"...A miracle factory is at work just beneath your skin. And when the ultraviolet rays of the sun touch the skin, the factory sets to work.
It is a most marvelous system, and without it you could not remain alive an hour.
There are millions of red corpuscles constantly flowing through very small blood vessels throughout every part of the 3,000 square inches of your skin. And there are also tiny oil glands just beneath the skin which biochemists call sterols. As sunshine strikes them, substances within them, called ergosterols, are irradiated and transformed into vitamin D. Carried to all parts of your body, it enables you to have strong bones, teeth, and nails.
But we are getting ahead of our story—the fascinating story of what one of God's special gifts—sunlight—can do for you.
Every living thing in our world is dependent upon the sun. Without sunshine, nothing could live. Sunlight is composed of energy wavelengths of various types. We will here focus our attention on the visible rays, along with the infrared and ultraviolet rays. In this brief report—you will learn part of this miracle of what sunlight can do for you,—and how it can bring you better health and even a happier outlook on life.
In 1877, two researchers, Downes and Blunt, discovered that sunlight can destroy harmful bacteria. Today, it is used to treat bacterial infections. Sunlight on the body dramatically lowers high blood pressure, decreases blood cholesterol, lowers excessively high blood sugars, and increases white blood cells.
Adequate sunlight on your body will lower your respiratory rate, and will cause your breathing to be slower, deeper, and even easier. Your resting heart rate will decrease, and after exercise it will return to normal much more quickly. Sunlight increases the capacity of the blood to carry more oxygen and take it to your body tissues. Even a single exposure to the ultraviolet light in sunlight will greatly increase the oxygen content of your blood. And this effect will continue for several days. Bronchial asthma patients who could hardly breathe, were able to inhale freely after a sunbath.
It is of interest that many of these beneficial effects of sunlight are heightened if a person combines sunbathing with a regular program of physical exercise. For example, fatigue and exhaustion tend to be lessened and the capacity for work is increased. It is now known that part of this is due to an increase in glycogen content of the blood and muscles following sunlight and exercise.
The strength of the heart is steadied and deepened. The pulse rate is lowered because the heart muscle is pumping more blood at each beat. This enables your heart to rest more between beats. And yet the blood output is increased by an average of 39% for several days after a sunbath. Many people worry about their blood pressure, yet regularly taking sunlight on the body lowers it. Sunbaths alone will lower blood pressure by an average of 8%; combined with exercise, it is lowered 15%.
And there are those that worry about their blood sugar because they are diabetic. It has been discovered that exposure to sunshine has an insulin-like effect on the body—it lowers the blood sugar. And it does it in exactly the right proportion. Those who have no diabetic problem experience almost no change in blood sugar, while diabetics have a striking lowering of it. It is now known that this lowering is caused by the fact that sunlight on the body causes glycogen (stored sugar) to be increased throughout the body, enabling the blood sugar to be lowered. Higher storage levels of glycogen result in more body energy for longer stretches of physical activity, with more endurance and less fatigue. (Warning: A diabetic taking sunbaths should try reducing his insulin intake, lest he inject too much.)
And then there is stress. We all encounter tensions and problems throughout the day. Sunlight can help you more easily glide through the day. A deepened sense of well-being results, and better sleep comes at night. You feel better and live better. Because you are more relaxed, the crises of life are met with less difficulty. Sunlight on the body both calms the nerves and increases adrenalin. This relaxation is not merely mental; it is physical also. Both gastric and duodenal ulcer patients have been found to improve under the beneficial effects of sunshine.
The wealth of new scientific insights on the restorative power of sunlight continues to unfold. Sunlight lowers blood cholesterol, and an excess of blood cholesterol is one of the problems leading to heart and artery disease. The basic fact underlying this truth goes back to the year 1904, when it was discovered that sunlight changes the cholesterol just under the skin into vitamin D. Because there is so much cholesterol just under the skin, when it is changed by sunlight into vitamin D, cholesterol from the blood is sent to take its place, thus lowering the cholesterol in the blood. Researchers now know that when cholesterol is removed from the blood—cholesterol stored within the plaques deposited on the artery walls takes its place. The result is a beneficial reduction of the dangerous deposits that accompany hardening of the arteries and lead to strokes. Two hours after a sunbath, an average of 13% reduction in human blood cholesterol occurs.
Research carried out in 1970 in Russia disclosed that sunbaths help people with hardening of the arteries of the brain. Their improved mental performance and memory indicates that those harmful blood vessel deposits were lessened by the exposure to sunlight.
