Picture yourself on a warm spring day. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping. Finally winter is gone and It’s like a dirty, thick smog has retreated from your mind and your heart. You wondered why you had ever felt so dull.
This is how I always feel come spring!
Why is that sunshine has such a powerful effect on us? And why is it that a lot of people undeniably tend to have better skin and less acne in the summer time?
What are the health benefits of catching some rays?
- It improves digestion, making your healthy diet work better for you.
- It enhances liver and kidney function, meaning they can detoxify more waste before it comes out through your skin.
- It can penetrate your pores and prevent infection from bacteria, mold, and viruses, including those on your face.
- It normalizes blood pressure, as well as blood sugar – very important for acne prevention!
- It enhances the immune system by increasing the count of white blood cells.
- It has that supernatural power to cheer us up and prevent depression, thereby reducing stress, and in turn reducing acne.
- It causes Vitamin D to be produced underneath the skin. Vitamin D has extensive benefits throughout the body such as absorption of calcium, prevention of cancers, and increased endorphins in the brain.
- It can turn off melatonin production during the day, which means you get more of this powerful antioxidant when you need it most – when you’re asleep.
So as you can see, if you aren’t getting sunshine, you definitely want to be spending some time outdoors.
This may seem counterproductive to what they always tell you about the sun causing cancer and that you should slather yourself with sunscreen from head to toe and not be allowed out of your house. Hallelujah, you say, now you can lie all day in the sun and head back to the tanning bed.
Well, not exactly, but you should aim to get about 10 to 20 minutes of direct sunlight on you and your face every day. It only takes that much exposure to produce plenty of Vitamin D. This doesn’t mean with creams and sunscreens and moisturizers… in fact, creams like this actually block the sun from making the vitamin in your skin. You want this sun exposure to be pure and unadulterated to get all the benefits.

I actually try to avoid wearing sunscreen if I can help it anyway… all it is is a bunch of chemicals seeping into your body. I will wear it if I am spending a whole day at the beach, otherwise I just try to get small bits of sunshine and lots of shade to avoid burns (although the healthier you eat, the less sensitive you are to sunburn in general).
So this is all fine and dandy, you say, but it’s winter!
I know… I live in Canada. I am aware.
Okay, so there is only so much within our control. We can take Vitamin D supplementation to help us through the winter. There is also the possibility of investing in a sun lamp, but I have personally never looked into this option.
But most importantly, we can then make sure we are getting outside as soon as possible come spring, so that we can take full advantage of the mysterious benefits sent so kindly from this vital orb in the sky.
How much sunshine are you getting? Do you live in a wintery place? Work indoors? Wear too much sunscreen? Share your thoughts below!
16 Responses
I do live in a wintry place, Albany, NY. I would love to invest in a sunlamp, my friend has one and they are cheap ($8). I have never really tanned outdoors but I would like to spend some good quality time outside this summer. Tanning beds make me feel like I am in a microwave : /
Really, are they that cheap? I assumed they were a much more expensive investment, that’s why I’ve never seriously looked into them! I move around a lot too, so I’m trying to keep possessions to a minimum. I’m just wishing one day for eternal summer… 🙂
hello! i love the sunshine too it makes me happy. but i heard that the sun makes hyper pigmentation darker .. which makes it harder to get rid of ..):. & i have a loooot of scars on my face.
Hahaha, I love your little Asian hat, that’s sweet. I want one. ^_^
Thanks! haha if you don’t mind looking like a total dork, they’re pretty handy for sun protection! Especially when kayaking or something. Only 10 bucks in Chinatown
When I really need to (and I’m a redhead and therefore very fair) I only use sunscreen with mineral filters, not chemical ones. They are not seeping into the skin and doing strange chemical reactions there, but stay ON the skin and contain a lot of mineral particles, that kind of reflect the sunlight – like little mirrors that keep the sun away. My mother used to put always mineral sunscreen on us children (she is very much into holitic and healthy living) and they did work fine! Currently I use a fragrance free sunscreen from Lavera, a natural cosmetic line from Germany, but they also have a US-distribution (http://www.lavera.com).
Cool, thanks for the tip Isadora! I agree that mineral sunscreen is the way to go… I’m going to check out lavera!
I use a zinc oxide sunblock after 30 to 45 minutes of sun few times a week. I wonder if it would be sufficient for vitamin D production in Asians.
