Step into the sunshine, get out of the shade . . .

So go the lyrics of an Evie song for children in the late 1970’s. The spiritual metaphor is based on a physical reality — the sun is good for you! Incredibly, this common sense, historic truth has been obscured by several decades of misguided doctors suffering from, I guess, what we would have to call heliophobia — fear of the sun.

We get dire warnings of how we’ll get skin cancer if we don’t get out of the sun, how sunny Australia has such a high skin cancer rate, and on and on and on. One would logically conclude from doctors and their willing lapdog accomplices in the media that the sun is a great enemy of your health. One might almost be led to question why God made the sun in the first place . . . until we recall that all life on earth would rather quickly cease without the sun.

The heliophobes fail to consider the obvious: If being out in the sun is so bad and causes skin cancer, how on earth have people survived and thrived working in the sun for several millennia before our time? Could there be some other factors in skin cancer? Is the sun just being made a scapegoat?

PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS

Before writing this article, I had to properly prepare. So I spent the morning at our Central Oregon ranch (where we located partly because of the 300+ days of sunshine per year) working out in the sun. After 16 years of living in the Seattle area, my wife and I started spending winters in Green Valley, Arizona (with over 330 days of sunshine per year) and spending the summers at the ranch in Central Oregon. Not only did my mood lift, but I finally started winning my ten year battle with corticosteroid-induced osteoporosis. Thus I began to revise my view of the sun, as usual, contrary to the prevailing view of most “health authorities.”

Particularly in our retirement community in Arizona I see people who have succumbed to the brainwashing. I see old women with huge hats and every inch of their body covered on beautiful 80 degree days . . . and they think they’re being so healthy! One look at their pasty, white, “death warmed-over” complexion tells another story. How could we be so deceived as to think the greatest source of life is to be feared?

UV FACTS & FICTION

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) we should “protect ourselves against ultraviolet light whenever we can see our shadow.” I’ve heard of being scared of your shadow, but this is ridiculous! Heliophobia reportedly began after investigators held open the eyes of anesthetized animals and shined intense UV light into them resulting in retinal damage. No kidding! And what has that to do with normal exposure to sunlight? Joseph G. Hattersley, in his excellent article, “The Healing Power of Full-Spectrum Light” (Reprinted in The Townsend Letter for Doctors, Jan. 2004 from Nexus Magazine, Vol. 8, Number 4) comments:

As a result of the EPA’s advice, which is based on junk science, the use of sunglasses is epidemic; we hide behind stylish darkened car windows, we slather our skin with sunscreen for even brief sun exposure. People who engage in these practices are ruining their disposition and health.

High amounts of UVC (a shorter-wave UV used for germicidal effects) is known to damage tissue. Based on that the EPA made the absurd quantum leap to condemning all UV light. UVC is found especially in tanning salons.

OZONE HOLE NONSENSE

Heliophobia has especially been encouraged by the radical environmental movement in their promotion of the “ozone hole” myth. The theory is that the ozone layer in the atmosphere protects us from harmful UV radiation. But alas, due to automobile and other emissions, the ozone layer is thinning (no mention of the much greater impact of erupting volcanoes). The result of course is increased skin cancer, so everyone must cover themselves before exposure to the sun.

This theory could be easily proven — just go to the areas of the earth most exposed to the so-called “ozone hole” and see how many people have skin cancer. Punta Arenas in Southern Chile is the largest city close to the ozone hole, yet no ozone-related health problems have occurred and UV radiation has not significantly increased. (Am J Public Health, April 1995; 85; 4:546-550)

Conversely, from 1957 to 1984, with no charge in ozone or UV radiation over Norway, the melanoma rate increased 350% for men and 440% for women. (British J Cancer, 1992:916-921)

REAL CAUSES

1. Diet— Diet is a real culprit.While studies have found that exposure to UVB radiation increases cataract risk that was only true if a junk food diet high in unsaturated fats was consumed. (JAMA, 1998; 280:714-718) People eating a better diet and doing vitamin C and E supplementation don’t get cataracts even if they have extensive sun exposure. (Cancer Research 1985;45:6254-6259 and Bland JS, Functional Medicine Update, March 2000)
2. Indoor Lighting— That’s another thing that’s changed from the days of our sweaty, sun-exposed forbears.A US Navy study found that the most malignant melanoma was found not in people who worked in the sun, but with people who worked indoors under artificial light! They found that most of these skin cancers occur on areas of the body not even exposed to the sun. (Arch Environmental Health, 1990;45:261-267) A study published in The Lancet found that it was not sunlight that caused melanoma but rather fluorescent light that caused more than twice the melanoma risk. The study actually found that long exposure to full-spectrum sunlight actually “immunized” people from the later development of melanoma. (Lancet, 8/7/82, 290-293)
   The late Dr. John Ott, inventor of time-lapse photography and famous for his work with the health effects of full-spectrum lighting, found that light from fluorescent tubes (plus TV and computer screens) causes red blood cells to clump together, resulting in reduced alertness, fatigue, and increased heart attack and stroke risk. Ott also found that the cathodes at the end of the fluorescent tubes emit X-rays. When plants are placed under these, abnormal, stunted growth results. Animals caged under the ends of the tubes become aggressive and cannibalistic. Interestingly, Ott became interested in full-spectrum light when his arthritis was cured after he fell and broke his glasses!
   Ott repeatedly saw terminal cancer patients get well simply by taking off their sunglasses and prescription glasses and then getting out in the sun. Jane Wright, M.D., Director of Cancer Research at Bellevue Memorial Medical Center in New York City in 1959 implemented Ott’s approach and saw 14 or 15 progressive tumor patients have no growth in their tumors. The one who didn’t improve sat outdoors, but still kept his UV blocking prescription glasses on.