Incidentally, one insight that came out of this and other Russian research was the fact that patients were helped more by frequent short exposures to sunlight than by infrequent longer sunbaths. Proof of this was shown in the electrocardiograms: almost twice as good in those receiving shorter, more frequent sunshine on their bodies....
Streptococcal infections have been found to be reduced when sunlight regularly reaches the skin. In 1929, Dr. Ude introduced sunbathing into America for the treatment of erysipelas (a streptococcal infection of the skin). In 1938, penicillin was discovered and many researchers turned their eyes from sunlight to the wonder drugs. But the many dangerous side effects of these medicinal drugs are less likely to be found in taking a sunbath.
Fungus infections of the feet and toes are especially helped by sunlight. So many different bacteria and viruses exist that it is neither wise nor safe to attempt vaccination against them all. But sunlight on the body is part of the best solution to many of these problems.
Infectious diseases include many physical problems ranging from the common cold to flu,—and even the dangerous spinal meningitis.
How very important it is that we make sure that we frequently obtain the vital sunlight that our bodies so much need in order to maintain good health....
Water purification is now being taken to the sunlight. Chlorination kills many water-borne diseases, but the chlorine has certain carcinogenic (cancer-causing) effects. Researchers are now turning to irradiation with ultraviolet light. The four most dangerous water-borne bacterial infections are cholera, typhoid, bacillary dysentery, and hepatitis. It has been demonstrated that sunlight can kill such bacteria to some depth, if the flow of water is slow enough so that the ultraviolet radiation can effectively reach them.
What about germs on the skin? Exposure to sunlight increases the skin's resistance to disease. It does this by directly killing the bacteria on the skin. The shorter ultraviolet wave lengths are the most bactericidal, and do not particularly penetrate beneath the skin. But the longer wavelengths also kill germs, though to a lesser extent, and they penetrate more deeply.
Sunlight not only directly kills bacteria on the skin, but it changes natural body oils on the skin into bactericidal agents! Even the vapors rising from these irradiated natural skin oils are able to kill bacteria.
Psoriasis and acne are two common skin diseases. Both are being treated with sunlight. Sunlight keeps psoriasis under control, and the purifying power of these rays helps to sterilize acne, and bring to it more rapid healing.
Sunlight also strengthens the body's immune system. This is partly due to the fact that sunlight striking the body increases the number of white blood cells in the body. These are the fighter cells that resist infection by gobbling it up wherever found in the body. There is one particular white blood cell that is the most powerful germ killer of them all: the lymphocyte. Science has now come to the startling conclusion that sunlight increases the number of lymphocytes—more than any other kind of white blood cell.
Antibody production, so important to a successful resistance to infection, is also greatly increased after sunbathing. This is due to the fact that it is primarily the lymphocytes that produce the antibodies, such as the very important gamma globulins. In laboratory animals, this antibody increase can last for two or three weeks.
Neutrophils, fairly common white blood cells, are very important. They spend their life within your body eating up bacteria, fungus, and other harmful invaders. After being exposed to the sun, the neutrophils are, in some unknown way, stimulated to chew up harmful bacteria even more rapidly. Research experiments have disclosed that this increase in gobbling action is doubled after a sunbath.
Did you ever notice that people are more likely during the winter months to contract colds, during spells of lessened sunlight?
An interesting study related to this fact is that of the early polar explorers. After spending months in those icy areas with so little sunlight, they would always develop upper respiratory infections upon returning home. The lack of sunlight for eight months had weakened their immune systems, and their antibodies and white blood cells were markedly decreased.
And, of course, sunlight also affects your bones.
In children without adequate sunlight, the vitamin D needed to calcify the bones is not present in proper amounts for the body to lay down calcium in the bones—and they bend more easily. In adults, when there is not enough vitamin D in the body, the calcium leaves the bones and they become softer.
In one research study, over 800 children were studied, and it was noted that they had more dental cavities during the winter and spring months than during the summer months. The lessened sunlight in the winter would be a factor here. However, it should also be noted that those children probably also had less fresh greens, vegetables, and fruit during the winter months. This would also affect their vitamin C and calcium intake both important to good bones and teeth....
For the healthiest home, let the light in. Push the curtains back so the sunshine can pour in. Yes, it may fade the rug, but the benefits are far greater than the losses. Sunlight purifies the air in the room. Normal air exchange will carry that air to the north rooms of the house and help purify them. Did you know that patients in hospitals tend to recover more quickly when they are in southern exposure rooms, and less quickly when they are in rooms located on the north side? Let the sunlight into your home, as much as possible, and open the doors between the different rooms, so that its quiet, healing influence may permeate your home....
