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Why the Sun Is the Best Form of Medicine on the Planet- Part 2

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Welcome to Part 2!  Today we’re picking up where we left off, but specifically talking more about lighting, sunglasses, and your sleep cycle.

Now, before getting into Part 2, I want to explain how the next two entries will be laid out: 

We know that sunlight has two primary functions that play a role on two major body systems

  1. The Circadian Rhythm
  2. Mitochondrial Activity & Antioxidant Potential

Of course, these together affect every cell in the body one way or another.  We are light beings by Nature.

In Part 2, we will be focusing on the first aspect and its downstream effects.  Next week, in Part 3, we will discuss the mitochondria and antioxidant potential of sunlight.

Today, we’re wading into the waters of circadian rhythm and optimizing hormone production … ALL WITH LIGHT!

So let’s just get right into it.

What is the Circadian Rhythm?

Throughout this newsletter, keep this graph in mind:

This graph depicts the relationship between cortisol, our main stress hormone, and melatonin under ideal circumstances.  

They are inversely related, meaning when one is elevated, the other is low, and vice versa.

Each of us has a 24-hour body clock, known as the circadian rhythm.  The graph above is a simplified depiction of our circadian rhythm!  The one below has a bit more detail:

The circadian rhythm controls your sleep and wake cycles each day.  This rhythm affects every single cell in the body, and how they work.   If you are not getting enough sleep, or are sleeping at incorrect times, it is very likely your energy levels will be great the following day.

 There are two primary hormones that play a role in how well you sleep, primarily:

The goal is to find this proper balance between them. When they are thrown off their regular cycles, we will not get the best sleep possible.  

This is certainly disappointing to the night owls out there, but it is how we are hard-wired as human beings.  

Like most things in life, there are opposing forces at work.  The pituitary gland is more active during the day, and is the “master” hormone gland in the body.  The pineal gland is more active at night, when there is less light, priming your body for rest, repair, and detoxification with the production of melatonin.

The activity of both of these glands changes depending on the amount of light entering the eyes.

The pituitary gland is stimulated by bright light entering the eyes, particularly the blue wavelengths.  Morning sunlight contains a perfectly balanced amount of red and blue light frequencies.  This stimulates the hypothalamus, and instructs the pituitary gland to tell the adrenals it is time for cortisol and to get moving.

To paint a picture of what your circadian rhythm is responsible for regulation, here is a short list:

As you might imagine, when this rhythm is thrown off, the problems can range widely.  In my opinion, I think this is why sleep and circadian health isn’t taken too seriously by many mainstream doctors.  They want concrete evidence for ONE outcome.  That’s not really how Nature works.  The effects are wide in scope.  

Never mind the fact that prioritizing the study of circadian health takes time and a lot of money invested into a therapy that will not benefit the shareholders’ pockets.  

Even with these issues, science is beginning to rediscover what ancient healers have known for quite some time.

Dysregulation of the circadian rhythm can lead to problems such as… 

And this is ALL dictated by our relationship with sunlight.  The answers Nature provides are extraordinarily simple!  

We’ll start breaking down the complex “why” today.

What is Sleep?

I think it’s important to note that we still don’t have a full understanding of what sleep actually is and why we need a certain amount of it.  However, I will do my best to give you the fundamentals.

Most people think sleep is to build up energy for the next day.  This actually isn’t true!  Sleep actually REQUIRES energy!

That means proper nutrition, digestion, and metabolism all lead to better sleep!  The primary role of sleep is to DETOX and REPAIR damage to the brain and body that occurred in the day from movement, learning, thinking, etc. 

Sleep only appears to build energy for the next day, because our brains and bodies work better when they are functioning at full capacity.  Sleep is also needed for proper weight regulation, happiness, putting what you’ve learned the day before into long-term memory, and for maintaining our sanity.

A lack of sleep can have negative effects on your health in a variety of ways.  It can affect how well you think, react, work, get along with others and learn.  From an athletic standpoint, a lack of focus and decreased reaction times could be the difference between reaching peak performance!

Is Sleep Deprivation Really THAT Bad?

If you are losing even 1 to 2 hours of sleep a night, after a few nights your body will begin to function as if you have not slept in the past couple of days.

Sleep deprivation will affect your ability to recover as quickly as possible from:

Ongoing sleep deficiency is linked to increased risk of heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, stroke, and kidney disease. 

Sleep affects your hunger hormones as well.

Immune system function is affected by sleep sleeping patterns.  Without proper amounts of sleep, the lymphatic system will have a much tougher time doing its job.

