CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 8
Sunlight – Medicine of Nature
The Sun – The Ultimate Source of Life on Earth
egular exposure of your body to the germicidal wavelength of ultraviolet light (UV) of the sun
successfully controls germs, mites, mold, bacteria, and viruses. Its powerful, immune-stimulating
effect makes sunlight one of the most important disease-inhibitors. But this is only one of the many
benefits sunlight has to offer for enhancing and sustaining human health.
Throughout the ages, the electromagnetic waves generated by the sun have kept the planet habitable
for humans, animals and plants. The sun is, in fact, the only true source of energy on planet Earth. It
provides the perfect amount of energy for the plants to synthesize all of the products required for growth
and reproduction. Sun energy is stored by the plants in the form of carbohydrates, proteins and fat. When
ingested, plant foods provide us with the vital energy we need in order to lead active and healthy lives.
The processes of digestion, assimilation and metabolism of food in the body are mainly used to break
down, transfer, store and utilize these various forms of encapsulated solar energies. The lowest level of
the food chain, where foods are manufactured directly by sunlight, makes available the most sun energy.
By contrast, products that are high on the food chain contain little or no sun energy, and are practically
useless, if not harmful, for the body. These include products made from dead animals, fish, junk foods,
microwave foods, as well as frozen, irradiated, genetically engineered10, and highly processed foods.
Wood, fuel and minerals, too, are merely the various forms of locked-up sun energy. In fact, all matter
is “frozen” light. Our body cells are nothing but bundles of sun energy. The glucose and oxygen we feed
them are products of the sun. We couldn’t even think or process a single thought without the molecules of
sun-energized glucose and oxygen.
10 In 1998 scientists have found the first evidence that genetically-modified food may damage human health. Researchers at the
prestigious Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen, U.K., found that genetically-modified foods could damage the immune
systems of rats. Around 60 percent of the processed food products found in supermarkets – from hamburgers to ice cream –
may contain ingredients that have been genetically tampered with.
R
239
Air, which is warmed by the sun, is capable of absorbing water from the oceans while passing over
them. As the air moves over the land masses up to higher elevations, it starts to cool down and thereby
release some of the absorbed water. This water falls on the earth plains as rain or snow and feeds the
rivers and through them, the land and the vegetation.
Depending on its position in relation to earth rotation, the position of the moon, and the sun’s internal
cyclic activities (sun spot cycles), the sun masterminds the entire earth climate and the seasonal changes
down to the smallest details, including temperature, amount of rainfall, cloud formation, periods of
dryness, etc.
The planet is not only a home for human beings. The sun has to support the growth of all the other
species, including plants, animals, insects, and especially microbes, without which life here would not be
possible. The mathematical complexity that stands behind a system of organization so infinitely diverse
and intricate as planetary life cannot be fathomed even by a trillion supercomputers. But the sun, without
making mistakes, “calculates” what each species, whether it is an ant, a tree or a human being, requires in
order to fulfill their evolutionary purpose and cycle.
The electromagnetic waves generated by the sun come in a variety of lengths, which determine their
specific course of action and responsibility. They range from a 0.00001 nanometer for cosmic rays (a
nanometer is one billionth of a meter) to about 4,990 kilometers for electric waves. There are cosmic rays,
gamma rays, x-rays, various kinds of Ultraviolet rays, the visible light consisting of seven color rays,
short-wave infrared, infrared, radio waves and electric waves.
Most of these energy waves are absorbed and used for various processes in the layers of atmosphere
that surround the earth. only a small portion of them – the electromagnetic spectrum – reaches the surface
of the earth. The human eye, though, can perceive just about one percent of it. Although we are unable to
see any of the ultraviolet and infrared waves, they exert a very strong influence on us. In fact, ultraviolet
light has proved to be the most biologically active. Depending on the location of the earth and the season,
ultraviolet light and, of course, all the other portions of light, vary in intensity. This permits all life forms
to go through constant cycles of change necessary for growth and renewal.
The Miraculous Healing Powers of UV Light
The times when one’s immediate natural impulse on the first sunny spring day was to get outside and
enjoy it are long gone. only the very courageous or “careless” who defy the grim warnings from medical
mandarins and cancer specialists, wholeheartedly endorsed by the sun cream industry, venture forth into
the “dangerous” sun. Unless they are covered head to toe with sun factor 60, they gamble with their lives,
or so they are made to believe by those who serve their vested interests. Fortunately, this view is
beginning to crumble in the blatant absence of scientific proof that sunlight causes disease. What is being
discovered instead is that lack of sun exposure is one of the greatest risk factors of disease.
