Top Santé UK – August 2019

of Brits are

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shelf life

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57%

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Sign up to our newsletter at topsante.co.uk TopsanTé 29

W

e’ve all

experienced the

feelgood factor

that comes from a

holiday in the sun,

or the joy of a

blue-sky weekend at home in the garden.

But that boost can often come with a touch

of guilt that we shouldn’t really be

enjoying the sun quite so much. For years

we’ve had it drummed into us that too

much UV can cause skin cancer and

premature ageing and that we ought to

avoid the sun as much as possible. After

all, levels of skin cancer are on the rise and

melanoma is the UK’s fifth most common

cancer in women. Yet despite this, there’s

something to be said for the way the sun

can lift your mood and lower stress levels.

Do we really need to shy away from that

blazing ball of light in the sky quite as

much as many of the experts tell us to?

There’s a growing body of research to

suggest that shunning the sun altogether

isn’t actually such a good idea. For a start,

moderate UV exposure helps boost your

serotonin levels. These ‘happy hormones’

can perk up your mood and help you feel

calmer and less stressed. Being out in the

sunshine can also help improve the quality

of your sleep as it

leads to an increase, later in the day, of

the hormone melatonin, which helps you

sleep better and for longer.

And then there’s vitamin D. Much has

been written of late that many of us are

suffering from vitamin D deficiencies.

Recent research found that 74 per cent of UK

adults had inadequate levels of it. We need

vitamin D for good bone density and a

healthy immune system; exposure to UVB

rays helps your body produce it in the right

quantities. However, our sedentary, indoor

lifestyles, going from home to office, often in

the car, or at times of the day when the sun

isn’t even out, mean we don’t always get

sufficient sunlight for our bodies to create

enough of this crucial vitamin.

There have also been concerns that

slavishly applying sunscreen might be

contributing to the vitamin D deficiency

epidemic. So is now the time to get out in

that sun without protection to ensure you’re

getting your quota of vitamin D?

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rvey, 2013