Some studies show that a lack of sleep can alter brain activity in particular areas.  Sleep is important for staying attentive and learning. 

Those who are sleep deprived showed more trouble with decision-making, problem solving, controlling emotions and behavior, as well as coping with change. 

Additionally, sleep deprivation has been linked to risk-taking behavior, depression, and suicide.

You see, this is MUCH DEEPER than you think.  And this is only scratching the surface.  

Sleep and energy metabolism are tightly regulated in the hypothalamus.   The hypothalamus is a part of the   brain that has one foot in the endocrine (hormone) system and another in the nervous (electrical) system.  In many ways, it is the connection between them.

When you get poor sleep, cognitive decline follows, along with impaired learning, detoxification, and repair.  Even conventional science acknowledges that sleep apnea is a known killer in humans.  Sleep apnea is linked to obesity (most of the time), implying a link energy metabolism to sleep. 

It seems that less than 5.5 hours or more than 9 hours of nightly sleep are associated with a shorter life.  

With this in mind, it should go without saying that sleep is critical to your longevity.

Sleep deprivation is one of the most significant roadblocks to healing.  One can argue a good night’s sleep is the single most important ingredient to good health.  

Today, too many people are relying on sleep aids and still not feeling rested in the morning.  The key is to let the body sleep, not force it to sleep.  Medication-induced sleep just isn’t the same because the body often does not get into deep sleep, which has the most health benefits. 

Nothing beats natural sleep.  The best way to get natural sleep is to get more sun exposure (and less artificial light exposure).  It may seem counterintuitive, but this is yet another example of common sense lost to modernity.

Circadian Men & Women

See the Rainbow

You may recall from Part 1, your body can adapt to the light in the environment it is put in.  You can use this to your advantage – or disadvantage.  Modern society does make it harder to use light as a friend, especially when you consider that Americans spend on average 22 hours indoors daily.  This is not a recipe for success in the realm of hormone balance and optimal health.

The solar spectrum (pictured above) includes the entire visible light spectrum, but that’s not all.  It goes into the ultraviolet (shorter wavelengths) and infrared (longer wavelengths) spaces.  In fact, over 60% of the frequencies emitted by the sun are invisible to human beings!

As you can see, 7% of the “invisible” light comes in the form of UV light, while 54% is actually infrared energy!

However, just because we can’t see these wavelengths does not mean they don’t have a profound effect on our health.  They do.

For example, during the day, infrared radiation from the sun stimulates melatonin production in the mitochondria (we’ll cover this more next week).

Oxidative stress gets a lot of flak in the alternative space, but the truth is it actually plays important biochemical roles- in the right amounts.  It can have both positive and negative effects, depending on its location and amount.  Most modern humans have too much, that’s the problem.  Excess oxidative stress and inflammation (acidity and toxicity) are at the root of what we call dis-ease.

The important part to remember here is this: the body is hard-wired to take in information from ALL energy sources, including infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths, to make decisions about which bodily functions should be more active at a given time.

The body literally adjusts its function based on light information to sync itself up with the environment.  How cool!

Step Into the Light

To get a grasp on this, we need to first understand how vision works before we get into the other details.

First off, the eyes are actually an extension of the brain.  The eyes, along with nerve endings at the top of the nostrils, are the only two tissues that are exposed to the outside world and have a direct connection to the brain.  (You can make an argument for the vagus nerve and gut, but let’s table that).

While the average human might say the eyes are first and foremost for vision, their utility is much more invaluable than that.

When light hits the eye – more specifically comes into contact with the rods and cones in the retina (or back of the eye) – information is passed to the occipital lobe, which is the posterior part of the brain to create the image we understand as “vision.”

The retina contains rods and cones.  Rods are responsible for low light vision (also called scotopic vision).  Cones are more active at higher light levels (called photopic vision), and are responsible for what we call color vision and spatial awareness.  

For the sake of being thorough, here is a graph detailing the major difference between rods and cones in the eye.

So that’s a very rough breakdown as to how vision works.  

With that out of the way, let’s talk about the other 60%.

The other 60% of light that comes into the eye goes to completely different parts of the brain.  You are not conscious of this type of light, and it doesn’t go to rods and cones.  This light goes to a special type of cells called intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGC).  That’s a mouth full, but stay with me.  

These cells are mostly located in the inferior portion of the retina.  This is important because in Nature, the lights (sun & moon) are above us.  Therefore, it makes sense that the light traveling down hits that part of the retina.  Can you see how smart Nature is?

This information is passed on to a part of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN).  The SCN is actually the body’s master clock.  This is the area of the brain that makes sure everything in the body is in sync.  It is the conductor of the orchestra, if you will.