Unfortunately, it is the ultraviolet portion of sunlight that is the most easily eliminated by windows,
houses, spectacles, sunglasses, sun lotions, and clothing. Before antibiotic drugs were discovered in the
1930s – penicillin having been the first one – the healing power of sunlight was the favored interest of the
medical community, at least in Europe. Sunlight therapy, called heliotherapy, was indeed considered to be
the most successful treatment for infectious diseases from the late 19th to mid-20th century.
Studies revealed that exposing patients to controlled amounts of sunlight dramatically lowered elevated
blood pressure (up to 40 mm Hg drop), decreased cholesterol in the blood stream, lowered abnormally
240
high blood sugars among diabetics, and increased the number of white blood cells which we need to help
resist disease. Patients suffering from gout, rheumatoid arthritis, colitis, arteriosclerosis, anemia, cystitis,
eczema, acne, psoriasis, herpes, lupus, sciatica, kidney problems, asthma, as well as burns, have all shown
to receive great benefit from the healing rays of the sun.
The medical doctor and author, Dr. Auguste Rollier, who was the most famous heliotherapist of his
day, at his peak had 36 clinics with over 1,000 beds in Leysin, Switzerland. His clinics were situated
5,000 feet above sea level. The high altitude allowed his patients to catch a lot more of UV light than was
possible at the lower levels of the atmosphere. Dr. Rollier used the UV rays of sunlight to treat diseases
such as tuberculosis (TB), rickets, smallpox, lupus vulgaris (skin tuberculosis) and wounds. He followed
in the footsteps of Danish physician Dr. Niels Finsen, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1903 for his
treatment of TB using ultraviolet light. Rollier found that sunbathing early in the morning, in conjunction
with a nutritious diet, produced the best effects.
The miraculous complete cures of tuberculosis and other diseases made headlines at the time. What
surprised the medical community most was the fact that the sun’s healing rays remained ineffective if the
patients wore sunglasses. By the year 1933, there were over 165 different diseases that clearly benefited
from sunlight. But with the death of Rollier in 1954, and the growing power of the pharmaceutical
industry, heliotherapy fell into disuse. By the 1960’s, man-made miracle drugs had replaced medicine’s
fascination with the sun’s healing powers, and the public was being increasingly bombarded with
warnings about sunbathing and the risks of skin cancer.
Today, the sun is considered to be the main culprit for causing skin cancer, certain cataracts leading to
blindness, and aging. only those who take the “risk” of exposing themselves to the sunlight find that the
sun makes them feel better, provided they don’t use sunscreens or burn their skin. The UV-rays in
sunlight actually stimulate the thyroid gland to increase hormone production, which in turn increases the
body’s basal metabolic rate. This assists both in weight loss and improved muscle development. Farm
animals fatten much faster when kept indoors, and so do people who stay out of the sun. So if you want to
lose weight or increase your muscle tone, expose your body to the sun on a regular basis.
The use of antibiotics, which has practically replaced heliotherapy, has in recent years led to the
development of drug-resistant strains of bacteria, which defy any treatment other than balanced use of
sun, water, air, and food. Cutting out or substantially reducing any of these four essential constituents of
life results in disease.
Any person who misses out on sunlight becomes weak and suffers mental and physical problems as a
result. His vital energy diminishes in due time, which is reflected in the quality of life. The populations in
Northern European countries like Norway and Finland, which experience months of darkness every year,
have a higher incidence of irritability, fatigue, illness, insomnia, depression, alcoholism, and suicide than
those living in the sunny parts of the world. Their skin cancer rates are higher, too. For example, the
incidence of melanoma (skin cancer) on the Orkney and Shetland Isles, north of Scotland, is 10 times that
of Mediterranean islands.
UV light is known to activate an important skin hormone called solitrol. Solitrol influences our
immune system and many of our body’s regulatory centers, and, in conjunction with the pineal hormone
melatonin, causes changes in mood and daily biological rhythms. The hemoglobin in our red blood cells
require ultraviolet (UV) light to bind to the oxygen needed for all cellular functions. Lack of sunlight can,
therefore, be held co-responsible for almost any kind of illness, including skin cancer and other forms of
cancer. As you are about to find out, it may be highly detrimental to your health to miss out on sunlight.