It is a most marvelous system, and without it you could not remain alive an hour.
There are millions of red corpuscles constantly flowing through very small blood vessels throughout every part of the 3,000 square inches of your skin. And there are also tiny oil glands just beneath the skin which biochemists call sterols. As sunshine strikes them, substances within them, called ergosterols, are irradiated and transformed into vitamin D. Carried to all parts of your body, it enables you to have strong bones, teeth, and nails.
But we are getting ahead of our story—the fascinating story of what one of God's special gifts—sunlight—can do for you.
Every living thing in our world is dependent upon the sun. Without sunshine, nothing could live. Sunlight is composed of energy wavelengths of various types. We will here focus our attention on the visible rays, along with the infrared and ultraviolet rays. In this brief report—you will learn part of this miracle of what sunlight can do for you,—and how it can bring you better health and even a happier outlook on life.
In 1877, two researchers, Downes and Blunt, discovered that sunlight can destroy harmful bacteria. Today, it is used to treat bacterial infections. Sunlight on the body dramatically lowers high blood pressure, decreases blood cholesterol, lowers excessively high blood sugars, and increases white blood cells.
Adequate sunlight on your body will lower your respiratory rate, and will cause your breathing to be slower, deeper, and even easier. Your resting heart rate will decrease, and after exercise it will return to normal much more quickly. Sunlight increases the capacity of the blood to carry more oxygen and take it to your body tissues. Even a single exposure to the ultraviolet light in sunlight will greatly increase the oxygen content of your blood. And this effect will continue for several days. Bronchial asthma patients who could hardly breathe, were able to inhale freely after a sunbath.
It is of interest that many of these beneficial effects of sunlight are heightened if a person combines sunbathing with a regular program of physical exercise. For example, fatigue and exhaustion tend to be lessened and the capacity for work is increased. It is now known that part of this is due to an increase in glycogen content of the blood and muscles following sunlight and exercise.
The strength of the heart is steadied and deepened. The pulse rate is lowered because the heart muscle is pumping more blood at each beat. This enables your heart to rest more between beats. And yet the blood output is increased by an average of 39% for several days after a sunbath. Many people worry about their blood pressure, yet regularly taking sunlight on the body lowers it. Sunbaths alone will lower blood pressure by an average of 8%; combined with exercise, it is lowered 15%.
And there are those that worry about their blood sugar because they are diabetic. It has been discovered that exposure to sunshine has an insulin-like effect on the body—it lowers the blood sugar. And it does it in exactly the right proportion. Those who have no diabetic problem experience almost no change in blood sugar, while diabetics have a striking lowering of it. It is now known that this lowering is caused by the fact that sunlight on the body causes glycogen (stored sugar) to be increased throughout the body, enabling the blood sugar to be lowered. Higher storage levels of glycogen result in more body energy for longer stretches of physical activity, with more endurance and less fatigue. (Warning: A diabetic taking sunbaths should try reducing his insulin intake, lest he inject too much.)
And then there is stress. We all encounter tensions and problems throughout the day. Sunlight can help you more easily glide through the day. A deepened sense of well-being results, and better sleep comes at night. You feel better and live better. Because you are more relaxed, the crises of life are met with less difficulty. Sunlight on the body both calms the nerves and increases adrenalin. This relaxation is not merely mental; it is physical also. Both gastric and duodenal ulcer patients have been found to improve under the beneficial effects of sunshine.
The wealth of new scientific insights on the restorative power of sunlight continues to unfold. Sunlight lowers blood cholesterol, and an excess of blood cholesterol is one of the problems leading to heart and artery disease. The basic fact underlying this truth goes back to the year 1904, when it was discovered that sunlight changes the cholesterol just under the skin into vitamin D. Because there is so much cholesterol just under the skin, when it is changed by sunlight into vitamin D, cholesterol from the blood is sent to take its place, thus lowering the cholesterol in the blood. Researchers now know that when cholesterol is removed from the blood—cholesterol stored within the plaques deposited on the artery walls takes its place. The result is a beneficial reduction of the dangerous deposits that accompany hardening of the arteries and lead to strokes. Two hours after a sunbath, an average of 13% reduction in human blood cholesterol occurs.
Research carried out in 1970 in Russia disclosed that sunbaths help people with hardening of the arteries of the brain. Their improved mental performance and memory indicates that those harmful blood vessel deposits were lessened by the exposure to sunlight.