Are You in Sync?

When sunlight (or any light for that matter) enters the eyes, it is telling the SCN that it is daytime.  The SCN can tell exactly what time of day it is, regardless of your vision, based on the IR and UV wavelengths alone that come through the eye.   In other words, even if you are clinically blind, these mechanisms are still relevant to your health.  

When the SCN receives this light information, it tells the pineal gland to stop producing melatonin.  

This is important because when not taken seriously, it can have profound consequences.  

You can change how your body perceives reality when you have a screen, iPhone, television, or artificial lights bombarding your eyes past sundown.  You can shift your circadian rhythm this way, and it can have profound health consequences.   

In my opinion, this is why so many “night owls” exist.  Many modern habits are simply not in line with our hard-wiring.

You NEED to get sunlight in on a daily basis.  Not through the window.  Not through a windshield.  Not with sunglasses on.

Yes, this is very basic, but go a month without the sunlight, and I can virtually guarantee you will gain weight and lose muscle mass, increasing inflammation in the body.

Every single cell in your body is affected by light.  This cannot be understated.  Even if you think that your health issues are unrelated to light, please do not dismiss this.  You cannot disregard light by default.

Even if you have the perfect diet, you may still suffer from gut challenges because your light environment is poor.  There is over 400x more melatonin in your gut than in the pineal gland and 10-100x more melatonin in the gut compared to the blood.

Compounds like indole and short chain fatty acids produced by gut microbiota promote the synthesis of gut-derived melatonin.

Melatonin is derived from serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT). Intestinal bacteria may directly produce SCFAs, which stimulate the production of 5-HT.  Incidentally, 90+% of the body’s serotonin is produced in the gut.  

All this is to say that avoiding light, especially after sunset, is going to have PROFOUND effects on your health in more ways than you might initially think.

The Sun & Sleep

As detrimental as artificial light can be in the evening, morning sunlight exposure can help reset your circadian rhythm and get back on track.

Morning sun exposure provides an anchor for our circadian rhythm.  When utilized daily, it allows the body to optimize the release of melatonin and cortisol throughout the day.  This is also why wearing sunglasses a lot can really mess with your hormones!  

Getting sun exposure in the morning can help you build a “sun callous” making you less likely to burn when the sun is at its peak.  Start slow, and build up over time.  Enjoy nature the way it was intended to be!  Our skin is designed to naturally release large quantities of vitamin D when exposed to UVB radiation.

It is worth noting that sunlight exposure in the morning cannot “replace” artificial light exposure at night.  In other words, there is no “canceling out” effect.  You’re going to have to address both if you want an optimized circadian rhythm.

The fact is, we need to take responsibility.  By avoiding the sun, Modern Humans are making themselves more susceptible to skin cancer.  The sun isn’t becoming more dangerous.  Modern Humans are becoming sicker.  Understanding the difference between the two is the difference between healing and dis-ease.

Light and Mood

So we discussed that the brain has a nucleus that regulates the circadian rhythm.

However, there is another part called the peri habenular nucleus (PHb) that is involved with mood.  A lack of light to the PHb can cause seasonal affective disorder.  This is part of the brain completely separate from the suprachiasmatic nucleus.

The PHb is located in the thalamus.  According to the Journal Cell…

PHb neurons project to well-characterized mood-regulating centers. Furthermore, the PHb is both necessary and sufficient for driving the effects of light on affective behavior. These findings reveal two distinct retinal-brain pathways that mediate the direct effects of light on mood and cognition.

In other words, light influences many different parts of the brain, all dealing with different bodily functions.  

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

SAD is very common nowadays.  It affects roughly 1 in 20 people, and it can affect them for up to 40% of the year.  Unsurprisingly, it is more common in latitudes that are further from the equator and have true winters.  In my opinion this is yet another piece of evidence that human beings are a tropical species (I touch on this here). 

According to the Mayo Clinic:

“Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that’s related to changes in seasons — seasonal affective disorder (SAD) begins and ends at about the same times every year. If you’re like most people, your symptoms start in the fall and continue into the winter months, sapping your energy and making you feel moody.”

Hmmm… might this have something to do with sun exposure?  Chances are, more people are outside during the warm spring and summer months.  This is common sense put into a “diagnosis.”  

We know that people in Northern Europe, which experience months of darkness every year, have a higher incidence of irritability, fatigue, illness, insomnia, depression, alcoholism and suicide than those living in the sunny parts of the world.  Guess what other rates are higher in these countries?  Skin cancer.

