The Anti-Aging Benefits of Sunlight

I'm sure you've heard a million times that sunlight will wrinkle and discolor your skin making you look old before your time. You've probably also heard that sun exposure will inevitably lead to skin cancer, which could be dangerous… even deadly.

These well-publicized positions are costing you dearly when it comes to your health.

Moderate sun exposure without sunscreen is good for you. That's right… I said without sunscreen. I'm not advocating that you go outside and get a sunburn. But you do need sunlight to be healthy.

The sun catalyzes a reaction in your skin, which leads to vitamin D production in your body. And vitamin D is vital.

A new study out of King's College in London has discovered that vitamin D actually helps to keep your DNA from aging.

Every time your cells replicate, the ends of your DNA become a little bit shorter, a phenomenon that researchers associate with aging. Cells under stress replicate more and therefore age faster.

That shortening of the DNA has been linked to many diseases of aging like heart disease and cancer. What the researchers at King's College found was that people with the highest levels of vitamin D in their blood streams have longer, younger-looking DNA.

DNA-length is not the only factor in aging, buy scientists believe it's an important one. If vitamin D can help preserve your DNA, it's just another sign that it's important to keeping you young and healthy.

The best source of vitamin D is 15 to 20 minutes of sun exposure two or three times a week. Next, best is a cod liver oil supplement. In the winter, supplementing is important because the sun's rays are weaker and don't catalyze as much vitamin D production.


Stay well,
Danny Wallace