The role of sun exposure for your well-being is a topic that’s very close to my heart, as an avid sun advocate for many years, it’s one of the top recommendations that I stand firm on for human health.
The most notable benefits, of course, is that it allows you to optimise your vitamin D levels, however, the benefits far surpass that, as it actually awakens the essence of your entire biology on a cellular and mitochondrial level.
We have unfortunately been systematically mislead and misinformed when it comes to direct sun exposure. Let’s break down the myths and facts here on this piece.
The sun isn’t the damaging part, it’s the diet.
Humans have been evolving outside under the golden touch of the sun for millennia. If it were solely true that human skin were so susceptible to damage from sunlight exposure, we would have never made it to where we are.
When you realise that sensitivity to UV light increases with PUFA consumption, as does the incidence of skin issues then it all starts to make sense: lipid peroxidation is the real cause of skin disease that’s become more prevalent since the ‘70s.
Without both UV and lipid peroxidation, you don’t have skin damage. And since UV exposure is natural, but seed oil filled skin is not, reducing seed oils in your skin is the diet is the correct way to protect yourself from burning from UV sun exposure
The sun isn’t the damaging part, it’s the diet.
Your skin micro biome structure is created from the environment you’ve built with your nutrition, environment and what you’ve allowed to be absorbed. Nutrients builds the skin micro-biome, and you can change it entirely within a few months of changing your diet and lifestyle.
The rise of industrial seed oils happened at the same time skin cancer rates increased, and emerging research suggests dietary fats may influence how the skin responds to UV radiation.
For decades we’ve been told the same story. Sunlight damages skin. So the solution to most seemed simple.
Avoid the sun, cover up entirely, profusely apply sunscreen. However researchers studying skin biology started noticing something strange…
Two individuals could receive the exact same UV exposure. Yet their skin responded completely differently.
Why? One factor researchers began investigating was dietary fat. Because the fats you eat eventually become the fats that make up your skin cells. And not all fats behave the same way under sunlight.
Polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs) known as seed oils contain multiple unstable double bonds. These bonds make them extremely vulnerable to oxidation when exposed to UV radiation. When sunlight hits skin rich in these fats, something called lipid peroxidation occurs.
This reaction produces highly reactive molecules that can damage cellular structures. Scientists studying UV exposure have found that animals consuming higher PUFA diets often show:
- increased oxidative stress in skin
- higher levels of lipid peroxidation
- greater inflammatory responses
- increased susceptibility to UV-induced skin damage
In dermatology research, one of the most commonly used models is the SKH-1 hairless mouse. These mice are frequently used to study how sunlight contributes to skin cancer. When researchers exposed these mice to UV radiation while feeding different types of fats, the results were striking.
The fatty acid composition of the diet changed how the skin responded to UV exposure. This suggests something important. The skin is not just passively exposed to sunlight.
The skin microbiome biochemistry actually matters.
The fats that make up your skin cells influence how your body handles oxidative stress from the sun. Which raises a question we rarely hear discussed. If modern diets contain far more polyunsaturated fats than traditional diets…
Could that change how our skin responds to sunlight?
Sunlight itself is not the enemy, It regulates our circadian rhythm, supports vitamin D production, Influences immune signaling. When the sun’s rays touch our skin, our body captures the red and near-infrared light and converts them into electrons. Your body then uses these electrons to feed the ETC and create ATP in your mitochondria, in simple terms we’re being energetically charged by sun exposure.
This interaction between sunlight and the molecules inside our skin may matter far more than we think, and the mainstream science community fail to question it.
Graph showing the rise in PUFA Seed Oil Consumption and the rise in skin cancer has a similar trajectory and timeline as it wasn't at an epidemic level prior to the introduction of Seed Oils.
The Benefits Of Sun Exposure Go Far Beyond Vitamin D Production
1. Sunlight Boosts Cellular Energy Production
Every cell in your body runs on energy produced inside structures called mitochondria. These tiny “power plants” convert sugar and natural lightinto ATP, the molecule that singlehandedly powers everything at a cellular level from muscle contraction to brain function.
Sunlight helps support this process and also supports oxidative metabolism, the efficient form of energy production that keeps the body functioning smoothly.
When cells produce energy efficiently:
- inflammation decreases
- tissues repair faster
- hormones function better
- brain function improves
- resilience to stress increases
In contrast, prolonged darkness and time indoors under artificial light tends to push the body toward a stress-dominated state where energy production becomes less efficient.
2. Sunlight Sets Your Biological Clock
Your body runs on a circadian rhythm, a 24-hour cycle that controls when hormones rise and fall. Sunlight is the main signal that keeps this clock synchronised.