We intuitively know that sunlight affects your mood.  You don’t need a diagnosis to state the obvious.  

But if you needed evidence, here’s some:

In this meta-analysis (about 20 studies and 413 subjects total), they found that when the subjects were exposed to about 3,000 Lux-hours (which would equate 10,000 lux- equivalent to an overcast day OR morning light- for about 20 minutes) for four days, they found a marked improvement in SAD.

But that’s not all.  They also found this can be simulated with a Dawn Light, although not to the same degree as natural sunlight.

Bipolar Depression

Of course, it doesn’t stop with just SAD.  The benefits can extend to bipolar depression as well.

In this study, they took two groups of people.  The control group was exposed to a 50-lux dim red light.  The test group was exposed to a 7,000-lux bright white light between 12PM and 2:30PM.  They started both groups at 15 minutes/day of exposure during the first week, building up to 1 hour per day by Week 4.

As you can see, by Week 4 (bright light exposure for 1 hour/day) there was a significant increase in the remission of bipolar symptoms.  How cool is that?!

Cortisol, Light, & Mood

While these are specific examples, they are only scratching the surface.  If you understand why light is helpful, you can translate these improvements to other mood-related “diagnoses.”

Cortisol levels that are not aligned correctly can be correlated with conditions of anxiety and depressive disorders of all kinds.  

Bright light itself is a strong stimulus for cortisol production in the body.  However, photoreceptors in the retina are not as sensitive in the morning.

So to get proper rhythms going, you either need to have more time in bright light OR exposure to brighter lights (like sunlight).  This is especially powerful in the morning because the rise in cortisol in the morning actually sets the rhythm in motion for the entire day.

Proper levels and timing are key for balanced energy levels and for optimal immune and lymphatic function in the body.

When we are in chronically stressed states, this suppresses the production of other hormones, like sex hormones for example, in favor of MORE cortisol.  In a pinch, this can save your life, but if it drags on indefinitely, it can lead to some real problems.

Short-Term

Cortisol is a life sustaining adrenal hormone:

Long-Term

Higher and more prolonged levels of circulating cortisol…

It’s not really a double-edged sword.  It’s more about finding the right balance in a world that is constantly trying to knock you off your game from an environmental standpoint.

Particularly, morning sunlight is associated with lower cortisol levels throughout the day.

Bottom line, you want enough cortisol at the right time to be at your best.  Starting your day off with sunlight is the best way to get your adrenals and cortisol levels back into a proper rhythm.  

Melatonin, Light, & Mood

On the other side of the spectrum, even a tiny amount of light can completely shut off melatonin production.  Melatonin is produced primarily in two places.

  1. The pineal gland (about 5% of total melatonin)
  2. The mitochondria (about 95%)

As mentioned before, the pineal gland is light sensitive.  When light information gets to the pineal gland, it actually shuts down melatonin production in the brain. 

If this disruption occurs for long enough, it can create an environment more suitable for cancer cells.

In fact, there is enough research on this that even the World Health Organization now classifies “circadian disruptive shift work” as a probable (Class 2A) carcinogen.  For perspective, this is the same class as glyphosate!

That’s a BIG deal!  This is why it is vital to avoid bright light once the sun goes down.  If you live in an area with exterior lighting (street lamps, neighbors, etc.) use black-out window shades and dim lighting to get good quality sleep. 

UV light exposure between the Golden Hours (10PM to 4AM) decreases dopamine levels and increases feelings of anxiety and depression.

Also, it is crucial to try to stay on the same schedule for a minimum of two weeks at a time- but ideally indefinitely.  If you’re already going to bed late, try pushing your bedtime up 15 minutes earlier each week until you reach a more optimal time.

Obviously, real life gets in the way occasionally, but you really want to do your best to stick to this schedule as best as possible.  However, if you’re looking at your phone or have bright lights on, especially overhead lights, during the Golden Hours on a regular basis, your health will suffer.

Even blind individuals with severed optic nerves have reduced cancer risk due to lack of input to the suprachiasmatic nucleus.

Why Sunglasses Are Not the Answer

I have long been banging this drum.  

We love to wear sunglasses as accessories, to look cool.  However, we now know that sunglasses impact melanin (which helps determine skin pigment) AND melatonin production (a hormone primarily involved sleep- but it’s much deeper than that.

Sunglasses block UV light.  This means that by default, you’re not even signaling to your body to produce melanin, leaving you more prone to sunburns.

Each wavelength activates different body functions in the skin, brain, and master clock.

If you constantly wear sunglasses, you are missing some of the 1,400+ wavelengths that you NEED in order for your eyes (and body) to be healthy.

