Soaking in Sun Rays

Getting outside and soaking in the sun’s rays (no sunscreen) is a simple Mindful Axn you may take to build bone strength, reduce depression, and heal skin conditions like acne, psoriasis, and eczema.

Ever notice how your teenager’s face clears on beach vacations?

Stronger Bones :

Sunlight’s UVB rays interact with a substance in your skin, 7-dehydrocholesterol, which first becomes previtamin D3 and then converts into vitamin D3. What’s vitamin D’s primary role? Absorbing calcium from the intestines. Better calcium absorption results in stronger bones.

Vitamin D Sources & Recommendations

Vitamin D may be obtained through sunlight exposure, foods you eat, and/or supplementation. Is one better than the other? Short answer, no. Be careful when supplementing. Because vitamin D is fat soluble, your body stores it in your fat tissues until needed. Thus, excessive amounts has negative health implications. Obviously, too much sun exposure without a good UV blocking sunscreen equals risk of skin cancer.

CFit’s Vitamin D Guidelines –

Eat vitamin D food sources daily —
fatty fish, fortified dairy foods, egg yolk, mushrooms exposed to sunlight. Note: There really aren’t that many foods naturally high in vitamin D.
Limit supplementation to 400-800 IU
Limit direct sun exposure to 15 minutes
(before 10:00 a.m. or after 3:00 p.m.)

Reduces Depression :

Direct sun exposure increases the mood lifting hormone, serotonin. Low serotonin levels have been linked to depression. Have you ever wondered why a sunny day puts you in a good mood and cloudy days bring you down? Blame it on reduced sunlight.

In addition to serotonin’s mood boosting power, higher levels of serotonin help you focus. Better focus leads to better productivity. That may have an indirect impact on your mood as you will be able to accomplish important tasks. As mentioned in the previous section, 15 minutes of direct sun exposure will do the trick.

Healthier Skin :

Before dermatologists start bashing and trashing this post, hear me out! Remember, the recommendation that keeps being emphasized is no longer than 15 minutes of direct sun exposure several days a week. Those 15 minutes will not cause skin cancer. What those 15 minutes will do is help control skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, and acne.

Sunscreen Recommendations

After your 15 minutes of making your dermatologist crazy, go inside and apply sunscreen. It’s a best practice to apply then WAIT 30 minutes before going back in the sun. This allows the sunscreen to be absorbed into your skin.

Choose a broad spectrum sunscreen that blocks both UVA and UVB rays. If you are going to be active which means sweating, make sure to select a sunscreen that’s water and sweat resistant. Of special note, getting outside to exercise vs. indoor activity boosts mood with or without sunlight. Fresh air and open space – enough said.

One sunscreen I favor and have successfully used sunburn free on beach vacations as well as lots of runs and outdoor activity is Elta MD sport. Here’s a link to purchase from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2EpcHzG

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Eat Whole Plant Foods – Consequently Fit thru Mindful Axn on May 20, 2019 at 9:59 am

[…] Nutritionally packed. Are you the type of person that likes to obtain the most value for your dollar? Apply that same principal to your food choices. Stop choosing foods that provide little nutritional value. Often referred to as “empty calorie foods” – processed, sugary, high fat foods offer minimal value to your body’s hard working tissues. Foods you put in your mouth ought to contain loads of good value for your body. Just as depositing rolls of pennies into your bank account would provide little satisfaction and limit your overall lifestyle, empty calorie food choices do little to fuel your body’s tissues eventually damaging your overall health ultimately limiting quality of life.The richness of whole plant foods equates to providing your body loads of vitamins and minerals plus other nutrients only found in plants. No man-made supplement will satisfy you like whole intact foods. In fact, all essential nutrients except vitamins B-12 & D are provided by whole plant foods… including protein. To balance out your new diet that now contains these wonderfully rich foods, include animal products like fish, white poultry meat, and dairy. Ha! Bet you thought this article was against those foods. Nope. However, food from animal sources should never make up the majority of your meal. When filling your plate, only about 1/4 should be filled with animal food sources. Note: Vitamin B-12 & vitamin D will need to be supplemented if you are vegan (avoiding all animal products). Pay attention to whether foods you eat are fortified with these vitamins as there are alternatives to meat that account for this. And, don’t forget sunshine. Your body does make its own vitamin D if you spend sometime outside soaking in some rays. For more on this, read https://consequentlyfit.com/2019/02/20/soaking-in-sun-rays/ […]

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Beauty Fashion on January 21, 2023 at 12:30 pm

Your articles are extremely helpful to me. Please provide more information!

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  Laura Garrett, RDN, PFT, CES on February 2, 2023 at 10:49 pm
  
  Thank you! I finally posted today. I recently became an empty nester…so, I will have a lot more time to post!
  
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