241
Can UV-Radiation Prevent and Cure Skin Cancer?
A major concern of our scientists today is the dramatic increase of skin cancers around the world.
There are three main types of skin cancer, two of which, basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma (nonmelanomas),
are increasingly prevalent, whereas the third, malignant melanoma, is much rarer, but far
more lethal.11 The most pressing question is why would the sun suddenly become so vicious and try to kill
scores of people after thousands of years of harmlessness?
The medical community claims that ultraviolet light (UV) is the major cause of skin cancers. The
theory is based on the assumption that our thinning ozone layer permits too much of the germicidal UV to
penetrate to the surface of the earth and cause destruction of all kinds, including damage to our skin and
eye cells. Yet the theory has major flaws and no scientific backing. Contrary to general belief, there is no
evidence that reduction in the ozone layer, observed at the poles, has caused any increase in melanomas.
The germicidal frequency of UV is destroyed or is filtered out by the ozone layer in the Earth’s
stratosphere and only small amounts – necessary to purify the air we breathe and the water we drink –
actually reach the surface of the earth. To that effect, a study of Punta Arenas, the largest South American
city close to the Antarctic ozone hole, showed no increase in health problems related to depleted ozone. In
fact, UV measures were too small to have any noticeable effect. Actual measurements taken in the United
States since 1974 show that the amount of UV radiation reaching the surface of the earth is decreasing and
continues to decrease slightly each year. The research was conducted to detect the frequency of UV
radiation that causes sunburn. UV radiation had dropped on average 0.7% per year over the period from
1974 to 1985 and continued to do so afterwards.
The fact that the number of skin cancers in the United States had doubled within this period of 11 years
contradicts the theory that UV light is the reason behind the skin cancer epidemic. The number of
malignant skin cancers (melanomas) discovered in 1980 in the United States was 8,000, and eight years
later it had increased by 250% to 28,000. In 1930, the expectancy of developing melanoma was as low as
1 in 1,300 people. Since 2003, 45,000 to 50,000 new cases are diagnosed every year in the United States.
Melanomas, which account for 75 percent of all skin cancer deaths, make up only 5 percent of all reported
skin cancers. The most striking fact about this lethal form of cancer that it can occur in other parts of the
body not necessarily exposed to the sun such as the eye, the rectum, vulva, vagina, mouth, respiratory
tract, GI tract, and bladder.
Overall, since the beginning of the new millennium, each year one million Americans are being
diagnosed with one form of skin cancer. There are millions of sufferers now, all of whom have been made
to belief that the sun is the culprit for their skin diseases. But since UV radiation is decreasing every year
11
Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common form, but does not spread. Untreated, it burrows deeply into underlying
tissues causing disfigurement and serious damage.
Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is considered to be more dangerous than BCC because it can spread to other parts of the
body.
Malignant melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer. It can spread very quickly and, unless
caught early, can be very difficult to treat. It develops from cells called melanocytes in the outer layer of
the skin. Melanomas usually start in moles or in areas of abnormal-looking skin.
242
and skin cancers were extremely rare 100 years ago when UV intensity was much higher, what else could
be held responsible for causing skin cancer?
The More UV, the Less Cancer
Even if UV penetration to the surface of the Earth did actually increase by, for example, 1% percent
each year (which is not the case), such slight increases would in fact still be hundreds if not thousands of
times less than the normal variations which people experience because of differences in geography. Let’s
assume you move from an area near either one of the Polar Regions, e.g. Iceland, or Finland, towards the
equator, e.g. Kenya or Uganda in East Africa. By the time you reach the equator, you will have increased
your body’s exposure to UV light by a whooping 5,000 percent! If you live in England and decide to
move to Northern Australia you will increase your exposure by 600 percent! Calculations show that for
every six miles you are moving closer to the equator you will increase your exposure to UV light by 1
percent.
Today, millions of people around the world travel from low exposure places to areas of high exposure
near the equator. Many thousands of tourists travel to areas that are located at much higher altitudes than
where they normally live. For every 100 feet of elevation there is a significant increase in UV radiation.