We need to come to grips with the fact that sunglasses are a fairly new invention, and just because something  appears to be trendy and cool does not mean that it’s good for you.

Hats would be a much better option.  They allow for more natural sun exposure, ultimately making you a healthier person.

I’d argue that the primary function of the eyes is not vision.  It is absorbing light information.

Light plays a role in the function of MANY important hormones, predominantly cortisol and melatonin.

A Historical Note on Sunglasses

Even back during the studies of Finsen and Rollier (Part 1), they found that the sun’s healing power was ineffective when people wore sunglasses.  Sunglasses block out important rays of the light spectrum which the body needs for essential biological functions.

It is important to note that your eye DO receive sunlight in shade, which is why wearing a hat is a much better option than sunglasses.  

The Benefits of Going Without Sunglasses

Wearing sunglasses will affect your body’s ability to produce melanin.  Melanin production is triggered not only by skin exposure to the sun, but also by eye exposure as well.

Melanin itself has several functions.  

When the skin is exposed to UV radiation, melanocytes (cells that produce melanin), produce more melanin.  This is actually what makes you look tanner.

UV light is known to activate an important skin hormone called soltriol. Soltriol influences our immune system and many of our body’s regulatory centers.  It seems to work in conjunction with the pineal hormone melatonin, affecting daily biological rhythms, mood, and other systems.

When you wear sunglasses, you are directly affecting how your body perceives its environment.  Your body will not react to the sun the same way since you are actually filtering the primary tool we use to perceive our environment- the eyes.

When you perceive less light, the body interprets this as being in a less sunny environment.  As a result, melanocytes will not produce the same amount of melanin.  

The lack of melanin production is one of the factors that plays a role in sunburns.  This gets compounded when you spend hours outdoors wearing sunglasses in the sun.  You are perceiving an environment that is not real, and your body is adapting accordingly.  Now, throw on the vast amounts of toxic and inflammatory foods most Modern Humans consume, and you create an acidic environment where cancer can thrive.

Obviously, if you are driving and your vision would be impaired to the point it becomes dangerous, please wear sunglasses if you need to.  But outside of that, I strongly suggest rethinking this habit.  These are very niche situations.

What About Blue Blockers?

Blue light blocking glasses have become increasingly popular in the biohacking crowd in recent years.  I actually own a pair myself.

Perhaps you’ve tried them too.

If this is the first time you’re hearing about them, basically they are glasses that you wear designed to filter out all (or almost all) of the blue light spectrum.  You will notice them because of their signature red tint.

Now, these aren’t a silver bullet, and they can have considerable negative effects when worn during the day.  You actually want full spectrum light to enter the eyes during daylight hours.  Impeding this is only going to cause issues with the circadian rhythm.

However, after sunset, they certainly can serve a purpose.  Being in the dark at night is optimal for your circadian rhythm.  While blue light blockers cannot replace darkness, they can be helpful for those who absolutely need to work on screens at night.  

Once the sun goes down, the best situation is to not view light at all.  There is no other option.

If you absolutely MUST have artificial lighting at night…

  1. Dim the lights as much as possible
  2. Opt for cooler lights, more in the red range (like incandescent bulbs)
  3. Have the lights down low- not overhead- if possible
  4. Opt for physical books vs. e-readers, tablets, phones, etc. 
  5. Use blue blockers
  6. Install blue light blocking filters on your devices.  Many modern devices actually have the options built in if you play with your settings on your computer, phone, tablet, etc.

The worst situation would obviously be full exposure to artificial light without any of the protection mentioned above.  Over time, this will cause a wide array of health issues mentioned earlier in this newsletter.

Maximizing melatonin secretion will help with sleep and reduce oxidative stress.  Reducing oxidative stress overload is key to maintaining a healthy body both in and out of the sun.

The Modern Lighting Problem

Fluorescent lights are all the rage nowadays, but they take a major toll on your health.  This is more important than ever today because most people spend 90%+ of their time indoors.

Most people are woefully unaware of the harm done to the people in most schools, workplaces, and homes.

Again, another history lesson is needed so that you have some context here.

Before the late 1800s, the only sources of light were the sun, moon, and fire.

That all changed with Thomas Edison in the 1870s and the invention of the modern light bulb. These first bulbs were known as incandescent bulbs.  

Incandescent bulbs work by resisting electricity as it flows through an internal filament, generating heat and radiating light.

Over time, these lights were deemed energy-inefficient, and these have largely been replaced by LED and fluorescent lights.  You will instantly notice the harsh white lights of the fluorescent bulbs, while LEDS are considered the most eco-friendly, last long, and are durable.

