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Are they about to tax sunlight?
1st April 2005
Sometimes I wonder about the medical establishment.
They throw out so many scare stories that it can make your head dizzy. Take sunlight, for instance.
For the past ten years or so, we've been frightened by skin cancer stories, to the point where people lather themselves in factor 80 skin cream as soon as they leave the house in summer.
Have we become a nation of vampires?
It's fine to warn people of overexposure. I mean, when I see people pouring tanning oil over themselves on a hot day, I wonder what it is that drives people to cook themselves in public parks.
They look like my famous barbeque garlic prawns!
But on the other hand, recent evidence shows that sunlight can actually help prevent the skin cancer malignant melanoma.
So, as spring engulfs us once again, let me help you pick your way through the good and bad advice...
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Could sunlight help fight cancer?
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Some clever researchers in Sweden published something interesting this year in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. They claim that the sun's UV rays could reduce skin cancer risk by 40%.
You don't read that every day in your newspaper, do you?
Then I read some research from the University of Bristol, which said:
'Perhaps, while we await the conclusions of such formal analyses, those of us who enjoy spending time in the sun can rest (on out deck chair, sun lounger...or whatever) assured that the chance we will be one of the people dying from our tan is small.'
And then this from Marianne Berwick, Ph.D., a researcher and epidemiologist at Memorial SloanKettering Cancer Center in New York City:
'Anybody who tells you you're supposed to wear sunscreen... all day every day, even in the office, hasn't looked at the data.'
Okay, great... But then another statement by the Health Education Authority said that this kind of research could make people complacent about skin cancer.
Hmmmm.
The truth is, sunshine has so many benefits treating osteoporosis, kidney failure, multiple sclerosis, depression and psoriasis yet this side's not promoted so heavily by the establishment.
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Why not? Are they really scared everyone will run out and burn themselves to a cinder?
Or is it because of a more sinister reason...?
Is it, perhaps, because sunshine is free?
I mean you can't patent it, bottle it, put it in an expensive pill, tax it or export it. Maybe that's why it's not talked about too much.
Or perhaps it's because the enormously profitable sunscreen industry would have a lot to lose if people used their products less often.
...Who knows?
But until they find a way to tax sunlight and sell its benefits properly, let me give you some straight advice.
Cooking yourself in the sun is bad. Exposing yourself to the sun in the middle of the day, at its hottest, without protection, is just silly. Covering yourself in cooking fat and tinfoil and splaying yourself on a slab of concrete for ten hours... is suicidal.
But other than that, you should make sure you get at least 20 minutes in the sun each day. Ray's orders.
Because this is the only way you can boost your body's vitamin D intake. And the health benefits are enormous...
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Sunlight vs. bone decay, cancer and high blood pressure
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Vitamin D is produced when UV rays hit your skin. It's actually a hormone, rather than a vitamin, produced by your own body.
When you get older, it gets harder to produce vitamin D. But in one study I saw, out of 300 young adults who were hospitalised for a variety of ailments, 57% had a deficiency in vitamin D.
So no matter your age, you need more of the stuff to...
- Strengthen your bones. In a study at Tufts University, a group of men and women over 65 experienced less bone density loss when they took 500mg or calcium and 700 IU of vitamin D daily for 3 years. Other studies have shown it can lower the chance of getting a hip fracture.
- Fight cancer. According to Dr Michael Holick, your skin synthesizes vitamin D and then the blood circulates it directly to the breasts, colon, and prostate. In these organs, researchers believe, vitamin D inhibits cancer cell growth.
- Lower blood pressure. The Lancet published a study in 1998 that showed that systolic and diastolic blood pressure was reduced after subjects received six to 30 minutes of ultraviolet B radiation three times a week for six weeks. The theory isb that vitamin D helps your intestines absorb calcium, which is instrumental in helping your arteries control blood pressure.
There's a lot more to vitamin D, but I'll leave that for later bulletins.
By the way, if you're interested, Dr Holick (mentioned above) is interviewed on the benefits for sunlight in a report which you can download for free at
The Healing Power of Sunlight and Vitamin D
Now, as well as cooking yourself in sunshine - or avoiding it like Dracula - there are other extremes you should avoid, if you can.
Namely, draconian diet fads...
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When healthy eating can be bad for you
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Have you ever heard of 'orthorexia nervosa'?
I wouldn't be surprised if not. It's not formally recognised by the medical professional. But some experts say it's on the increase and believe it could be as bad as anorexia.
The phrase was coined by Steven Brateman MD back in 1997 to describe an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating.
Brateman says: 'If you get obsessed with what you eat, it actually has a lot of side effects - mainly the obsession itself.'
Considering I write to you every week about healthy living, it might surprise you that I agree with Dr Brateman.
Becoming obsessed with low salt, low fat, non-meat, alcohol content and calorie intake can lead to you missing out on essential nutrients.
A diet stripped down to just a few types is very dangerous. Plus one-minute people are telling you to cut out fats, the next they are telling you to cut out carbohydrates.
It can get ridiculous if you take it to the extreme. If you spend all the time worrying obsessively about food, you're going to forget to actually enjoy it!
Here's a little text I found on the internet, which apparently detects if you are orthorexic:
- Do you spend more than 3 hours a day thinking about healthy food?
- Has the quality of your life decreased as your stick further and further to your diet?
- Does your diet make it difficult for you to eat anywhere but at home, distancing you from friends and family?
- Do you feel guilt or self-loathing when you stray from your diet?
If you've answered yes to all of these, then perhaps you need to add balance to your strict diet and relax a little.
This is why I started up this letter. Because I was sick of reading unreasonable, dogmatic, faddish diet letters that didn't relate to real life... that made me feel overweight, weak and stupid.
Stuff them, I thought. I know from my own research that there is a middle way.
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It's dieting gone mad!
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I hope with the Good Life letter I am doing something different to the other 'alternative health' information sources you find these days.
Many of them offer the latest fad - like the Atkins diet - at the expense of common sense. Or they rely too heavily on supplements and vitamins - when natural foods are the order of the day.
Or they make you feel constantly guilt about the lifestyle you live, demanding you give up the pleasures in life for a strict, regimented diet of rabbit food.
With The Good Life letter, you get to keep a balance in life. The secret is to know all the facts. Armed with the right information, you can select what's good for your family and what is not.
But that sneaky chocolate bar, pint down at the local, champagne breakfast... if it's alright by you, it's alright by me.
The key is to avoid unnecessary health risks, while adding certain foods to your diet that will help you fight things like heart disease, obesity, cancer and depression.
Not that I'm perfect when it comes to looking after myself. I'm no Superman (although there is one photo of me from a fancy dress party you might like to see) - but you can be sure I'll do all I can to help you have a better,
healthier life!
...continuing with the next letter!
Yours,
Ray Collins
The Good Life Letter
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