The only utility for which you don't pay a bill — Tip #3
Why sun exposure is more important than you think ☀️
While living for 4 years in Dubai, I thought a lot about sun exposure. Being in the desert means that when you step outside, you need to think about sunscreen and how to protect yourself. If you don’t, you’ll get sunburnt and boy is that painful! Every time I stepped outside, the insane heat made me think about summers in Italy, where people instead do the opposite and chase the sun for a nice tan.
What is the right thing to do: get sunlight or avoid it? 🤷 Let’s go back to our dear ancestors.
For most of our species’ lifetime we barely wore any clothes and most of the daylight was spent outside hunting for food before it got too dark (and bear in mind, before electricity was a thing, that happened at sunset). This meant that most of our body got exposed to the sun for quite a lot of hours.
Today, that’s not the case. Majority of our day is spent indoors at home, in offices or schools, or at the gym. Coincidentally, vitamin D deficiency is at an all-time high (source).
Vitamin D is primarily synthesized in the skin through exposure to ultraviolet B (UVB) rays from sunlight and a lack of it causes:
Bone disorders like rickets (in children), osteomalacia, and osteoporosis (in adults)
Weakened immune function
Disrupted circadian rhythm (affecting when you wake up and feel sleepy)
Mood disorders (still under research)
This is especially important for kids and seniors, as they are more frail compared to adults and often spend a lot of time indoors. These two categories aren’t the main audience for this newsletter, but I’m sure you have a niece or a grandparent you care about 🫶.
Dark-skinned people, due to the higher melanin content (that acts as a natural filter for UVB rays), need more sun exposure to get the same benefits of lighter-skinned people. Even if you live in a sunny country, keep in mind that your exposure may be only a fraction of what your body needs (remember our ancestors and how much sunlight they got compared to us?).
There’s a rabbit hole we could dive into about why and how we should still use sunscreen, but we’ll keep the sacred promise of this newsletter to stay focused on one tip per week. Don’t worry, we’ll talk about it in the future.
So far in our newsletter we talked about optimizing your sleep so that you get a better quality rest for lesser time spent in bed (Tip #2) and how to hydrate yourself as soon as you start your day (Tip #1). Let’s move forward into the day and get your body the energy it craves to keep your bones, immune system, circadian rhythm, and mood thriving.
Personally, I still struggle with this. When I start my day, I often end up checking emails and messages right away. When that happens, I get distracted, eat breakfast indoors, and skip my time in the sunlight. However, I’ve noticed that every time I resist the urge to open my computer and instead step outside first (even for just 5 minutes), my mood and energy improve significantly throughout the day. Even on days when I don’t manage to do that, I still get my fair share of sunlight thanks to my 30-minute walk to the gym and another 30 minutes on the way back (which is my quota given my darker skin tone).
Your weekly tip: as you wake up and hydrate, step outside. If you have a balcony, 10–30 minutes gives you a great start for the day in terms of sunlight. If you don’t have one, go for a walk outside (your dog will be grateful too) and soak that energy in.
Don’t forget to send this tip to a friend or someone that you care about 🫰
See you next week, until then…
Don’t Panic 😱