Morning and daytime light help regulate:
- sleep timing
- cortisol rhythm
- body temperature
- metabolism
- appetite
- hormone release
Without strong daylight exposure, this system begins to drift.
People will often experience:
- poor sleep
- low energy
- brain fog
- mood instability
- metabolic sluggishness
Sunlight doesn’t just brighten your day and heighten mood. It keeps your entire physiology running on schedule.
3. Sunlight Improves Mood and Mental Clarity
Have you ever noticed how your mood improves on a bright sunny day? That’s not just psychological.
Sunlight exposure is associated with increased activity of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, which influence motivation, mood, and mental clarity. But the deeper reason sunlight helps mood may be metabolic.
The brain is one of the most energy-demanding organs in the body. When cellular energy production improves, brain function improves too. From that perspective, sunlight helps mood because it supports the energetic processes that keep the brain functioning well.
4. Sunlight Supports Healthy Hormone Production
Another rarely discussed benefit of sunlight is its effect on hormones.
Longer daylight exposure is associated with increased production of protective steroid hormones such as:
- progesterone
- testosterone
- DHEA
These hormones help regulate metabolism, fertility, mood, and stress resilience.
On the other hand, prolonged darkness and inadequate light exposure can contribute to hormonal imbalance. Seasonal changes in daylight are known to influence reproductive hormones across many species, including humans.
In other words, light helps regulate the hormonal environment of the body.
5. Sunlight Helps Lower Stress Hormones
When the body is under chronic stress, it relies heavily on hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.
While these hormones are necessary on limited occasion, staying in a prolonged stress state can disrupt metabolism and damage tissues over time.
Sunlight helps counter this pattern. Bright light exposure supports a more balanced physiological state by improving energy production and stabilising hormonal rhythms.
So sunlight isn’t just beneficial. It helps the body recover from the physiological stress of prolonged darkness.
6. Sunlight Supports Thyroid Function and Metabolism
The thyroid gland controls how fast your body produces and uses energy.
When thyroid function is strong:
- body temperature stays stable
- energy levels improve
- digestion works better
- tissues repair faster
- mood becomes more stable
Sunlight supports this metabolic state by encouraging efficient respiration and glucose metabolism. That’s one reason many people feel more energetic during the brighter months of the year. Light helps maintain the high-energy metabolic state that supports health.
7. Sunlight Strengthens the Immune System
Sunlight helps regulate the immune system through multiple mechanisms. It promotes vitamin D production, improves metabolic energy availability, and helps reduce stress physiology, all of which influence immune resilience.
Interestingly, many immune processes become more robust during summer months when daylight exposure is greatest. This suggests that light plays a deeper role in immune function than is often acknowledged.
Rather than simply fighting pathogens, a healthy immune system depends on adequate cellular energy and balanced hormones. Sunlight helps support both.
Our Tips on How To Tan And Avoid Burning
If you want to increase your sunlight exposure and achieve better overall health we suggest:
- Eliminating seed oils from your diet as soon as possible. The more you consume, the more serious your sunlight side effects may be (among other concerns such as obesity and heart disease).
- Taking 15-minute walks outside, where you can get a little sunlight on your face. You may want to walk on your lunch break or take a stroll after work, or even save some time in the early morning for a quick jaunt around the neighborhood, this brief exposure lays a massive foundation for you to one day be able to enjoy extended periods immersed in sunlight.
- Early morning sunlight exposure primes your body and skin for higher levels of UV later in the day, so try to get out in the sun in the morning, even if it’s only fifteen minutes, and even if its overcast as you're still getting UV light benefits through dense clouds.
- Expose your eyes to the sun, sun gazing was an ancient healing practise for eyesight and overall well-being. Our eyes aren't just for vision, they’re like solar panels. The retina contains aromatic amino acids (tryptophan and tyrosine) and when exposed to full spectrum sunlight, especially infrared, they undergo photochemical reactions that produce neuroprotective and immune modulating compounds.
- Stop wearing sunglasses, when you wear them you trick the brain into thinking you’re in the shade and this impairs melanin production. This then means you’re more susceptible to burn exposed to sunlight. Also when you’re filtering natural light all day with sunglasses and then exposing yourself to artificial blue light at night, you’re totally throwing off the circadian rhythm balance. So unless truly necessary for safety for example whilst snowboarding in the mountains. Sunglasses are just blocking your bodies ability to convert sunlight into Vitamin D.
- Build up a solar callus, exposure yourself slowly and gradually. Then over time your body becomes more and more accustomed to sunlight exposure. This is why the masses tend to burn so heavily when they go on vacation, they’ve been predominantly indoors for the entire year, not getting consistent natural light or UV exposure all year. Then they go on vacation for two weeks of the year and they burn instantly, as the skin microbiome has not been primed for such high levels of sunlight exposure.
