of melanoma........believe me, I am scared so badly about it (a little cell) having been 'missed' by surgery and attacking my lungs, brain, etc.

So you of course know all too well about it also. In regards to 'harmless', melanoma is NOT, but basal cell, if caught and treated early on, is....if you don't include scarring in 'harmless'.

My daughter who is 23 has had a melanoma removed as well when she was 16, I NEVER allowed her to be in the sun while growing up and it happened anyway. The excessive exposure of the sun can exacerbate melanoma, but is not the cause entirely.
I am not arguing w/ you, but I also have to say this because it has taken me many years to be able to go outside w/out having a massive panic attack about it all. I had to get myself therapy to deal w/ the guilt and fear about even letting sunlight touch my body......I have some great docs at U of M who have educated me to the point that I no longer have to stay out of the sun forever.
Ok, I have run on enough......Like I said before, I am so sorry that you had to see first hand what this horrible disease can do.
Nadine

[rogmel]

Sorry Rogmel, I did not scroll down far enough and read your entire post.

I am so sorry that you had to watch a parent endure the horrible ravage of melanoma........believe me, I am scared so badly about it (a little cell) having been 'missed' by surgery and attacking my lungs, brain, etc.

So you of course know all too well about it also. In regards to 'harmless', melanoma is NOT, but basal cell, if caught and treated early on, is....if you don't include scarring in 'harmless'.

My daughter who is 23 has had a melanoma removed as well when she was 16, I NEVER allowed her to be in the sun while growing up and it happened anyway. The excessive exposure of the sun can exacerbate melanoma, but is not the cause entirely.
I am not arguing w/ you, but I also have to say this because it has taken me many years to be able to go outside w/out having a massive panic attack about it all. I had to get myself therapy to deal w/ the guilt and fear about even letting sunlight touch my body......I have some great docs at U of M who have educated me to the point that I no longer have to stay out of the sun forever.
Ok, I have run on enough......Like I said before, I am so sorry that you had to see first hand what this horrible disease can do.
Nadine

i totally agree with you......you have to find a balance......and it is CRAP that it is only the sun that that can cause changes......it think an even bigger component is hormones/diet and genetics........and i am part of a great, new photo-survelience program at Rush University Hospital in Chicago. and also have a great doc who has talked me out of the tree in regards to the sun. moderation and NO SUNBURNS are the key as well as knowing your own risk......my daughter had a mole removed last oct. , she was 8 at the time, from her hip(that has never, ever been in the sun) and there were abnormal cells there.....the pathology ended up at the mayo clinic just for safety's sake.

and for this thread about vit. D.....i agree with it 100%....in fact i have been reading up on it recently. but not the careless statement about "a harmless skin cancer"

and thanks about my mom.....:love:

[nb1313]

Rogmel,
Oh wow, that is great that you are being taken care of so well, I know Rush is a fantastic hospital for treatment.
Yeah, I too believe in the hormone aspect, someday more will be known, but for now, we can just watch ourselves like hawks, right?
Have a great weekend!!!!!
Nadine

[Birdie]

I think supplementation to be very important to those of us who live in the north. In the winter months of limited daylight and lots of cloudy days, we just can't get much sun. Just my opinion of course.