Too much exposure to UVB rays can lead to sunburn. UVA rays can travel more deeply into the skin than UVB rays, but both can affect your skin’s health. When UV rays enter skin cells, they upset delicate processes that affect the skin’s growth and appearance.

Too much sun exposure can also raise your risk for skin cancer, the most common type of cancer in the United States. When UV light enters skin cells, it can harm the genetic material (called DNA) within.

“Certain genetic mutations contribute to melanoma onset in certain people. You find much less non-melanoma skin cancer in African Americans, people from the Middle East, or even Asians from the Near East,” Katz says.

The best way to protect skin health and prevent skin cancer is to limit sun exposure. Avoid prolonged time in the sun, and choose to be in the shade rather than in direct sunlight. Wear protective clothing and sunglasses, and use sunscreen between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sunscreen is especially important at that time, when the sun’s rays are most intense.

A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, stated that humans need sunlight for vitamin D. The study shows that those with the lowest vitamin D levels have more than double the risk of dying from heart disease and other causes over an eight-year period compared with those with the highest levels of vitamin D.

Sunshine vitamin D may protect against a host of diseases, including heart disease, cancers, osteoporosis, prostate cancer and colon cancer. Sunlight vitamin D also has other health benefits, like protecting against depression, insomnia, and an overactive immune system. Submariners have gone without sunlight for periods exceeding 6-months, using vitamin D supplements.

So, yes, I would say that humans need sunlight to survive. Maybe it’s no coincidence that there are over 5 billion entries on Google under the search, “the sun.”

A truly sincere doctor, dietitian, nutritionist and therapist wouldn’t recommend to depend on supplement if a person is capable of getting sunlight regularly and most importantly - doesn’t have issues in converting sunlight induced Vitamin D into active form of vitamin D. Vitamin D produced through sunlight exposure stays longer inside body compared to its administration through supplements.

A truly sincere doctor, dietitian, nutritionist and therapist wouldn’t recommend to depend on supplement if a person is capable of getting sunlight regularly and most importantly - doesn’t have issues in converting sunlight induced Vitamin D into active form of vitamin D. Vitamin D produced through sunlight exposure stays longer inside body compared to its administration through supplements.

Shit,balen. Ik was er van overtuigd dat we de zon niet meer nodig hebben. Het wordt toch sterk afgeraden om afhankelijk te zijn van vitamine D supplementen.

Toch kreeg ik van mijn onderzoek een nieuwe vraag. Hebben we ONZE zon nog wel nodig? Kunnen we onze zon controleren? We zijn afhankelijk van zonnebrand, kleding en pigment om ons te beschermen voor de zon, maar is hier niet een andere manier voor?

Ik kan mij herinneren dat in het artikel Sun and Skin werd benoemd dat 15 minuten zon op de handpalmen al voldoende zou zijn. Is er een manier dat ik mijzelf kan beschermen van de zon, maar toch zonlicht krijg op een veilige en controleerbare manier?