Soaking Up the Sun: Could It Be the Secret to Women Living Longer?

A dangerous habit we’ve been warned about is now baffling everyone, especially when new research finds that women who had higher levels of sun exposure live longer. The Journal of Internal Medicine (JoIM) has published a study that shows women with higher sun exposure had lower instances of cardiovascular disease and lived on average 0.6 to 2.1 years longer than women who avoided sun exposure.

There is no paradox here! Increased sun exposure leads to increased natural levels of the steroid hormone vitamin D. Vitamin D interacts positively with all of the body’s organs and cells, and has numerous benefits. In fact, research shows that lower levels of sun exposure increased mortality rates similar to smoking.

Melanoma concerns

You may be asking, what about the risk of melanoma skin cancer from increased sun exposure? Research in PubMed in 2009 found that sun exposure may just be a scapegoat to explain away “diagnostic drift” – instances in which doctors classified benign lesions as stage 1 melanoma. In other words, physicians diagnosing non-cancerous lesions as cancerous accounted for the perceived rise in rates of melanoma.

Further, a study in Medical Hypotheses found that melanoma rates are increasing in indoor workers far faster than outdoor workers, attributing this to the lack of vitamin D from sun exposure indoor workers get, along with an increase in UVA rays (which pass through windows) that cause cell mutations and break down vitamin D formed from outdoor sun exposure.

The numerous benefits of vitamin D

Numerous studies have shown that women with breast cancer are three times more likely to have low vitamin D levels, and men with the highest levels of vitamin D lived longer after a prostate cancer diagnosis than those with low levels of the hormone.

Vitamin D has been shown to influence dozens of other conditions including diabetes types I and II, cold and flu, aging signs, osteoporosis, seizures, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, schizophrenia, inflammation, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, infertility, depression, and asthma.

Taking a daily dose of 5,000 IUs of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) could help improve overall health and well-being. However, be cautious not to take synthetic vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) as it has been linked to a host of health problems such as high calcium levels, nausea, vomiting, constipation, loss of appetite, increased thirst, urinary dysfunction, altered mood and mood swings, severe lethargy, rashes, itching and swelling of the face, mouth, and throat, severe dizziness, and breathing problems.

So, why do sunbathers live longer than those who avoid the sun? The answer is simple: vitamin D.

**Please note, this is not medical advice, and you should always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new health regime.