The sun also rises over the medical establishment… I've often wondered -- and more than once in print -- how the human race ever managed to survive and thrive if what the mainstream says about sunlight is really true. To hear them tell it, natural sunlight is only slightly less harmful to our health than nuclear fallout! How did we ever last eight million years as an evolving species? But as usual, my pokings and proddings on the subject have gone all but ignored by conventional medicine. Why? Because of commercial pressures, most likely. After all, how much sunscreen would you buy if they all of a sudden said that getting out in the sun every day was actually GOOD for you? Every once in a while, though, a mainstream doctor will slip up (or even skip ranks) and agree with me about something… Such was the case in a recent New York Times article in which a Boston University Medical Center dermatologist named Dr. Michael Holick re-affirmed what I've said all along -- that sunlight is good for you because it aids in the body's production of vitamin D! An expert on Vitamin D with over 30 years of research on the subject under his belt, Dr. Holick cites a deficiency of this vital nutrient as a major factor in osteoporosis, diabetes, and cancers of the skin, breast, prostate, and ovaries… If this all sounds familiar, it's because it's what I've been telling you -- and the medical establishment -- about the benefits of vitamin D for years now! Anyway… In the interview, Dr. Holick also mentions that vitamin D plays a vital role in regulating cell growth -- and on our immune systems and cardiovascular health. But what are really interesting are his studies on regional sun exposure and vitamin D levels. In one such study, Dr. Holick discovered that 36 percent of young Boston-area adults were vitamin D deficient at the end of wintertime (not too surprising, right)… But get this: They were still 11 percent vitamin D deficient at the END of summer! Remember: these figures represented the youngest, most active adults (aged 18 to 29), the hiking, biking, roller-blading, and running demographic. Can you imagine what those figures must be like for older adults with indoor jobs or a less outdoorsy lifestyle? Not good. But this condition is so easy -- and fun -- to remedy. My recommendation is that you get outside a little every day -- especially if you live north of the Mason-Dixon line. Go ahead, play some golf or tennis, do a little gardening, or take a stroll. It'll do you so much good on so many levels, believe me. Of course, supplemental vitamin D isn't a bad idea if you're sure that what you're taking is of good quality, and highly absorbable. Letting the sunshine in,
William Campbell Douglass, II, M.D. | 