But this does not prevent people from climbing mountains or living in countries like Switzerland or at the
high altitudes of the Himalayan Mountains. According to the UV/cancer theory, most Kenyan, Tibetan, or
Swiss residents should be afflicted with skin cancer today. Yet this is not the case at all. The fact is that
those who reside at high altitudes or near the equator where UV radiation is the most concentrated are
virtually free of all cancers, not just skin cancers! This shows that UV radiation does only not cause
cancer, but can even prevent it.
The human body has a unique ability to become accustomed to all kinds of variations in the
environment. It is equipped with perfect self-regulating mechanisms that protect it against damage from
the natural elements. Overexposure to swimming in the sea or a lake can lead to extensive skin swelling,
shivering, and circulatory problems. Our body will let us know when it is time to get out of the water.
Getting too close to a fire will heat us up and urge us to move away from it. Rainwater is natural but
standing in the rain for too long can drain our immune system and make us susceptible to catching a cold.
Eating sustains our lives but overeating can lead to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Sleeping
recharges your “batteries” and revitalizes body and mind, yet too much of it makes you sluggish,
depressed, and ill. Likewise, sunlight has healing properties unless we use it to burn holes into our skin.
Why should any of these natural elements or processes cause us harm unless we abuse or overuse them?
Wouldn’t it make more sense to say that a preference for unnatural things like junk foods, stimulants,
alcohol, drugs, medical intervention (unless it is for an emergency), as well as pollution, irregular sleeping
and eating habits, stress, excessive greed for money and power, and the lack of contact with nature, etc., is
more likely to cause such diseases as skin cancer and cataracts than natural phenomena that ensured
continued growth and evolution on the planet throughout the ages?
It is very encouraging to see that new treatments using light are increasingly seen as breakthrough
methods for cancer and many other diseases. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved
“light therapy” to fight advanced esophageal cancer and early lung cancer – with fewer risks than are
found with use of surgery and chemotherapy. Although it has been known for over 100 years that light
can kill diseased cells, it is only since a number of convincing research studies have been conducted that
there has been a sudden resurgence of interest in light therapy. There is promising success in bladder
243
cancer, infertility-causing endometriosis, advanced lung and esophageal cancers, skin cancer and diseases
leading to blindness, psoriasis, and autoimmune disorders. In one study, light therapy eliminated 79
percent of early lung cancer. Regular exposure to sunlight still seems to be one of the best measures one
can take to prevent cancer, including that of the skin.
Now Even Doctors and Scientists Say, “It’s Not True!”
Like myself, there have always been some health practitioners who didn’t buy into the theory that the
sun causes deadly diseases. It warms my heart to hear that now even some of the top authorities in the
field are standing up for the truth, despite the intense criticism by their colleagues. In an article written in
the New York Times in August 2004, a high-profile dermatologist, Dr. Bernard Ackerman (a recent
winner of the American Academy of Dermatology's prestigious, once-yearly Master Award) publicly
questioned the commonly accepted assumption about the sunlight/melanoma link. According to Dr.
Ackerman, who in 1999 founded the world's largest center for dermatopathology training, there is no
proof whatsoever that sun exposure causes melanoma. To substantiate his arguments, he cites a recently
published article in the Archives of Dermatology concluding that no evidence exists supporting the notion
that sunscreen prevents melanoma, a claim the mega-dollar, sun-screen industry and medical mainstream
has falsely made for decades.
Dr. Ackerman didn’t stop at exposing this decades-long deception of the masses, but has also cast
doubt on the increase in the incidence of melanoma cases the mainstream insists is happening. He found
that an expansion of the diagnostic definition of "melanoma" has allowed a much broader array of
symptoms to be classified as the deadly disease compared to just 30 years ago. Melanoma has to a large
extent “grown” to epidemic proportions because of statistical manipulations. In other words, if the same
diagnostic definition applied 30 years ago were applied today, melanomas would have only increased
insignificantly.
Furthermore, this respected physician challenged the medical mainstream to explain why nearly all
cases of melanoma among certain races (blacks, Asians) occur in areas of the body that are almost never
exposed to sunlight — places like the palms, soles of the feet, and mucous membranes.12 Should this not
raise doubts among physicians and patients alike that even among pale-faces, the most common sites for
melanoma (legs in women, torso in men) get significantly less sunlight exposure than other parts of the
body? To make a point, based on this and other evidence, your best chances of avoiding melanoma would
be to move to areas of higher UV-concentrations, such as the mountain regions or equatorial tropics, and
become nudists! Since sunlight boosts the immune system, you may find that such a move would help
also with many other health issues you may be suffering from. So naturally, all this raises the question,
what actually causes skin cancer? The answer may greatly surprise you.