While this sounds great, these modern lighting options have a dark side.

What is Artificial Blue Light?

Artificial blue light is classified as a range of wavelengths on the visible light spectrum between 400-495nm.

Exposure to these wavelengths at inappropriate times (after sundown) from artificial sources will have a negative impact on your health in many areas,  

This is incredibly important today because incandescent bulbs are much harder to get here in the US (and as of writing this are considered illegal in certain areas) AND because the modern fluorescents and LEDS pose real problems with the specific wavelengths of light they emit (see below).

It is important to note, as you can see that UV light does exist in Nature and has many benefits to boot!

The downsides associated with UV light are partially kept in check with natural light because it contains all visible light wavelengths in the appropriate amounts at the appropriate time of day.

Obviously, man-made lights don’t do that.  Artificial lights do not have the same broad range of wavelengths at the correct time of day.  So what really happens is you get all the downside without the upside. This stimulation is what leads to insomnia, heart problems, diabetes, premature aging, and hormone imbalances.

The Dark Side of Modern Lighting

Have you ever gotten a headache from spending time in harsh office lighting?  What about feeling anxious or jittery around modern lights?

You’re not alone.  Both the intensity and color of LEDs and fluorescent lights can really mess with your hormones and nervous system.  

These are largely from two main characteristics that these lights exhibit.

  1. Color temperature
  2. Flicker
Color Temperature

There are many ways to measure temperature.  One you may have heard of is Kelvin, which was created by none other than William Kelvin in the mid-1800s.

During experiments, Kelvin noticed that as the temperature rose, colors changed from red, to orange, to white, to a white-blue color.  This observation brought about the color temperature scale seen below:

More recent studies are finding that the higher the temperature, the harder it is to reach slow-wave, deep sleep.  

Furthermore, higher color temperatures affect the brain’s arousal center through the non-visual photoreceptors in the eye.  This impacts melatonin production, as you can see here:

As you can see, these modern lights can suppress melatonin production by 80%!!!  And you’re wondering why people have trouble falling asleep!  

It goes deeper than just sleep as well.

High color temperatures negatively impact muscle tension and recovery, heart rate variability, body temperature, blood pressure, stress hormones, the nervous system, and sleep.

Fluorescent lighting above 4,000K is considered dangerous to the eye, and above 6,000K can actually damage the retina.

More modern research finds that these artificial lights are increasing rates of attention issues, behavioral abnormalities, and learning problems in kids.  Part of this is going to be inappropriate rises in cortisol levels.

As you recall cortisol is the stress hormone that’s responsible for mobilizing glucose and giving you the energy you need to get out of bed and start going.

This can also happen at night when exposed to “hotter” white and blue lights.  It elevates this cortisol pathway again, putting you in a more sympathetic state and making it harder for you to get to sleep.

The pineal gland, which is responsible for melatonin production, is more active at night, in the absence of light.  If we consistently expose our eyes to bright lights at night time, the body is going to interpret it as day, and hormone production will follow accordingly.  This is NOT GOOD if you want to rest, repair, and detox appropriately.  

Flicker

You may not notice it, but modern fluorescent and LED lights actually flicker many times per second, due to it being an alternating current.  Another potential cause for flickering is having these lights on dimmer switches without enough electrical resistance.

I’ve actually had an LED light in the past where I could actually hear the flicker.  You may have heard it yourself as well.  More modern lights have fixed much of this, and most people won’t notice the flickering because it is happening so rapidly.

In this case, perception doesn’t translate to reality.  The reality is our brain still picks the flicker up even if we don’t consciously notice it!  This flicker can disrupt the balance in the nervous system.  

This can lead to common symptoms like:

Flicker tends to be more of a problem for folks who are already sensitive to light.  Interestingly, conventional LED lights may be worse than fluorescents in this case.  Modern LED bulbs can flicker 100% of their light, while fluorescent lights dim only about 35%. 

Artificial Light & Cancer

There are also links to artificial light increasing not only skin cancer rates, but breast and prostate cancer rates as well.  

Another study was intended to examine the influence of various factors – including the amount of artificial light at night – on the incidence of three types of cancer: prostate, lung, and of the large intestine, in men around the world.  The researchers compiled data from 164 countries, and categorized people by ‘the amount of artificial light per night per person.’

Early on, they found a significant link between prostate cancer and levels of nighttime artificial lighting and electricity consumption.

According to the researchers, there could be many reasons for this, including the suppression of melatonin production, immune system, and/or the effect on the body’s biological clock- creating confusion between night and day.  Likely, it is a combination of all of them.  Regardless, the link is there.

