Winter is at our doorsteps, and sunlight is getting rare, especially in northern latitudes.
If you follow me, I assume we agree that sunlight is a health giver. It pains me every time I see an article demonizing our Sun, as sunlight deficiency can explain many of modern man’s ailments such as cardiovascular disease, depression, autoimmunity, and even cancer.
Sunlight is a nutrient rich light as, beyond visible light, it also contains,
- Infrareds which improve our mitochondria, keeps our skin young, accelerates wound healing, and fights depression (learn more about the benefits of infrareds)
- UVA which drives the production of hormones in our body
- UVB which drives the production of Vitamin D in our skin
As winter sets in, sunlight gets dimmer, days shorter, and these rich nutrients harder to get.
Don’t worry, you can still get the benefits of sunlight in this season too – some tips to help
- Keep going out and seeing the sun with naked eyes, especially in the morning – even on a cloudy day, you’ll receive more light intensity outside than inside houses & offices – the good news is that UVA is still present in winter and shows up at around 10 am, offering all those great hormone optimization benefits
- Use an infrared light panel – winter is infrared poor as we get less sun warmth and spend more time indoors. But infrared is primordial for our immune system, mood, and mitochondria. I use EMR TEK red light panels (20% OFF using code: 360UPGRADE) in the morning and evening to supplement infrared, helping me avoid getting sick and feeling down.
- Get more cold exposure and sauna – both of these activities expose you to more infrared. Sauna offers far infrared (the heat feeling), while cold exposure pushes our mitochondria to make infrared from inside our body (isn’t this poetic, we become our own sun!)
- Eat Vitamin D rich food to counteract the lack of UVB from the sun – if you’re extremely deficient in Vitamin D, you can also use a UVB lamp like the Sperti. Make sure to use it in conjunction with infrared light! (otherwise, you can do more harm than good)
Winter is a season that many find challenging due to dimmer sunlight, lower temperatures, and shorter days. But it doesn’t have to be hard. Our body contains all the programs for us to thrive all year long, including winter, as long as we live in alignment with our environment.
Learn about how to avoid winter sickness, winter weight gains, seasonal depression, better resist to cold, follow a seasonal diet (and why), and feel great all year long in my Embrace The Seasons course.
Learn about the missing piece in the health puzzle: light. My Solar Vitality course covers the relationship between our light environment and health. We cover how to optimize your light environement, how to leverage light to optimize health, prevent disease, boost hormones, improve sleep, mitigate non-native electromagnetic fields (nn-EMFs), and much more.