Incidentally, one insight that came out of this and other Russian research was the fact that patients were helped more by frequent short exposures to sunlight than by infrequent longer sunbaths. Proof of this was shown in the electrocardiograms: almost twice as good in those receiving shorter, more frequent sunshine on their bodies....
Streptococcal infections have been found to be reduced when sunlight regularly reaches the skin. In 1929, Dr. Ude introduced sunbathing into America for the treatment of erysipelas (a streptococcal infection of the skin). In 1938, penicillin was discovered and many researchers turned their eyes from sunlight to the wonder drugs. But the many dangerous side effects of these medicinal drugs are less likely to be found in taking a sunbath.
Fungus infections of the feet and toes are especially helped by sunlight. So many different bacteria and viruses exist that it is neither wise nor safe to attempt vaccination against them all. But sunlight on the body is part of the best solution to many of these problems.
Infectious diseases include many physical problems ranging from the common cold to flu,—and even the dangerous spinal meningitis.
How very important it is that we make sure that we frequently obtain the vital sunlight that our bodies so much need in order to maintain good health....
Water purification is now being taken to the sunlight. Chlorination kills many water-borne diseases, but the chlorine has certain carcinogenic (cancer-causing) effects. Researchers are now turning to irradiation with ultraviolet light. The four most dangerous water-borne bacterial infections are cholera, typhoid, bacillary dysentery, and hepatitis. It has been demonstrated that sunlight can kill such bacteria to some depth, if the flow of water is slow enough so that the ultraviolet radiation can effectively reach them.
What about germs on the skin? Exposure to sunlight increases the skin's resistance to disease. It does this by directly killing the bacteria on the skin. The shorter ultraviolet wave lengths are the most bactericidal, and do not particularly penetrate beneath the skin. But the longer wavelengths also kill germs, though to a lesser extent, and they penetrate more deeply.
Sunlight not only directly kills bacteria on the skin, but it changes natural body oils on the skin into bactericidal agents! Even the vapors rising from these irradiated natural skin oils are able to kill bacteria.
Psoriasis and acne are two common skin diseases. Both are being treated with sunlight. Sunlight keeps psoriasis under control, and the purifying power of these rays helps to sterilize acne, and bring to it more rapid healing.
Sunlight also strengthens the body's immune system. This is partly due to the fact that sunlight striking the body increases the number of white blood cells in the body. These are the fighter cells that resist infection by gobbling it up wherever found in the body. There is one particular white blood cell that is the most powerful germ killer of them all: the lymphocyte. Science has now come to the startling conclusion that sunlight increases the number of lymphocytes—more than any other kind of white blood cell.
Antibody production, so important to a successful resistance to infection, is also greatly increased after sunbathing. This is due to the fact that it is primarily the lymphocytes that produce the antibodies, such as the very important gamma globulins. In laboratory animals, this antibody increase can last for two or three weeks.
Neutrophils, fairly common white blood cells, are very important. They spend their life within your body eating up bacteria, fungus, and other harmful invaders. After being exposed to the sun, the neutrophils are, in some unknown way, stimulated to chew up harmful bacteria even more rapidly. Research experiments have disclosed that this increase in gobbling action is doubled after a sunbath.
Did you ever notice that people are more likely during the winter months to contract colds, during spells of lessened sunlight?
An interesting study related to this fact is that of the early polar explorers. After spending months in those icy areas with so little sunlight, they would always develop upper respiratory infections upon returning home. The lack of sunlight for eight months had weakened their immune systems, and their antibodies and white blood cells were markedly decreased.
And, of course, sunlight also affects your bones.
In children without adequate sunlight, the vitamin D needed to calcify the bones is not present in proper amounts for the body to lay down calcium in the bones—and they bend more easily. In adults, when there is not enough vitamin D in the body, the calcium leaves the bones and they become softer.
In one research study, over 800 children were studied, and it was noted that they had more dental cavities during the winter and spring months than during the summer months. The lessened sunlight in the winter would be a factor here. However, it should also be noted that those children probably also had less fresh greens, vegetables, and fruit during the winter months. This would also affect their vitamin C and calcium intake both important to good bones and teeth....
For the healthiest home, let the light in. Push the curtains back so the sunshine can pour in. Yes, it may fade the rug, but the benefits are far greater than the losses. Sunlight purifies the air in the room. Normal air exchange will carry that air to the north rooms of the house and help purify them. Did you know that patients in hospitals tend to recover more quickly when they are in southern exposure rooms, and less quickly when they are in rooms located on the north side? Let the sunlight into your home, as much as possible, and open the doors between the different rooms, so that its quiet, healing influence may permeate your home....
