Spring and Summer Sunshine Tips
We were designed to live under the sun! However, sunburn and overexposure to the sun without protecting our skin, could damage our DNA. It also causes photo ageing. That means it breaks down the elastin and collagen fibres that support the skin, causing wrinkles and premature ageing.That’s why so many sun worshipers look older than their age!
Click here for a Natural Recipe for Sunburn and more
No need to fear the sun
The sun’s rays have tremendous health benefits. Sunlight exposure in the right way at the right time, will ensure these benefits for your optimal health and wellbeing.
We only make vitamin D with sufficient sun exposure. Sunlight signals the brain to produce the rest, recovery and replenishing hormone, melatonin, at night. This helps you sleep deeply, while your cortisol levels decline during this deep rest period, a sure sign you’re sleeping well, fully recovered by morning, energised and ready to go!
The sun can also help relieve mild depression and elevate your mood. Getting some sunlight releases the feel-good hormone serotonin1 and releases endorphins.2
Recent British studies reported that the sun helps to lower blood pressure3,4. Sunlight releases nitric oxide which dilates the blood vessels, increases blood flow and reduces the risk of strokes and heart attacks.
Studies show that people who get 15 minutes of sun a few times a week, reduce their risk of breast, prostate, colon, lung and ovarian cancer.5
More benefits of sunlight:
- Relief from asthma symptoms
- Supporting skin problems like psoriasis, acne and eczema
- Reducing the risk of rheumatoid arthritis
- Lessening symptoms of Alzheimer\’s
Have some sunshine and promote longevity
Get your sun exposure 15 minutes in the morning, not later than 1 hour after sunrise, and/or in the afternoon, not earlier than 1 hour before sunset.
If you do go out into the sun at other times, protect yourself naturally, and don’t stay out there too long. Most health benefits of the sun require only 15-20 minutes a few times per week.
Be careful with sunscreens, though. Commercial sunscreens contain many cancer-causing agents. The heat from the sun interacts with the chemicals, making them even more toxic. Many sunscreens contain PABA which causes DNA damage⁷. So look out for PABA – it truly accelerates ageing.
| \”A DAY WITHOUT SUNSHINE IS LIKE, YOU KNOW, NIGHT.\”– Steve Martin |
Recipe for a natural remedy (or click here to buy natural sunscreen from our In-House or Online Health Shop): you can make at home: use zinc oxide as a natural sunscreen and mix with a little coconut oil or shea butter. Add some carrot seed oil to raise the sun protection factor (SPF) of this brew. Read more about carrot oil in Dr Arien’s Timeless DNA™ ingredient list.
Protect your skin naturally, use natural sunlight wisely, and top up your longevity skin protection regime with Timeless DNA™ Serum and Heart-Brain-Body Support Super Antioxidant!
1. Lancet. 2002 Dec 7;360(9348):1840-2. Effect of sunlight and season on serotonin turnover in the brain. Lambert GW1, Reid C, Kaye DM, Jennings GL, Esler MD.
2. June 2003, Melanocytes in human skin express a fully functioning endorphin receptor system Journal of Investigative Dermatology
3. January 2014, University of Southhampton, “Here comes the sun to lower your blood pressure. “Science Daily”
4. UVA lowers blood pressure and vasodilates the systemic arterial vasculature by mobilisation of cutaneous nitric oxide stores\”; D Liu, BO Fernandez, NN Lang, JM Gallagher, DE Newby, M Feelisch and RB Weller; Journal of Investigative Dermatology(2013) 133, S209–S221, abstract no 1247, published online 15 April 2013; DOI:10.1038/jid.2013.104.
5. Curr Med Res Opin. 2008 Jan;24(1):139-49. Molecular basis of the potential of vitamin D to prevent cancer. Ingraham BA1, Bragdon B, Nohe A.
6. Exposure to ultraviolet-B and risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis among women in the Nurses’ Health Study Online First doi 10.1136/annrheumdis-2012-202302
7. Damiani E, Greci L, Parsons R, Knowland J (April 1999). \”Nitroxide radicals protect DNA from damage when illuminated in vitro in the presence of dibenzoylmethane and a common sunscreen ingredient\”. Free Radic. Biol. Med. 26 (7–8): 809–16.doi:10.1016/S0891-5849(98)00292-5. PMID 10232823.