12 Although melanoma has been rising among pale-skinned populations (who use sun-screens) worldwide, there has been no
corresponding rise among native, dark-skinned populations, who have only one-tenth to one-third the incidence. Their skin’s
higher melanin level may protect them, but they also tend to spend much more time outdoors in normally higher concentrations
of UV light.
244
Skin Cancer Caused By Sun Protection
The sun is completely harmless unless we expose our bodies to it for unduly long periods of time,
especially between 10am and 3pm (during the summer). Overexposure to sunlight makes most people feel
very hot and bothered and burns their skin. To avoid being burned and to find relief, our body’s natural
instinct urges us to look for a shady place or to take a cold shower. Sunscreens, however, interfere with
our natural response to sunlight.
Sunscreens usually block UV rays in two ways: either by using a physical sun filter, such as talc,
titanium oxide or zinc oxide, or by using chemicals, whose active ingredients include methoxycinnamate,
p-aminobenzoic acid, benzophenone and other agents that absorb certain sun-burning UV frequencies
while allowing others to pass. Suntan lotions containing para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), for example,
not only block out the therapeutic and healing effects of sunlight, but may also cause genetic damage to
the skin. A recent report issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration included evidence that fourteen
out of seventeen suntan lotions containing PABA may be carcinogenic, i.e., cause cancer. Further research
has shown that PABA cause increased genetic damage to the DNA in skin cells during exposure to
sunlight. The damage done to the genes and chromosomes impairs the cell’s ability to properly reproduce
itself. UV light induces damage to the DNA in the presence of PABA, but to implicate UV light for this
effect is tantamount to saying oxygen is dangerous because when it reacts with carbon atoms it turns into a
harmful waste product in our blood.
Most sunscreens normally protect against UVA, UVB or both.13 They are also rated according to a sun
protection factor (SPF), which indicates the time of burn protection when compared to sun exposure
without lotion. For example, an SPF of 15 indicates that it should provide 300 minutes of protection for
someone who could normally stay in the sun for 20 minutes without burning. SPFs only apply to
protection rating against UVB, not UVA. But since the effectiveness of sunscreens usually wears off well
before the calculated time, the unsuspecting sunbathers keep applying very large amounts of these
chemical poisons to their skin. The skin is not made of plastic, but made of living cells. The constant
biochemical warfare fought on the surface of the skin interferes with and destroys its own protective
mechanisms, and makes it susceptible to permanent damage and abnormal cell growth. Such suspicions
have caused some of these chemicals found in sun lotions, such as 5-methoxypsoralen, to be discontinued.
The main problem with sunscreens is, however, that they can seduce sunbathers to stay in the sun
much longer than it would normally be wise to do. A British medical report, released in July 1996 and
published as the lead article in the prestigious British Medical Journal (BMJ), showed that the use of
sunscreens might indeed encourage skin cancer because they prompt people to stay in the sun far too long.
Their use can postpone the onset of sunburn by many hours. Most people think that this is advantageous,
whereas in fact it puts their lives at risk. The doctors who edited the report cited studies conducted in 1995
in Western Europe and Scandinavia that showed frequent users of sunscreen lotion actually suffered
disproportionately higher rates of skin cancer. The report states: “Sunscreens containing only ultraviolet B
blocks protect against sunburn and therefore enable greater exposure to ultraviolet A (UVA) than would
otherwise be possible to obtain.” In other words, many sunbathers expose themselves to much more UVA
13
Of the three UV rays, UVA is mainly responsible for the tanning response, UVB activates the synthesis of vitamin D which
is crucial for the absorption of calcium and other minerals, while UVC, almost completely filtered out by the Earth's ozone
layer, is germicidal and kills bacteria, viruses and other disease causing germs.
245
than they would if they didn’t use screens. Sunburn, in fact, is the body’s natural defense response against
more serious damage, one that may end up as skin cancer.
