The Role of Sunlight in Elevating Energy Levels

Always feeling low on energy? There’s an easy fix – just go outside and play. There are health benefits from just being outside in the sun. Getting regular sun exposure can improve your quality of life by increasing your energy. Let’s explore!

Sunlight Benefits

Sun exposure gives you energy both directly and indirectly. Directly, the sun enables your body to manufacture energy-boosting vitamin D. Indirectly, sunlight helps your body create hormones that regulate the circadian rhythm. This ensures you get enough restful sleep at night, which provides energy for the next day.

Vitamin D and Energy

When most people think about vitamin D, they think of bone health and how it helps the body convert calcium into bone. 

However, scientists are finding that vitamin D plays a major role in other bodily systems, including energy production in cells. 

The key component to cellular energy is mitochondria and to function properly, mitochondria need vitamin D. There is a relationship between vitamin D and cells’ ability to create ATP – the compound from which cells generate power.

A scientific review finds that for people who are vitamin-D deficient, “the synthesis of ATP is reduced because of the decrease in vitamin D-dependent development of the electron transport chain complex”.

The effects don’t just exist on a cellular level, they also change how people feel. People who take vitamin D supplements report feeling less fatigued. 

In addition to being linked to energy production, supplementing vitamin D can help increase your overall fitness because it has been linked to muscle mass and the ability to complete physical tasks.

How the Body Creates Vitamin D from Sunlight

Ninety-five percent of adults do not get the vitamin D they need from their diets. Fortunately, sun exposure gives you a natural way to make vitamin D in a three-step process:

Your body produces 7-dehydrocholesterol, a precursor to cholesterol.

• Your body produces 7-dehydrocholesterol, a precursor to cholesterol.
• Penetrating deep within the skin, UVB radiation turns 7-dehydrocholesterol into pre-vitamin D. 
• Within the skin, pre-vitamin D goes through a thermal process – isomerization –converting it into vitamin D. 

Once the body makes vitamin D, it must pass from the skin to the liver and kidneys for further processing to convert it into a usable form.

How Sunlight Guides Your Circadian Rhythm

It’s hard to feel energetic if you haven’t had enough rest. Sun exposure helps guide your body into a cycle of sleep and wakefulness.

Sunlight sends a signal to the brain to stop melatonin production – a hormone that helps you fall asleep. If you get proper amounts of sun exposure, when it gets dark, your body will start making melatonin at the right time, prompting you to sleep on time. If you don’t get enough sunlight, your body will produce melatonin, which makes you sleepy during the day.

How to Sunbathe the Right Way

Sunbathing can give your body all the vitamin D it needs. To maximize the benefits of sunlight without hurting your body, use sunscreen, but don’t overdo it.

When it comes to getting the appropriate amount of sun exposure to boost vitamin D levels, location and time of year matter. 

In the summer, UV radiation is nearly ten times stronger than in winter. Because of the earth’s axis, sun rays must pass through more atmosphere to reach you in the winter, reducing your exposure.

Proximity to the equator makes a difference. The further south you are, the more direct the rays are and the less drop-off you’ll see in the winter. During Alaskan winters, the UV Index drops to near zero as there is almost no sunlight at all.

The major takeaway is – if you live north of 37 degrees latitude, you generally can’t rely on sun exposure to boost your vitamin D levels in the winter. During this time, a vitamin D supplement is recommended.

Another point to remember is that you cannot generate vitamin D from the sunlight shining through home and car windows because they filter out the UVB rays your body needs. If you’d like to get vitamin D from the sun, head outside.

You might think that sunscreen would stop you from getting the benefit of sun exposure, but it would take an excessive amount of sunscreen (so much that you can’t see your skin) to counter the benefits of sun exposure. Wear sunscreen and you’ll still get plenty of vitamin D-boosting rays while also protecting your skin.

Enjoy the Sun in Healthy Doses

While sunbathing has positive benefits, it takes little time in direct sunlight to get the vitamin D boost you need. To protect your skin, limit your exposure to 5 to 10 minutes during summer and 20 minutes in the winter. Also, keep an eye on the UV index and exercise caution when it’s 8 or higher. In other words, keep yourself protected and enjoy the sunshine and an energy boost!