Keep in mind that the average American spends 22 hours per day indoors.  Most of that time is in or around artificial lighting.  During the winter, it is likely many people don’t even see daylight except through a window, which reflects UV light.  

Many people go days, if not weeks, without seeing the sun throw a protective screen during the winter months.  It should be no surprise that Modern Humans are more prone to skin cancers, anxiety, depression, and poor sleep when we ignore our biological rhythms.

Are you starting to see how we have gotten to where we are today?

Other Hormonal Benefits

We touched on the big hormones of melatonin and cortisol, but there are others we already know benefit from optimal sunlight exposure.

So let’s jump into some of the more well-known ones.

Vitamin D

We’re going to cover this more in Part 3, but as a primer here:

Vitamin D is a hormone (NOT a vitamin if you look at the definition) that is best created when UV light from the sun hits your skin.  

It is produced within the body when UV rays from sunlight strike the skin.  This UV light exposure triggers the synthesis of vitamin D.

Clothing and sunscreen will inhibit the body’s ability to create vitamin D.  

A lack of sunlight exposure has led to the incredibly common “vitamin D deficiency.”

I’ve always had a nagging feeling about vitamin D3 supplementation.

The first issue I take with it is the orthomolecular supplementation approach, which I am not a fan of.  Generally, I don’t recommend supplementing with nutrient isolates like vitamin D3 or vitamin C unless it is an emergency type of situation.  

The second issue: vitamin D is a hormone.  This fact actually heightens the orthomolecular supplementation issue.  The body actually adopts a “if you take it, you won’t make it” approach.  

From a biological perspective it makes sense.  Your pineal gland is not going to make melatonin, for example, if the body already has circulating melatonin because of a supplement.  If you do this daily, it will actually inhibit your body’s ability to make hormones.

This can be applied to all hormones too.  It is the major reason I have a problem with hormone replacement therapies.  They are band-aid, symptom management approaches, and over time makes a person worse off because you are weakening the body’s ability to do what it should.

Now, specifically for vitamin D supplementation, there’s a few other problems.  First, if you actually want it to be effective, you likely need to supplement with magnesium -and perhaps boron- as well (which, again, not a fan of isolated supplementation; just eat the foods).  

Taking isolated vitamin D without other biological cofactors can cause problems without understanding the full picture.  It’s why it can help for a time, but can sometimes cause problems later in some people.

Many can have an issue with this because vitamin D and magnesium are two of the most common nutrient deficiencies we see.  This is because most Modern Humans don’t

  1. Go outside
  2. Eat foods rich in magnesium (mainly fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds)

It’s not a vitamin D or magnesium supplement deficiency.  It’s a Nature deficiency.

The truth is, vitamin D is kind of a surrogate marker for sun exposure.  Many doctors will still test the inactive form of vitamin D (25OH-D), but not the active one (1,25OH-D).

It’s also worth noting that there are literally dozens of vitamin-D metabolites that are never tested for.  So from a testing standpoint, many either

  1. Test for the inactive form OR
  2. Test for the active form, but don’t take the full picture into account (partially because we don’t know the whole picture)

For example, UVB light exposure also initiates the creation of lumisterol and tachysterol.  Lumisterol works with the liver to produce bile acids, while tachysterol helps prevent vitamin D toxicity.

We know that low vitamin D levels are associated with virtually all inflammatory diseases.  However, is it really vitamin D?  Or is it a sunlight deficiency?

Could supplementing high dose D be confusing to the body since we never would receive it this way in nature?  It may affect the body’s ability to create its own.

This means that if you took two genetic twins, who lived the same lifestyle completely, except one was given a vitamin D3 supplement and the other wasn’t.

Next, you expose both of them to the same amount of sunlight.  Both of their vitamin D levels will go up.  However, if you take the one twin off of the supplements, his body will have more trouble creating its own vitamin D compared to the other.  This will occur until that person adapts to not needing exogenous hormone supplementation.

All this is to say, the vitamin D supplement MAY have a place in severely deficient folks for a short period of time.  However, you can’t outsmart Nature.  At some point, you NEED to make sunlight exposure a daily habit if you truly want vibrant health.

Serotonin

Serotonin is the “feel-good” neurotransmitter found in the brain.  It is responsible for regulating mood, appetite, and sleep, among other things.  In fact, low serotonin levels have been linked to violent behavior, depression, and suicidal tendencies.  

Most of the body’s serotonin is made in the gut, so making sure your digestive tract is healthy and gut flora are balanced is key.  

