Sunshine and Vitamin D
How do you feel when you have been outside for a half an hour? Calmer? More energized? Happier?
Sunshine is very important to our physical and mental health. The warmth is amazing. The brightness is uplifting. The other amazing thing is the benefit of vitamin D!
When the sun hits your skin, it is making vitamin D inside your body. Vitamin D is so very important to our health.
Our lifestyles now does not allow us to always get the proper amount of sun exposure each day to have a nice balanced natural level of vitamin D. We are working all day, have errands, running the kids here and there, life is busy! If we do not take a bit of time to get our daily dose of sunshine though, it can really impact our health!
There are many symptoms that people are experiencing that are linked to low vitamin D levels. Anxiety is a big one that so many experience, and guess what? One huge cause is a low vitamin D level! Low energy and a bad mood…linked to low vitamin D. No motivation to do daily tasks…low vitamin D. Getting sick often is a big indicator of low vitamin D. Vitamin D is critical for the immune cells! Depression is huge in this world, we have more and more people on antidepressants each and every day! Every age group from young kids to the elderly are on antidepressants! The side effects from antidepressants can be horrible, especially long term. There may be a simple thing to help with depression…go outside! It sounds crazy, but getting outside in the sun and getting natural vitamin D production can improve depression in a huge way! With no side effects!
Bone pain, joint pain, sleep issues, always feeling tired, hair loss….so many things that if you go to the doctor for, you will leave with a prescription! When it could be a vitamin D deficiency!
So how much sunlight is necessary for proper vitamin D? If you go outside for 10-30 minutes around noon, that is all you need! 10-30 minutes! That is it! So taken your lunch break outside, sit in the sun, and soak it up! If you get outside for this little bit of time each day, it may also help that mid day slump that so many experience! Something as simple as sitting in the sun for 10-30 minutes can improve your health so much, and just overall help you feel better!
So what about sunscreen? If you wear sunscreen daily, this will block the amount of rays you need for proper vitamin D production. Sunscreen can be important when you are going to be outside for long periods of time (and only a very clean sunscreen with no harmful ingredients-but we will touch on that another day!). When you are going outside for short periods, let those sun rays hit your skin for 10-30 minutes…help your body get the right amount of natural Vitamin D!
You can also supplement vitamin D, using a high quality vitamin D with no fillers or additives. 4000-5000 IU is recommended daily. Supplementing vitamin D is especially important in the fall and winter months when we are naturally not outside as much, plus there are not as many hours of sun. I personally use Young Livings vitamin D, it is sublingual and absorb very well in the body. Plus no fillers or additives!
So get outside…soak up the sunshine…produce natural Vitamin D…feel great…and get your health in check! Sunshine can benefit you so much, so get outside!