Soak Up Winter Sunlight This Season and Reap Many Benefits
We’ve all heard about the many great health
benefits of sunlight. Unfortunately due to the cold weather outside,
not everyone can soak up the sun’s rays in the winter seasons. This
doesn’t just make us feel lazier, but it is also harmful to our health.
So, even though it may be quite cold outside right now, making an effort
to get your sun fix is so important for your health for many reasons.
Today, we will learn why spending a little
time basking in the sun during winters is important to be hale and
hearty throughout the season. It’s a blissful therapy that not many of
us are aware of.
1. Helps build your falling Vitamin D levels
During winters, because of the cold weather and shorter days, people
tend to stay indoors for longer durations. Now that we are currently in
the middle of a dangerous pandemic, we have even more reasons to stay at
home. However, staying away from the sun for long durations often leads
to a Vitamin D deficiency during the winter months.
Vitamin D is called the "sunshine vitamin" since it is produced by the
body in response to the skin being exposed to sunlight. The vitamin
helps the body to build bones, tame inflammation, and boost immunity. It
is also needed to help our body absorb calcium and phosphate from our
diet. The vitamin is extremely essential for good health and to fight
infections. A lack of vitamin D can lead to several uncomfortable
problems during winters. Unfortunately, in winter, when people need
vitamin D the most, most of us are not getting enough as we become
lazier and stay indoors more.
Moreover, many recent studies have reported the importance of vitamin D
against the novel coronavirus. So, it is doubly important that we try
and build our vitamin D levels during the winters.
Health experts say that you need only about 15-20 minutes of unprotected
sun exposure every day to get your daily dose of vitamin D. So, what
are you waiting for?
2. Better for the mood
Do you tend to feel a little down during
the winter season? You are not alone. Millions of people suffer from
seasonal affective disorder, more commonly known as SAD. It’s a form of
depression characterized by a recurring seasonal pattern and happens
specifically during a certain time of year. Many people with SAD are
affected by the onset of winter.
While the precise cause of SAD is still unknown, experts believe that
lack of sunlight during the winters could play a major role. “It
disrupts our circadian rhythms, melatonin (the sleep hormone)
production, and certain neurotransmitters in the brain responsible for
producing serotonin (the hormone associated with elevated mood),” says
psychotherapist Alison Stone. This imbalance can trigger depression in
some people.
Thankfully, though, sunlight has been proven to help improve your mood.
Sit on the balcony or some open area in the morning and soak up the sun
rays. This will ensure that the naturally produced serotonin will stay
longer in your bloodstream and your mood and energy levels will remain
higher. Moreover, studies have also shown that improving your vitamin D
levels also improves your mood.
3. Improved sleep
When the weather outside and inside becomes
too cold it can often become difficult to go to sleep. Getting
sufficient sunlight during the winter months, however, can also help
improve your sleep. According to some health reports, sitting under the
sun for 15 minutes every day, ideally in the morning, can help shut off
the body's melatonin production, the hormone that makes us sleepy when
it becomes dark outside. This will then result in your body clock
recognizing that it’s time to produce it again when the sun goes down.
When you let your body be exposed to the sunlight every morning, it will
increase the production of serotonin that controls and steadies your
sleeping patterns. So, don't let lack of sleep trouble you this winter.
Just go bask in the sun.
4. It keeps you energized
When you are cramped up indoors during the
winters, your melatonin levels naturally increase, causing you to feel
lazy. This is where sunlight can be beneficial too as apart from
boosting your mood, it can also help keep your energy levels up. “When
your eyes detect light, that tells your brain to wake up and release the
cortisol you need to increase your metabolism and get through your
day,” says hormone expert Anna Cabeca. So, now you know how to keep
yourself invigorated during the winter season.
5. It slows weight gain
A lot of us tend to put on extra weight
during the winter season. This happens due to many factors: less water
intake, not exercising, and having fatty meals at dinner or before
bedtime, among many other reasons. Also, our metabolisms increase in
winter to enable our body to burn more energy in order to balance our
body temperature and stay warm. This results in us eating more food but
since we don’t burn enough calories, we put on extra weight in the
winters.
However, sunbathing during the cold months may help keep your weight in
check. Researchers at Edinburgh and Southampton Universities recently
discovered that sunshine slows weight gain. According to the
researchers, exposure to sunlight helps release nitric oxide, a protein
that slows the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes. That doesn’t
mean you should overdo it as excessive exposure to sunlight may be
risky. But a little bit every morning might just be helpful enough.