Without sunscreen your skin begins to itch uncomfortably when exposed to too much sun. By contrast,
with the use of sunscreen you would not notice when your body has had enough of it because your first
line of defense – unbearable sunburn – has been undermined. Overexposure of UVA combined with other
external harmful chemicals and, perhaps, internal toxins, is the perfect recipe to damage skin cells and
cause malignancies. Under normal conditions (without sunscreen) you could never get too much UVA
even if you were lying in the sun for five hours. Instead, you would burn your skin severely through
overexposure of UVB light.
As Dr. Ackerman discovered, although sunburn may temporarily impair immune functions and
damage the skin, there is no proof that it can cause skin cancer. The BMJ report concluded that medical
experts know “little about the precise relation between sunburn and skin cancer.” This fact refers to all
skin cancers, especially the fatal type of skin cancer – melanoma. Despite the colossal amount of research
done on skin cancers, there has been no indication that malignant melanoma has any links with UV
exposure. But what is known for sure is that sunscreen does not only fail to prevent skin cancer but on the
contrary encourages it by amplifying UVA absorption. This makes sunscreens more far more dangerous
than sunlight could ever be.
The question remains whether sunscreens that are made to block out both the UVA and UVB radiation
could solve this problem? Research has shown that they don’t prevent skin cancer either. First, the skin
still has to deal with acid assault that occurs when applying the sun lotion. Second, shutting out UVAs
and UVBs deprives the body of the most important rays of the sun responsible for maintaining proper
immunity and numerous essential processes. The body requires UVB, for example, for the synthesis of
vitamin D, without which we could not survive. Is it surprising, then, to find that there are more people
suffering from skin cancer today who have either very little or no exposure to sunlight?
Deficient Sunlight – A Death Trap
It has been known for several decades that those living mostly in the outdoors, at high altitudes, or near
the equator, have the lowest incidence of skin cancers. And as the evidence suggests, those who work
under artificial lighting have the highest incidence of skin cancers. In a study conducted on US Navy
personnel between 1974 and 1984, researchers found a higher incidence of skin cancers among sailors
who had indoor jobs than those working outside. Those working both indoors and outdoors showed most
protection, with a rate 24 percent below the US national average.
The average city dwelling American, for example, spends twenty-two hours a day indoors, and most of
that time beneath and around artificial light. Children, too, are increasingly spending less time outside in
nature, and more of their time indoors, at home, in school, on the computer and in front of the television.
During the winter season, most of the working population in the cities never even get to see the daylight,
except through windows that reflect UV light. Incandescent light has a narrow band compared to sunlight
and is known to weaken natural immunity (a Russian study showed that workers who are exposed to UV
light during working hours suffer 50% fewer colds). A weak immune system cannot properly defend itself
against disease, and that includes skin cancer!
Researcher Dr. Helen Shaw and her research team conducted a melanoma study at the London School
of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and at the Sydney Melanoma Clinic, Sydney Hospital, and found that
office workers had twice the incidence of the deadly cancer as people who work outdoors. The results of
246
the study were published in 1982 by the British medical journal Lancet. Dr. Shaw proved that those who
spend most of their time sunbathing have by far the lowest risk of developing skin cancer. In sharp
contrast to the regular sunbathers, office workers who were exposed to fluorescent light during most of
their working days had the highest risk of developing melanomas. She also discovered that fluorescent
lights cause mutations in cultures of animal cells.
Dr. Shaw’s research lead to the conclusion that both in Australia and Great Britain, melanoma rates
were high among professional and office workers, and low in people working outdoors. In other words,
the Australians and British (and the rest of us) would be better off spending more time outside where there
is plenty of UV light! Similar controlled studies were conducted at the New York University School of
Medicine, which confirmed and substantiated Dr. Shaw’s research results.
People with brown to black Afro-Caribbean skin and hair can spend long periods in the sun without
burning. They rarely suffer from skin cancer while living in their native lands where sunshine is plenty.
Their skins’ high melanin level filters out a lot of UV, but still provides them with enough of the
beneficial rays. The problem arises once they move to more moderate or colder climates, like the UK or
Sweden. This requires that they get extra exposure to the sun to maintain normal vitamin D levels. If the
darker races don’t get these extra amounts of sunlight, they are the most likely ones to develop skin
cancer. The reason for their higher cancer risk is not too much sunlight, but too little of it. As is so often
the case, the purely symptom-oriented medical theories are not sufficient to explain the causes of disease.
