Monday, June 16, 2008

Sunlight Is Good for Your Health


Sunlight Is Good for Your Health, from Gimundo:
6/16/2008

We've always been told to stay out of the sun, lest we catch skin cancer or worse, begin to resemble the leathery neighbor lady in There's Something About Mary. But according to several new studies, there could be some great advantages to catching some rays: among them, a reduced risk in heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and numerous other diseases (that bronzed look is just gravy).

You don't want to bake yourself on the beach, of course - 20 minutes in the sunlight will suffice, and we always recommend sunscreen. But according to new research, sunshine can provide high levels of vitamin D, which has strong associations with a reduced risk of many diseases. Although no one's managed to prove vitamin D is directly accountable for the health benefits, "what's wrong with keeping an adequate level of vitamin D in the blood in case it is?" asks biochemist Hector DeLuca of the University of Wisconsin in The Los Angeles Times.

If you'd rather keep covered this summer, you can still gain the potential health benefits from vitamin D by drinking plenty of milk, eating oily fish, or taking a supplement pill. Otherwise, we'll meet you at the beach.

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