Sunlight and Your Diet

Since all life comes from the sun, we should consciously pursue sunlight daily. This is challenging in a time where science has twisted our minds to believe that the sun’s very energy creates cancer.

Factually, there is no higher incidence of cancer with the Africans and South American indigenous populations than there was a half-century ago, yet these people spend far more time in the sun than we indoor-dwellers do. This poses a question - why do so many people in the Western world contract cancer of the skin from sun exposure?

This is very easy to answer, since the major difference between the developing world and Western civilization are the diets and lives that we now lead.

The sun is a great booster of the immune system. When the needed ultraviolet rays penetrate our bodies, our T-cells are activated, and this sparks a chain reaction throughout the immune system. As you know, the immune system is the army within your body that prevents unwanted life forms from harming us.

Our Western diet consists of several times more meat and dairy food than a century ago, making it a definite foe of the immune system. This diet is laced with an insane cocktail of xenoestrogens, pesticides, PCP, fungicides, etc. The immune system aggressively pushes this lethal blend out of the system as rapidly as possible; unfortunately, this happens through our skin, one of the central organs of elimination.

Each day the average person eliminates one kilo, two pounds, of debris though the pours. When the sun’s rays interact with this concoction, it causes a mutagenic effect on the cells, often resulting in melanoma and other cancers of the skin. This is not limited to current sun exposure, but actually reaches back to sun damage you may have suffered as a young child.

Although not health-threatening, the greatest cause of skin dryness and wrinkles is sun exposure. Even if you are magnificently healthy, you should avoid sun exposure after 9AM until late in the day, depending upon the season. On the other hand, it is critical that all of us directly or indirectly expose our bodies to sunlight for approximately thirty minutes per day. Although nude exposure is preferable, clothing made from natural fiber allows UV rays to penetrate the skin.

When living in seasonal climates, make sure, no matter how cold it may become, that you go outside daily, for brisk walks, sports, or other activities. When doing so, select an organically pure sun block that does not contain the carcinogenic chemicals that many of the so-called “natural” crèmes still contain. There is a body of scientific evidence showing that many sun blocks literally increase our chance of cancer. Effective sunglasses should also be worn when exposed to the sun during the main daylight hours.

Our overall health, including brain function, requires UV exposure. Make sure that you are getting indirect sunlight in your eyes during the early and late part of the day. Dr. Jacob Lieberman, in his book Light, explains the significance of this need. You may never feel more energy than when you have been exposed to the sun.

By Brian Clement PhD, LN