Pretty convinced light exposure is one of the most crucial keys to good health, but what is it about light? Is it Vitamin D production, direct effect of penetrating red light on cells, the effect on melatonin and dopamine via the retina, or something else?
I suspect that the stimulatory effect of retinal light exposure on the whole organism is likely more important than either vitamin D or direct skin exposure to penetrating red light. Every christmas when I travel up from about 45 deg latitude to 60 deg latitude for my holidays and basically get zero really bright light exposure, my health just falls apart within days - depressed and tired all the time, digestion slowed down to a crawl, bloated and severely inflamed. It seems direct skin exposure to light could not account for this rapid deterioration since that was already basically zero. I made a big effort to become vitamin D replete last year but it did not really have any profound impact on my health, but I still didnt spend much time outside in the daylight beyond some noon whole body sun exposure, I'm wondering if this is the missing link.
Has anyone noticed a big impact on their health from spending much more time outdoors during the daylight hours?
I suspect that the stimulatory effect of retinal light exposure on the whole organism is likely more important than either vitamin D or direct skin exposure to penetrating red light. Every christmas when I travel up from about 45 deg latitude to 60 deg latitude for my holidays and basically get zero really bright light exposure, my health just falls apart within days - depressed and tired all the time, digestion slowed down to a crawl, bloated and severely inflamed. It seems direct skin exposure to light could not account for this rapid deterioration since that was already basically zero. I made a big effort to become vitamin D replete last year but it did not really have any profound impact on my health, but I still didnt spend much time outside in the daylight beyond some noon whole body sun exposure, I'm wondering if this is the missing link.
Has anyone noticed a big impact on their health from spending much more time outdoors during the daylight hours?