Do you spend a lot of your time indoors? Are you not a fan of hiking, biking, and other outdoorsy activities? When was the last time you were outside, basking under the warmth of the morning sunshine?
Believe it or not, there are some people who do not like the sun. They are not too keen about the heat, humidity, and even the brightness that it brings. They prefer the early mornings, before sunrise, and late in the afternoon and at night, after the sun sets, just like vampires.
However, little or zero exposure to the sun deprives you of the many health benefits it offers. Sunlight, especially the morning variety, can do a lot of wonders for various aspects of your health. Below are some good reasons why you should get out and enjoy the sun more often:
It promotes sleep
For good overall health and wellbeing, you have to get 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. This gives your body enough time to repair, rest, and recharge. If you are having a hard time sleeping, you may suffer from certain health problems — such as memory issues, mood swings, and increased stress levels — that can negatively impact your quality of life.
To prevent that, you should get some morning sun. Even by going outside for just 15 minutes every morning, you can improve your body’s natural circadian rhythm, promoting not only better appetite, hormone production, body temperature, and energy levels, but also better sleeping patterns.
It can make you happy
Various research studies have found that people who have greater exposure to sunlight have higher serotonin levels than people who stay indoors all the time. In case you did not know, serotonin is a naturally produced chemical in the body that makes you feel happy. It acts as a messenger between your nerve cells, transmitting messages from one to another; and helps relax the muscles, regulate stress levels and mood, and support memory, digestion, sexual desire, and other bodily functions.
One of the best natural ways to boost your body’s serotonin levels is by getting some sun exposure. If you can start your day outdoors, walking your dog around the block, tending to your garden, or just lounging on a chair for even just half an hour, your body should be able to produce more serotonin, making you feel happier and less tensed, lowering your risk of depression and other mental health disorders.
It helps build strong bones
To have strong and healthy bones, your body needs enough vitamin D. Fortunately, the sun has unlimited vitamin D to give, so going outside for a quarter of an hour every morning should help you meet the recommended vitamin D daily requirement for proper bone growth and development.
If you are vitamin D deficient, you have a high risk of bone disease, such as:
Rickets
This is a medical condition that affects the skeletal system. It is caused by a lack of vitamin D, phosphate, or calcium, which are essential nutrients that are key to bone strength and bone density. If you have it, your bones become soft and weak, making you prone to fractures, injuries, stunted growth, muscle cramps, bone pain, and teeth and skeletal deformities.
Osteomalacia
This disease is characterized as the softening of your bones because of a lack of vitamin D, phosphate, or calcium. A large number of cases of osteomalacia are due to insufficient exposure to sunlight, while some are because of an unhealthy and unbalanced diet.
Osteoporosis
This is a bone disease that causes the bones to become fragile and porous, increasing the risk of fractures and other bone disorders. Its risk factors include old age, a history of the disease in the family, low testosterone levels in men or low estrogen levels in women, and thyroid problems.
It can prevent cancer
Overexposure to sunlight has been found to be a contributing factor to skin cancer, but getting a moderate amount of sunshine has actually been found to be effective in fighting off cancer.
According to some research studies, people who live in places that enjoy longer daylight hours are less likely to develop certain cancers than people who live in places that enjoy only a few hours of sun each day. Among the cancer types mentioned in the study include ovarian cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, and pancreatic cancer.
It can help treat skin problems
A regular and moderate dose of morning sun has been found to be effective in healing a number of skin conditions, including:
Acne
This occurs when your pores are clogged due to bacteria, dead skin cells, excess oil, hormonal changes, or ingrown hairs, and comes in a variety of forms, such as blackheads, whiteheads, cysts, and nodules.
Eczema
This is characterized by itchy and red skin. It can affect anyone, but is a lot more common in children. It can cause red or brown patches to appear on your different parts of your body, such as the hands, wrists, neck, chest, feet, ankles, scalp and face.
Psoriasis
This is a disease in which red and scaly patches form on the skin, usually on the knees, elbows, and scalp. It usually happens if your immune system is overactive and attacks your healthy skin cells by mistake.
It can enhance sexual function
The vitamin D that you get from the sun can have positive effects on your sexual health too. In men, the primary male sex hormone is testosterone, which is vital to many important male sexual and reproductive functions.
If you expose yourself to sunlight daily, you can feed your body enough vitamin D to increase the amount of testosterone that your body produces, improving your sexual desire or libido and giving you stronger and longer-lasting erections for sex. You can also avail of a boost in sperm count, quality, and motility, lowering your risk of infertility.
