Vitamin D, also known as the sun's vitamin, is essential for the proper functioning of our body, including the strengthening of the immune system, the health of the bones, the brain and also the heart.
While the health benefits of vitamin D are already well documented, the therapeutic properties of the sun are now being explored further by the scientific community. And if you know how much exposure to the sun may be beneficial, you would not want to leave its light for a moment. Find below five remarkable properties of exposure to sunlight.
1. Sunlight has antalgic properties:
A study published in 2005 in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, entitled "The effect of sunlight on the use of postoperative analgesic drugs," performed analyzes on patients who were hospitalized in rooms lit on average at 46% per day. the sunlight.
According to the results, patients exposed to increased intensity of sunlight experienced less stress and took up to 22% less painkillers compared to patients not benefiting from sun exposure.
2. Sunlight burns fat:
A 2011 study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology revealed a remarkable fact about metabolism: the exposure of human skin to UV light causes an increase in the metabolism of subcutaneous fat.
Although subcutaneous fat, unlike visceral fat, is not considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, it is known that a deficiency of one of the most known beneficial byproducts, vitamin D, is associated with greater visceral fat.
3. Sunlight via solar cycles can directly regulate human life span:
In a 2010 study published in the journal Medical Hypotheses, entitled "The effect of solar cycles on human longevity in the 50 US states", researchers examined the possibility that solar cycles directly affect the human genome.
According to the researchers, "in this study, we report that people conceived and probably born during peaks (MAX of about 3 years) of solar cycles of about 11 years lived an average of 1.7 years less than those designed and probably born outside the peaks (MIN about 8 years old).
The increase in MAX solar energy, although relatively low by 0.1% relative to the MIN, apparently modifies the human / epigenome genome and causes changes that predispose to various diseases, thus shortening the life span. It is likely that the same energy increases the beneficial variety in the genome, which can improve adaptability in a changing environment. "
4. Daytime exposure to light improves evening vigilance:
A study published in 2012 in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience, entitled
"Effects of early exposure to light on early evening performance, subjective
sleepiness and hormonal secretion," revealed that subjects felt much more
alert at the beginning of the night.
evening, mainly through exposure to daylight, while they became more sleepy at the end of the evening after exposure to artificial light.
5. Sunlight can be converted into metabolic energy:
Indeed, human skin can contain the equivalent of "solar panels" of melanin, and it is possible to ingest energy, as plants do, directly from the Sun. Melanin has a diverse set of roles in various organisms.
From octopus ink to the melanin-based protective dyes of bacteria and fungi, melanin offers protection against a variety of threats: predators and similar biochemical threats, UV light and other stresses.
However, the ability of melanin to convert gamma and ultraviolet radiation into metabolic energy in living systems is generally neglected.