There have been more “scary stories” in the past week in the media in Singapore about the “dangers” of being in the sun. How skin cancer is a huge threat and how we are not designed to be in the sun all the time.

The mainstream media is out to sensationalize things and scary stores are a great way to get readership. But they are wrong. (and it wouldn’t be the first time, and probably not the last). Here is what I believe to be the balanced and smarter way of doing things…

Here are some truths about how the sun affects us. And how we should deal with the risks, while getting the most benefit from sunlight!

• The sun helps us produce vitamin D, and it its best possible form. I recommend vitamin D to many of my personal training, fitness bootcamp and nutrition coaching clients because it is a wonderful nutrient that has great benefits from immune system health, less allergies and autoimmune diseases, fat burning and muscle building as well. An interesting point is that EVERY kind of tissue in our body has vitamin D receptors that means that correct vitamin D levels boost ALL areas of health. That means that However, even the best quality supplemental vitamin D is possible not as good as the vitamin D produced in our own bodies when we are exposed to sunlight. In fact Dr. Michael Holick, an expert on vitamin D has researched and found out that vitamin D produced from skin exposure to sunlight lasts longer (2x or more) in our blood as when it is taken as a supplement.
• The risk to benefit ratio of having sunlight vs not having it is excellent. The most common damaging problem of EXCESSIVE sun exposure is what is known as basal cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer. Certainly it is not a good idea to get skin cancer. However basal cell carcinoma is relatively non-malignant, and almost never results in death. However the cancers who have a REDUCED risk with higher sun exposure (we know this because they are more common in less sunny areas of the world) are very deadly. Colon, breast, prostate and others are very dangerous cancers and they are all positively influenced by sunlight! Yay!
• We need to condition ourselves to sunlight. And our bodies will adapt. Sunlight has 2 types of ultra violet rays (UV). Type A, and Type B. UVB burns us but also stimulates vitamin D production. UVA tans us but is also damaging to the skin. Most sunscreen blocks only UVB. So we don’t get vitamin D production. Yet it allows us to feel “unburnt” so we stay longer in the sun, and absorb alot of UVA which eventually causes skin problems.
• In short, if we are not accustomed to sun, we will get burnt, that is the sign that we have had enough, and should go inside. However sunscreen “turns off” the burning and helps us stay outside longer than out current level to tan and tolerance allows.
• It is a bit like training an athlete. If he is gradually conditioned (getting a tan over time) he can withstand great physical training and stress. However, taking a suntan lotion is like training while on painkillers, you feel no pain so you don’t know when to stop and you get a serious injury because your body cannot actually handle the training loads.

What have we learned?

• The sun is good for us
• Too much is bad for us
• Don’t use suntan lotion
• Get a tan gradually if you want one
• When you are tanned, you can tolerate more sunlight