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In a culture of health-consciousness and paying heavily into skin care, it is often pressed upon on us to be wary of spending too much time in the sun on a hot day. What’s more dangerous, though, is becoming deterred from venturing outside at all.

Sunlight is essential to all things, from the flowers of Spring to our own mental health and our bodies. Even sitting in the shade on a warm day will not allow you to reap the greater benefits of direct sunshine on your skin.

We all know that our bodies use sunlight to produce vitamin D, but it could be argued that whilst we are so preoccupied with protecting ourselves from the sun’s UV rays, the depth of their necessity to our health often goes unrecognised.

In the UK, the UV is only strong enough for our bodies to make vitamin D from April to September. We store it within our fat reserves to tide us over winter, meaning that if we don’t catch enough sun before summer’s end, we become more exposed to issues with our immune health and a range of diseases such as dementia and diabetes.

An article by the BBC catalogued the findings of a variety of studies, proving the many benefits of spending time in the sunshine:

• One study found that people had higher levels of serotonin in their blood on bright days compared to overcast or cloudy ones and the rate of serotonin production in the brain was directly related to the duration of bright sunlight.

• Scientists from Edinburgh University did an experiment showing that if you expose your arm to just 20 minutes of sunlight, that is enough to boost production of nitric oxide in your skin – causing the blood vessels to expand and reduce blood pressure.

• A recent study found taking vitamin D improved athletes’ muscle strength, possibly by stimulating muscle cell growth.

Whilst I’m sure we’ve all heard the expression ‘get some sun on your face’, it is important to remember that exposure to your bare forearms and legs is equally as important to maximise vitamin D production.

Different skin types and colours require different levels of exposure and ‘little and often’ is usually the best way to utilise the sun’s medicine without risking sunburn.

So, if you are reading this article, take it as a sign – if you can – to move whatever you are doing outdoors and take in some of that free healing power.

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