Low serotonin levels contribute to numerous psychological, cognitive, and physiological issues, such as depression, aggression, obsessive-compulsive disorders, poor memory, weight gain, fatigue, and an overactive libido. On the other hand, excessive serotonin levels are detrimental to your health, contributing to digestive problems, involuntary muscle reactions, osteoporosis, and an underactive libido. 

Exposure to sunlight has been shown to increase serotonin levels in the brain, thus improving mood and overall well-being.

This is one of many reasons people feel better outside on sunny days.  

Leptin & Ghrelin

These are your primary hormones responsible for hunger.

With poor circadian rhythm function, ghrelin levels rise, while leptin levels fall, meaning that you will feel hungrier when you lack sleep versus being well-rested. 

There are ways to regulate this.  One of the ways, as you might imagine, is your circadian clock.

Leptin is a hormone that plays a major role in energy metabolism in the body. Like all hormones, leptin is part of the body’s orchestra.  Each one affects how the other functions to some degree.  

With hormones, there are cascading effects that can impact other body systems.  If leptin responses are not optimal, it is possible (even likely) that you will manifest other clinical symptoms as well, from thyroid, to pancreas, and adrenal weakness, among others.

Sunlight exposure will actually help regulate leptin and ghrelin production, making it an incredibly useful tool in this case.  

Sex Hormones & Light

Testosterone is also produced in the cortex of the adrenal glands of both males and females.

Testosterone accelerates growth and cellular function, as well as stimulates the flow of blood.  It has similar characteristics to estrogen in affecting secondary sexual characteristics. It also affects:

Estrogen stimulates tissues in many different ways. The most notable way is the stimulating of the inner lining of the uterus to bleed each month, causing menstruation.  It is also used for development and maintenance of secondary sexual characteristics, like breast size and shape.  Estrogen affects the shape of the female body.  A female also produces a form of estrogen in her liver, fat cells, and adrenal glands.

Turns out, one study found that getting sunlight on your skin for 30 minutes per day (in short sleeve shirts and shorts, not only optimized estrogen and testosterone levels in both men and women, it also increased libido.  These subjects were told to just get 20-30 minutes of afternoon sunlight 2-3x/week.  That’s not a lot AT ALL! 

Endorphins

Since the main job of endorphins is to relieve physical pain and feelings of anxiety, deficient endorphin levels heighten your sensitivity to pain.  Factors that contribute to endorphin deficiency include anxiety, depression, lack of sleep, and substance abuse. You can increase your endorphin levels by laughing, exercising, engaging in creative activities, and undertaking acupuncture treatment.

Turns out, spending time outside can also increase endorphin levels, leading to improved mood, reduced stress, and better overall mental health.

Putting It All Together

I hope it is clear that any person who misses out on sunlight becomes weaker and more susceptible to mental and physical problems.  Sunlight is life force.

The Major Contributors to an Unhealthy Light Environment Include:

  1. Artificial light from all sources (TV, computers, tablets, phones, light bulbs, etc.) – especially after sundown
  2. Sunglasses
  3. Sunscreen

It is in your best interest to limit your exposure to all of these if you want to achieve truly vibrant health.

This might all seem complicated, but it really doesn’t have to be.  If this information is brand new to you, start with a simple change and try a pair of blue light blocking glasses at night.  

So how do you get back in sync with nature?

You can slowly increase your sun exposure as you become more resilient.  There isn’t an amount of time I can give you because everyone is a little different, however the biggest factors are lifestyles related.

Yes- skin pigments do play a role, but the environment outright wins at the end of the day.

I cannot tell you how many people think they are “allergic” or “sensitive to the sun because they have light skin and blue eyes.

If you think that this is a genetic issue, I’m here to tell you it is largely nonsense.  There are plenty of light-skinned, blue-eyed people in the tropics that thrive.  You have to create a healing environment to adapt and thrive.  Start with morning sunlight and get consistent throughout the day.

You are not a victim.  You are literally a light being.  So shine your light on those closest to you.  Even if they don’t mention anything initially- they will notice.

Much love!

Dr. Vincent Esposito

Want More?

Whenever you’re ready, there are two ways I can help you:

  1. If you want to live a life that is beyond the average human being, then start by giving it the nutrition it needs!  There is information on over 150 other herbs and superfoods in my book Nature’s Kitchen & Cabinet! 
  2. Consistency and habit building are the cornerstones of any successful health transformation.  Learn the systems that I used to lose 15lbs, eliminate joint pain, have boundless energy, and unlock the body’s healing potential, then check out my free webinar here to learn more!
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