Don’t Waste Time: Sunbathe as You Exercise (or Do Chores)
03Feb11
Don’t waste time: Sunbathe as you exercise (or do chores)I like sunshine. It makes my skin produce vitamin D, which is necessary for calcium management and thus nerve, muscle, and bone health, for keeping down inflammation, for good functioning of the immune system, even for cancer prevention. Sunlight that reaches the retina regulates functions of the nervous and hormonal systems. Those are the reasons why I don’t waste time—if I can do something outside when the sun is shining, I am out doing it.
Filed under: Exercises and Workouts, Health Maintenance | 22 Comments
Tags: bone, calcium management, cancer prevention, health, hormonal system, immune system, inflammation, muscle, nerve, sunbathe, sunshine, Thomas Kurz, Tom Kurz, vitamin D
If your goal is vitamin D, you get enough sun exposure by only exposing your face during 10 minutes everyday. Also, your body can accumulate vitamin D. No need to go crazy…
What crazy?
Great article. And most importantly must be outside without sunscreen or else these healthy effects leave and harmful ones set in.
Tom,
Haven’t you had enough snow already up there? Come to south Florida, where today I am running my A/C. You will get plenty of Vitamin D, and maybe you can help train me, as I am about as flexible as a cement light pole.
Regards,
Brian
Great tan by the way! 😀
Thanks for the invitation, Brian. This winter looks too busy for me to travel, but later who knows.
You are totally crazy. :oD
Vlad,
True. I never use “external” sunscreen, only “internal,” that is high fat-low carb diet and what carbs I eat are anti-inflammatory (high in carotenoids, etc.).
Hi Haakon,
Thanks. It is great to live in Vermont–we have snow and we have sun, together.
How often and for how long do you spend time outside in the sun? Especially in the winter. Reminds me of Russian and Finnish sauna bathers who jump into snow after spending time in 200 F degree rooms.
Hi Vlad,
In the winter, from 15 to 40 minutes, everyday when the sun is shining and sometimes when it is not. When it is realy, really cold, then I put on a hat, gloves and flipflops.
elskbrev,
I would be if I didn’t raise my spirits by exercising outdoors.
Another Great Post Tom,
You are absolutely correct about the retina function and regulation of Vitamin D.
However, one needs to remember not to overdo it. Having spent a great deal of time in the sunshine on the athletic field and in recreation over the course of my life, I caution that some important side effects of a lot of sun light are cataracts and skin cancer.
I have written a lot about vitamin D3 and other important health related topics on my son’s BLOG at http://www.vahlchiropractic.com
THANK YOU!
Dr. Richard J. Vahl, MSc, D.C., Ph.D., DAAPM, FASBE, CCSP.
Much thanks Thomas,
I agree with Dr. Richard J. Vahl, IF… you are on a S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) lifestyle. Understanding the role of the Fat/Oil that you do or do not consume has
a huge outcome on the quality of your skin and subcutaneous fat. If… your fat and tissue are derived from hydrogenated/rancid/processed oils and foods etc. Your Vit D production and immune response to the Sun may be impaired. Even organic whole grain cereals and grain products almost all have rancid oxidized oils. Avoid a sunburn …that’s a problem. Canola (Con-ola, is not a health food) oil is garbage; its in everything.
TK thanks for your passion!
Hi Stevie,
For health and thus for optimal function I follow principles of Dr. Kwasniewski’s Optimal Nutrition (low-carb, high-fat, adequate protein), at which I arrived through trial and error. By arriving through trial and error I mean that I had begun with something like the Zone diet and then, by observing my function and adjusting my diet I ended up eating a lot of fat and very little carbs (50g per day). Then I learned that this is very similar to what Dr. Kwasniewski advises. As I learned more about his diet, I decided to follow his advice.
Hi Tom,
Great post – short and to the point – the picture speaks a thousand words. How old are you again? DeVany could learn a thing or two from you.
This short essay from EvFit is interesting – http://www.evfit.com/sun.htm
Interesting observations from the author about physical activity in the sun and among a number of things, the constant changing of the angle of skin relative to the sun.
Thanks for the inspiration
Vergil
Hi Vergil,
In the Spring I will be 55.
Thanks for the link to EvFit article.
For those folk’s who don’t get a reasonable amount of sunlight, maybe on a medication that restricts them from being in the sun or may have skin cancer and need to supplement with vitamin D. Make sure you use Vitamin D3 and if you are not on a blood thinner, you can add a small amount of Vitamin K2 to help your body to better metabolize the D3.
Dr. Richard J. Vahl, MSc, DC, Ph.D, DAAPM, FASBE, CCSP.
VAHL CHIROPRACTIC WELLNESS CENTER
http://www.vahlchiropractic.com
Dr Vahl,
Thanks for your comment. Could you give a direct link to your article on vitamin D3?
Hey coach, in the uk we only had 41% of the average sunshine for january. Not sure about bone health, but it was pretty miserable. Stocked up on oily fish, figuring the norwegians must know a thing or two.
UV light in the vitamin D-producing range enhances athletic performance. Read about it in Dr. Briffa blog at http://www.drbriffa.com/2011/05/04/solar-power-for-human-beings/
I love it! Since I live in sunny southern California it’s a lot easier to get plenty of sunshine.