Let it shine!
Springtime is a time of change, as it is every year. The end of winter brings new life, new memories, new opportunities and an unrelenting feeling of happiness and rebirth. As the flowers start to bloom, and the sun starts to shine more and more everyday, our bodies adapt and become new. During winter, the harsh cold and wind damage our skin, hair, nails and overall health due to several factors. According to Elizabeth McBurney, MD at Tulane University, “The lack of humidity in the air along with cold temperatures, and wind exposure causes our skin (including our scalp) to loose moisture rapidly.” Although oils protect our hair, most of us have experienced the damage first hand that winter can have on our hair’s texture and composure. Other than hair and skin damage, our bodies also experience a change in wintertime that affects our mental health and physical health. For starters, our bodies are wired innately to want to consume more during the winter because cold temperatures = more shivering = more calories expended to do work during those temperatures = our bodies crave more calories. During winter, our bodies see things like weight gain and stress reactions to either cold or the stress of our daily lives that somehow seem to affect us more during the winter than during spring or summertime. According to Johns Hopkins University, the average American gains 5-7lbs over winter vs. any other time of year. Spring brings a new light into the situation and offers many environmental benefits to our bodies simply through the changes in weather.
The sun
Benefits of the sun on health
The sun offers us warmth, light, food for our plants, growth and life, which seems to thrive with the help of the sun. The sun offers us a lot of health benefits, particularly the vitamins that it’s rays help to synthesize. Vitamin D is an essential vitamin, and unlike other vitamins, it must be synthesized and cannot be consumed. The UVB radiation that is emitted from the sun allows for the skin to go through a photosynthetic reaction that forms the active form of Vitamin D circulating in the blood known as 1,25OH(D), the major form of vitamin D in the bloodstream. The active form travels throughout the body to carry out many functions. The main tranformations occur in the liver, kidney, and instestines. In the intestines, Vitamin D helps to reabsorb calcium and phosphorus, which are extremely important in helping to maintain bone composure, strength and support other metabolic functions. Vitamin D has even been found to be a part of an anti-inflammatory processes throughout the body and has been clinically correlated to the protection of the cardivascular system.
According to Dr. Mercola, the sun has a positive effect on our mental health. Her studies, as well as other studies overall, concluded the following about the sun and our mental health:
- Your body uses the near-infrared light spectrum to produce mitochondrial energy and maintain systemic equilibrium.
- Near-infrared also primes the cells in your retina for repair and regeneration.
- The sun is important in your body’s energy production. If you’re running low on adenosine triphosphate (ATP) — cellular energy — due to insufficient amounts of sunlight exposure, you may start feeling sluggish and tired, and possibly depressed.
- Sunlight also regulates your circadian rhythm, and light therapy has been shown to be effective against depression, both SAD and non-seasonal major depression.
- When it’s dark, your melatonin levels increase, which is why you may feel tired when the sun starts to set. In the heart of winter, this may be at as early as 4:00 p.m.
- Ultraviolet (UV) light also stimulates epidermal cells known as keratinocytes to make beta-endorphins, which have a mood-boosting effect.
- Serotonin is also released in response to sunlight, which helps elevate your mood and energy.
- UVA generates Nitric Oxide (NO) in your skin, which influences your body in a number of beneficial ways. It stimulates up to 60 percent of your blood to flow to your skin capillaries where they absorb this energy and infrared radiation
So get out there, breathe in fresh air, sit in the sun, go for a hike, go walking with your dog and enjoy the benefits of the sun now however you want to! Spring is here, and it’s all sunny days coming our way! Find happiness where the sun shines!