Sunlight

“The benefits of sunlight are many:

“1. Fifteen to 30 minutes of daily exposure to sunlight in the early morning or late afternoon helps the body synthesize or make its own vitamin D, an essential nutrient/hormone in the skin. (Vitamin D helps blood to produce calcium and phosphorus, which build and repair bone mass.)

“2. Sunlight acts as a disinfectant and a killer of bacteria and germs.

“3. Being in the sun after a plane trip that crosses several time zones is helpful in adjusting to jet lag.

“4. The sun provides energy [by which the plant kingdom can] convert carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates. . . . Without this process animals and humans would starve to death.’—Eleanor N. Whitney and Eva M. Hamilton, Understanding Nutrition (St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing Company, 1981), p. 401.

“5. Sunlight also helps a person adjust to night work and relieves depression related to dark days where winter occurs.

“(A word of caution: Sunlight can also be harmful. Prolonged exposure can burn skin, increase the risk of skin cancer, speed up the aging process, damage the eyes, and cause cataracts).”—Look Up and Live: A Guide to Health Quarterly (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press Publishing Association, January to March, 1993), p. 36.