3. Sunscreen— Like most of man’s solutions for alleged problems, sunscreens miss the mark.They block out the forms of ultraviolet light that benefit your health — UVA and UVB — while doing nothing for the more dangerous UVC. The chemicals used in the sunscreens enter the body through the skin, increasing the overall toxicity. Some postulate a link, not between sun exposure and skin cancer, but between sunscreen usage and skin cancer. Lita Lee, Ph.D. states:
   Mounting evidence indicates that many of them [sunscreens] contain carcinogens and that the rise of skin cancers parallels the increase in sunscreen usage. (L. Lee, Your Health, 1999(Jul)4(3):3)

4. Chlorinated Water— At least two studies and other reports link drinking and bathing in chlorinated water with an increase in melanoma.(J Invest Dermatology, 1980;75, 122-127; Epidemiology 1992;3(3):263-265) My Pacific Health Center clinics for years have emphasized the importance of distilling drinking water to remove chlorine and other contaminants, as well as using a chlorine-removing shower filter.
5. Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)— There seems to be no end to the problems foisted upon women through HRT . . . and here’s one more — melanoma.Birth control pills and HRT are primarily used in America, Australia and Europe — the three areas with the greatest increase in melanoma. In one study all the women who developed melanomas before age 40 had used birth control pills, ending up with a three times greater risk. (The Walnut Creek Contraceptive Drug Study, US National Institutes of Health, Vol. III, 1986:247-252)

RESULTING VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY

A new book, The UV Advantage, by Michael Holick, MD, Ph.D. and Professor of Medicine and Dermatology at Boston University (quoted in “Vitamin D: It’s Role in Autoimmune Disease and Hypertension” by Jonathan V. Wright, MD in The Townsend Letter for Doctors, May 2004), notes that vitamin D deficiency is causing an increase in prostate, breast and 11 other cancers, plus hypertension, cardiovascular disease, MS, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic pain and inflammatory bowel disease.

And guess where we get vitamin D from? Sunshine. As UV radiation reactions with our skin, vitamin D is produced. Dr. Wright notes that civilization started in the tropics where there is abundant sunshine. Over time people migrated to higher latitudes north and south getting less sun. The last 150 years of people moving from rural areas into cities has further complicated the problem.

Seeming almost like a conspiracy we now have “health” authorities urging us to make our bodies even more vitamin D deficient by using sunscreen. Dr. Wright notes that even a weak sunscreen (e. g. SPF 8) blocks out 88% of the UVB radiation, significantly increasing your odds for vitamin D deficiency.

VITAMIN D & DISEASE

1. Cancer— People living in temperate latitudes (farther from equator — less sun and vitamin D) have more colon, prostate and breast cancer.1989 research shows that adults with high levels of vitamin D have half the risk of colon cancer. (Lancet 1989;2(8,673)1,176-1178) Other research has shown vitamin D to suppress breast, bone and skin cancer also.
2. Hypertension— Vitamin D controls the level of rennin and angiotensin, thus regulating blood pressure.Many cases of hypertension may be due to vitamin D deficiency. (J Cell Biochemistry 2003;88(2) 327-331)
3. Autoimmune Diseases— MS incidence is much greater in temperate latitudes.Seattle, with its limited sunshine, has long been regarded as a high incidence area for MS. Other autoimmune diseases also appear to follow this pattern including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and Type I diabetes.
4. Psoriasis— Psoriasis is much more common in the dark winter months.Conventional medicine accepts the improvement sunlight brings to the disease, but doesn’t credit vitamin D.

SUPPLEMENTAL VITAMIN D

Obviously the sun is the best source of vitamin D, but what about supplementation for those who can’t get as much sun as they should? It is now believed that previous maximum dosage limits were set too low. New estimates from researchers place the safe upper limit at 4,000 — 10,000 I.U. daily.

SUN, BUT NOT SUNBURN

You need the right balance between not enough sun and too much sun. I’ve often observed with amazement the stupidity of tourists in Hawaii looking like boiled lobsters. That’s obviously unhealthy. But most people aren’t getting enough sun. Dr. Wright recommends in his article getting enough sun daily to turn the skin slightly pink — and I would emphasize the slightly. If you can’t do that, take 4000 I.U. of vitamin D. That’s probably 10 times more than you are getting in your multi-vitamin and multi-mineral.

The idea is to get enough sun daily to achieve that health dose and then cover up or go inside, if possible. If that’s not possible, like on a several hour hike in the sun, there is a possible alternative to potentially toxic, vitamin D deficiency promoting sunscreens. Lita Lee, Ph.D., quoted earlier, recommends temporarily using coconut oil during the early summer when your skin is getting used to more sun exposure. This will not prevent sunburn to the same extent that a sunscreen will, but it will provide some level of protection.

Better Health Update is published by Pacific Health Center, PO Box 1066, Sisters, OR 97759, Phone (800) 255–4246 with a branch clinic in Portland, Oregon. E-Mail: drkline@pacifichealthcenter.com. Monte Kline, Clinical Nutritionist, Author. Reproduction Prohibited.

DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this publication is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose illness nor prescribe treatment. Rather, this material is designed to be used in cooperation with your nutritionally-oriented health professional to deal with your personal health problems. Should you use this information on your own, you are prescribing for yourself, which is your constitutional right, but neither the author nor publisher assume responsibility.