Did you know that spending time in the sun can significantly improve your health and wellbeing? The sun offers a range of benefits, whether you relax on a sun lounger, take a hike, or play with the children in the garden. Getting outside in the sun gives you a physical and psychological boost. Too much sun can result in damaged skin and the risk of skin cancer, but safe sun exposure is linked to disease prevention and mental health benefits.
Read on for eight reasons to spend time in the sun:
- You get vitamin D from the sun, which helps your body to absorb calcium and phosphorous from the food you eat. You need enough calcium in order to build and maintain healthy bones that are strong enough to withstand the rigors of everyday life. The best way to get vitamin D is from the sun, although you can also find vitamin D in eggs, meat, and oily fish. Vitamin D deficiency shows in weak and brittle bones and a higher risk of osteoporosis, bone deformities, and rickets in children. Spend up to 15 minutes in the sun without sunscreen in order to get all the vitamin D you need. Be careful not to burn.
- Good levels of vitamin D can also help to prevent breast, colon, and rectal cancer.
- Vitamin D from the sun may help reduce the likelihood of developing diabetes.
- Sunlight can help prevent eye diseases. Vitamin D from the sun lowers your risk of suffering from cataracts and also helps prevent macular degeneration in your senior years.
- Sunshine can boost your immunity against common diseases like colds and flu.
- Vitamin D can also help to lower blood pressure, resulting in a lower risk of suffering from heart disease or stroke.
- Help regulate your internal body clock by spending time in the sunshine. Sunlight plays an important role in helping you sleep better as it triggers your brain to halt the production of melatonin, which then resumes once the light has disappeared. Melatonin is the sleep hormone that helps you sleep better, for longer.
- Sunshine improves your mood, helps lower the risk of depression and anxiety, and increases the amount of serotonin your body produces, which wards off seasonal affective disorder.
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