I call sunshine the under appreciated energy vitamin.
In fact, it’s more than under appreciated. In some circles, it’s downright under-discovered. We avoid it at every potential encounter, slathering 45 SPF all over our bodies if we even have to venture out for a bottle of milk. We act as if 5 minutes of exposure is going to condemn us to a lifetime of wrinkles and skin cancer. We treat the sun as our mortal enemy. And we’re paying the price – in energy and in health.
It’s time to rethink our relationship with this brightly burning star.
YOUR OWN SOLAR ENERGY TRANSFUSION
The sun has been providing energy for about five billion years (and scientists figure it’s got at least another five billion to go, just in case you were worried). The sun’s energy drives the water cycle – rain and snow – and it drives the winds. The sun is the source of your weather.
Remember photosynthesis? In case you forgot, it means that plants get their energy from the sun.
Maybe you should, too.
“The sun gives you strength, lifts your spirits, and is a source of energy”, says my friend. AI Sears, M.D., C.N.S., author of Your Best Health Under the Sun. Like a growing body of health experts, Sears thinks we’ve become so sun phobic that we’re missing out on the myriad mood-boosting and energy-enhancing benefits that the sunshine vitamin has to offer. Part of the key to these benefits is vitamin D, but part of the benefits also come from the naturally energizing light and its ability to help counter the depression and mood changes that are so common when daylight is shorter or sun exposure is minimal.
In this section, you’ll know about some of the energy-enhancing properties of the sun and how to harness the power of this undiscovered (okay, underappreciated) vitamin for your own personal energy transfusion in a perfectly safe way. Nope, you won’t get skin cancer (if you follow the recommendations carefully), and no, you won’t turn into a wrinkled mess.
But you just might feel a lot more energetic than you have in years.
Try Light Therapy
Light affects the receptors in the brain that produce serotonin, the “feel-good” chemical. When you have low levels of that “happy” neurochemical serotonin, you’re usually not very energetic. Instead, quite the opposite. You’re cranky, subject to cravings, feeling down, and generally not a lot of fun to be around.
Easily fixable with some light therapy.
Here’s how it works. When you don’ get exposed to light – I’m not talking fake florescent light here, I’m talking what’s called full-spectrum light, like you get from the sun (or from the machines mentioned below) – you’re probably not making enough serotonin. And if you’re not making enough serotonin, your energy suffers. It only takes about 30 minutes a day of exposure to full-spectrum light to get a nice energy-boosting dose, and you can certainly get that at a time when the sun doesn’t do any real damage to your skin.
We’ve already established that the sun is good for you for a whole host of reasons. But maybe you’re in a place or a season where there really isn’t much access to the sun, or maybe it’s too cold out, or maybe I still haven’t persuaded you that getting some daily sun is a good idea. That’s fine; there are other alternatives.
CAN’T GET OUT? BRING THE LIGHT TO YOU!
The Circadian Lighting Association, formed in 1993, is an international association of reputable manufacturers that supply lights for circadian applications, including improving winter mood. “I’ve recommended these kinds of light machines to my clients for years”, says nutritionist to the stars and anti-aging guru Oz Garcia, Ph.D.
Light boxes have been well tested and have been shown to help people with depression (and, by extension, with energy). These are rectangular fixtures that house several fluorescent tubes. They have been around for about ten years and have proven very effective. Light boxes come in different sizes and styles. Most experts feel that a 10,000-lux* light box is best, but smaller 5,000 –lux light boxes can work, too, although they require more time to be beneficial.
If you travel a lot, a light visor may be more practical. It’s a head-mounted light source that looks something like a tennis visor. The visor is designed to give people mobility during light sessions and portability for travel situations. It’s been on the market for a number of years and has proven very effective for many people. Because of its efficient design – it puts the light source nearer to your eyes, explains Kirk Renaud, CEO of BioBrite – it requires only 3,000 lux to produce benefits comparable to a 10,000-lux light box.
Then there’s the desk light. No ordinary desk lamp, this one. Rather, it’s a special extra-bright version that functions much like a light box. The desk lamp model can produce 10,000 lux if it is oriented properly to the eyes, and its design can be less obtrusive for office use.
*The metric unit of measure forilluminance of a surface is called lux.
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