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“My son, I caution you to keep the middle way, for if your pinions dip too low the waters may impede your flight; and if they soar too high the sun may scorch them. Fly midway. Gaze not at the boundless sky.”
—DAEDALUS TO HIS SON, ICARUS, OVID’S METAMORPHOSES
IN BRIEF: Soak up the sun in moderation. The sun’s rays are a natural source of vitamin D and can boost the immune system and provide a host of health benefits. Too little sunlight puts us at risk for a variety of diseases, including cancer, and can decrease life expectancy. While it is certainly true that overexposure to the sun can cause skin cancer, too little sunlight can be unhealthy as well.
Don’t fly too close to the sun. That’s what the mythical Greek inventor Daedalus warned his son, Icarus. Daedalus had fashioned two sets of wings for himself and Icarus out of feathers and wax in order for the pair to escape the island of Crete, where they were held captive. Icarus was told that if he got too near the sun, the wax holding the feathers together would melt.
Despite this warning, mesmerized by the joy of flight, Icarus flew too close to the sun. As predicted, the wax holding his wings together melted and he fell to his death. For centuries, the story has served as cautionary tale, a warning against the dangers of arrogance. But there’s a part of the myth we tend to forget: Icarus also was warned against timidity and too much caution, and told if he played it too safe and flew too close to the ocean, the sea’s dampness would cause the wings’ feathers to sag. To survive, Icarus needed to find the happy medium between the sun and the water.
This is a great metaphor for moderation in general, and when it comes to exposing our skin to the sun, it can be taken almost literally. We need sunlight physically and emotionally. When our skin is hit by direct sunlight, it forms vitamin D, thanks to the photosynthetic-like reaction caused by ultraviolet (UV) radiation. If we are too timid and avoid or block all sun, we greatly increase our chances of a vitamin D deficiency, which can increase our risk for a host of life-threatening ailments. On the other hand, if we’re overconfident and get too much sun, we increase our chances of skin cancer.
Most medical advice has been focused on artificially blocking the sun, treating it exclusively as a dangerous and sometimes deadly side effect of the joys of summer. Recent evidence, however, suggests that hiding completely from the sun may be potentially even more injurious to our health.
According to one 2008 study based on World Health Organization data, harmful ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure from the sun is only “a minor contributor to the world’s disease burden.” Researchers assess the risk of UVR exposure by measuring disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), which tracks the number of years that people lose because of ill health, disability, or premature death from disease. UVR exposure accounts for only an “annual loss of 1.6 million DALYs; i.e., 0.1% of the total global disease burden.” This pales (pun very much intended) in comparison to the “markedly larger annual disease burden, [of] 3.3 billion DALYs, [that] might result from reduction in global UVR exposure to very low levels.”1
A study published in 2016 in the Journal of Internal Medicine proclaimed “avoidance of sun exposure is a risk factor for death of a similar magnitude as smoking.” For the study, researchers looked at 29,518 Swedish women. They found that although those who got sunlight had an increased risk of skin cancer, they had a decreased risk of death overall.2
According to the most recent sun-protection recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “The sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays can damage your skin in as little as 15 minutes.” People are encouraged, when possible, to stay in the shade, and even when in the shade to cover up with “long-sleeved shirts” and “long pants and skirts.” It’s also recommended they wear “a hat with a brim all the way around” to shade their “face, ears and the back of [their] neck.”
On the off chance that a ray of sunlight, despite all these precautions, might slip through and hit uncovered skin, the CDC also advises people to “put on broad spectrum sunscreen with at least SPF 15 before you go outside, even on slightly cloudy or cool days.”3
This advice will indeed prevent some skin cancers and might work well for vampires, but is somewhat impractical for most warm-blooded, non-undead human beings. Those who follow the advice thoroughly will be largely free of the dangers posed by the sun, which is thought to be the cause of more than 90 percent of skin cancer cases, but also will have missed out on the benefits of sunlight.
In the past, sunscreen has sometimes done more harm than good, as many sunscreens did not (and many still don’t) block all types of potentially cancer-causing UV rays. You are better off using naturally light, breathable, sun-protective clothing, hats, and umbrellas, but if you do wear sunscreen, bear in mind that those that have the most broad spectrum and have more zinc oxide may be more effective. People who use ineffective sunscreen may think they are protected and stay in the sun longer, possibly burning and not knowing it while increasing their risk of cancer. At the same time, ineffective sunscreen often blocks rays that would help the skin produce vitamin D, therefore possibly eliminating much of the benefit of being in the sun. In addition, chemicals contained in many sunscreens can be harmful to the environment. Hawaii banned certain sunscreens because chemicals within them were harming ocean ecosystems.