The hat I use is very similar to the one on the link below but it not detachable. They even fit under bicycle helmets. The curtain can be tucked under though. I always question the effective of sunscreens because I seem to tan while using them.
http://www.outdoorresearch.com/site/sun_runner_cap.html
Reptile lamps are cheaper than tanning beds and they allow reptiles to produce vitamin D. The CFL version is about $17 at pet stores. What is unknown is the distance and duration required for adequate vitamin D production in humans.
i love this post!!…
what you said about eating healthier helps you to not get burns it TRUE! i live in NJ and my skin is just like yours (I think)… i spent 10 days in Phoenix, AZ in 2009, i eat only raw food and spent hours in the pool and sunbathing everyday without applying any sunscreen. i would just apply some jojoba oil to protect. it was an awesome experience. after this i stopped using sunscreen. i only use rarely if i’m spending the whole day ate beach like you said and i do spend lots and lots of time outdoors in the summer and never had a problem (after stopping sunscreen). i actually don’t get sick almost never and i think it has to do with the fact that i’m always ‘chasing’ the sun!
i love your blog and watch all the videos! 🙂
Hi Bianca!
The no burn thing is so true…. and I’m totally noticing just how true this is now that I’m in Australia!
The first time I came to Australia when I was 18, I had a typical horrible diet, and I burned quick like everyone else. The sun is very strong here, stronger than in North America, because Australia and New Zealand are below the hole in the ozone layer, so everyone burns fast.
But this time now that I’m way healthier, I go to the beach with my boyfriend and he burns after like 20 minutes, and I never get a burn!! It’s so great! It’s not like I spend all day at the beach though… we go for an hour at most…. but he eats a fairly standard diet, and the difference between our burn times is very significant, especially since I know that I used to burn here just as fast!
Yay
Hi Tracy,
I’m really enjoying your posts and I just stumbled upon this one (I realise it’s almost a year old at this point…). Reading this post in particular brought to mind a set of problems I deal with every year.
I grew up in the southern US which biologically speaking was not the best place for me. I have pretty pale skin (like my mother), was severely sun burned several times as a kid (sunscreen didn’t help all that much although i was smothered in it!) had headaches regularly, especially in the summer, and especially on bright days. I have a few awful memories of being outside on field day in May and feeling nauseous. Once I really did get sick, and I don’t think I was dehydrated.
Anyway, several years ago I moved to Canada and have lived either here or in northern Europe since then. Summers are not as infernal as they were, but I still have the feeling I’m overly sensitive, maybe even have summer depression, I become fatigued easily and have difficulties concentrating, and I still regularly get headaches (thought not as often as before) at that time of year. When Autumn comes around, I feel like I find myself again. My mood improves immensely.
I read posts like this with a touch of envy, because I realise how great the sun can be for people. I also really like sunhats! (That’s beside the point…)
I just wondered if you had a response to this — how people in my situation might learn to manage better what I should actually be enjoying? Maybe this question is too tangential, though… just throwing it out there!
Alexandra
I live in Canada too and I’ve heard lots of recommendations to take a vitamin D supplement since the winter here is so long. What’s your opinion on vit. D supplements?
Hi Anna,
I think that like most supplements, the quality is important, and most cheap Vitamin D supplements probably aren’t going to do much. Here is a long discussion on it: http://www.westonaprice.org/fat-soluble-activators/seafood-to-sunshine
I personally think the best way to get Vitamin D in the winter is take Green pastures fermented cod liver oil/butter oil blend, because it contains a lot of natural Vitamin D, but also Vitamins A , E, and K which are apparently quite important synergistically with Vitamin D for many reasons. This is what I’ll be taking this winter to stay healthy (plus it’s great for clear skin too)
https://thelovevitamin.com/3452/fermented-cod-liver-oil/
Hey Tracy, how does sunshine work with post-inflammatory red marks? I’ve had success with sun on my acne, but… What about red marks caused by acne?
Hmm I don’t know. I would think it helps to heal them, as long as you only stay in direct sunlight for a limited amount of time
Hi Tracy,
Thanks for the post! Apart from my acne, which has become less severe in the past year, I have developed dark pigmentation marks on my forehead and above my upper lip — I have been told that these are ‘hormonal’ marks and that exposing them to the sun is not good. Since then, I’ve been using pretty strong sunblock (I live in Israel and the summer sun here is really strong). Now that I read your article, I recall a few times after a day in the beach where my skin was much smoother (I also suffer from back acne, and after the beach my back is way better). So, my main question is, what to do with the sun? I’d like to soak up the rays at least once a day, but I’m afraid of the pigmentation spots.