As noted earlier, sunlight is an important source of vitamin D. When it comes to our collective vitamin D levels, the news is as sobering as a rain forecast on a holiday weekend. By some estimates, about 50 percent of people don’t have sufficient levels of vitamin D, and as many as 1 billion people suffer from a vitamin D deficiency worldwide.
Writing for the Journal of Pharmacology & Pharmacotherapeutics in 2012, Rathish Nair and Arun Maseeh call this vitamin D deficiency a “pandemic” (a global disease) and said “reduced outdoor activities” were among the lifestyle changes to blame.4
Researchers in Norway studied 115,096 cases of breast, colon, and prostate cancer diagnosed between 1964 and 1992 and found that those who received a cancer diagnosis in the summer and fall, the seasons when people have the highest levels of vitamin D, had a lower risk of cancer death—suggesting that a high level of vitamin D3 at the time of diagnosis, and thus during cancer treatment, may improve a person’s prognosis.5
It’s not just vitamin D production that the sun is facilitating. Scientists at Georgetown University recently found that sunlight activates immune system cells, called T cells, causing them to move faster and be more effective, thus boosting the immune system’s strength. Sunlight seems to be to T cells what steroids are to professional athletes, minus the negative side effects and 500-foot monster home runs, of course.6
As we mentioned in the sleep chapter, adequate sunlight can be vital when it comes to getting enough shut-eye. According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine in 2014, office workers in workspaces with more windows and natural sunlight enjoyed longer, better-quality sleep than those who worked in windowless offices. The study was small—only forty-nine people—but it had powerful results.
Not only did the workers with access to windows and sun enjoy an average of forty-six more minutes of sleep per night, they also reported a better quality of life and more physical activity. In other words, the stuffy, windowless offices too many of us toil away in today might be viewed by future generations with the same disapproval we now view the deplorable treatment of mine workers in the past.7
Speaking of the relationship between sleeping and sunlight, exposure to early morning sunlight can help reset our circadian rhythms and seems to increase overall sleep by keeping us more in tune with natural day-and-night cycles. And watching the sunrise and/or sunset regularly can be a fun and beneficial way to improve health and well-being.8
So don’t hide completely from the light. Get outside, take a walk, and smell the roses.
Just ten minutes of sunlight a few times a week will provide more than just physical benefits. Sunlight can decrease symptoms of depression, help improve bone density, and even help treat conditions such as arthritis and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Those who live in colder climates with less direct overhead sunlight in the winter tend to suffer more from seasonal depression or seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
Henry Lindlahr, known as the father of modern naturopathic medicine, would recommend that patients air-bathe in natural daylight even in winter by walking completely naked in the garden in front of their rooms. Advice that might indeed be good for your health, but that will almost certainly lower your standing with your neighbors.
In northern regions above the 37th parallel, even when you do everything right, you often can’t get enough vitamin D in the winter because the angle at which the sun is shining on the earth doesn’t allow for enough sunlight exposure. When the sun’s angle is so low that your shadow is taller than you, it’s especially important to try to supplement your vitamin D with vitamin-rich foods such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, and natural vitamin D3 supplements.
Unfortunately, due in part to our propensity to pollute the earth, sea, and air, and damage the ozone layer (the area within the stratosphere that helps shield the earth and us from potentially harmful UV radiation), too much sun too quickly can lead to an increase in our chances of skin cancer. To avoid this type of potentially dangerous overexposure, cover up with loose clothing, hats, umbrellas, and natural shade to shield yourself from the sun when necessary, starting with just a few minutes of exposure a day at first, so you gradually build up exposure and tan, rather than burn. Don’t fear the sun, but don’t get burned either.
Remember the tale of Icarus and his father’s unheeded advice. Don’t be arrogant and “fly” too close to the sun, but don’t be so timid you hide from it entirely. That, too, can be dangerous and a whole lot less fun. As Oscar Wilde wrote:
Never regret thy fall
O Icarus of the fearless flight
For the greatest tragedy of them all
Is never to feel the burning light.