In fact, they are likely to make you ill. Beware of any advice given to you by any doctor, company or
organization who wants to protect you against a supposed threat while at the same time trying to sell you
something else.
Pittas –Watch Out!
Australians who are not Aboriginals usually have a fair and often freckled skin, reddish-blond hair, and
light-colored eyes. Most Australians are Pitta types, which means that UV light penetrates deeper into
their skin than among those who have a darker skin or are Vata or Kapha types. In addition, many
Australians are fond of drinking beer, which has a strong diuretic effect and draws water from the skin,
leaving it unprotected against heat rays. Both are risk factors for damaging skin cells.
Our skin has melanocyte cells that release melanin when exposed to sunlight. Melanin is the skin’s
protective darkening pigment whose presence we refer to as a tan. Pitta types are very sensitive to heat
and their bodies will quickly tell them if the amount of melanin produced is not sufficient to protect them
against burning. Pitta types should, therefore, not use sunscreens. Blocking out UVB may turn out to be
disastrous for their skin. Blocking out both UVB and UVA altogether can undermine proper vitamin D
synthesis and upset some of the most basic functions in their body. Pitta types are also the first ones to
react to the presence of harmful chemicals and poisons, developing multiple chemical sensitivities and
allergies.
If Pittas expose themselves to the direct sun (avoid the sun from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) for just a few
minutes a day, they will soon be able to increase their body’s exposure to a maximum of twenty minutes a
day without having any signs of reddening. Their skin will improve and melanin production will increase.
This exposure to the sun will give them enough UV light to remain healthy, provided they do not use
devices and solutions that alter or filter out light, including sunscreens or sunglasses. Exposing their skin
to the sun under the influence of alcohol or other diuretics, such as coffee, tea, soft drinks, etc., greatly
increases the chances of damaging the skin.
247
No Sun, No Health!
A balanced diet of sunlight, which includes all the various frequency bands of ultraviolet light
reaching the earth, as well as good nutrition and a natural lifestyle, still offer the best protection against all
types of diseases. Solar research from all over the world has shown that exposure to ultraviolet light is
probably the most comprehensive and impressive healing method there is. With all of the tremendous
benefits that sunlight has been proven to bestow upon us, it is truly astonishing that most of the sick people
in the world still rely on expensive and poisonous medical drugs that do not offer nearly as many benefits.
The following are a few examples of what ultraviolet light can do for you.
Ultraviolet light
• improves electrocardiogram
• lowers blood pressure and resting heart rate
• improves cardiac output
• reduces cholesterol if required
• increases glycogen stores in liver
• balances blood sugar
• enhances energy, endurance, and muscular strength
• improves the body’s resistance to infections (increase of lymphocytes and
phagocytic index)
• enhances oxygen carrying capacity of the blood
• increases sex hormones
• improves resistance of skin to infections
• raises one’s tolerance to stress and reduces depression
Sunlight not only purifies seawater to a depth of 12 feet, but it also disinfects the skin from harmful
germs. The longer the ultraviolet wavelength, the deeper it penetrates the skin. At 290nm, about 50% of
the ultraviolet light penetrates a little deeper than to the superficial layers of the skin, whereas at 400nm,
50% reaches the deeper layers. The deeper reaching rays can even penetrate the brain. The human body
was designed to absorb UV light for very good reasons, otherwise we would have been born with a natural
sunscreen for UV light on our skin and eyes. one of the most important reasons is that UV radiation is
necessary for normal cell division. A lack of UV light disturbs normal cell growth, which can lead to
cancer as confirmed by Dr. Shaw’s research. The use of sunglasses, including regular UV reflecting
spectacles and eye lenses, are co-responsible for certain degenerative eye diseases, such as macular
degeneration. Most people who use sunglasses report continuously weakening eyesight.
Our typical indoor lifestyle, coupled with excessive over-stimulation through highly acid-forming foods
and beverages, the cholesterol increasing and dehydrating effects of television, and various other stress
factors are sufficient cause for damage of body cells, including those that make up the eyes. By regularly
shutting out the much-needed UV light (even children and some pets are given sunglasses to wear
nowadays), the eyes are unable to properly repair themselves and replace worn out eye cells. The
increased incidence of blindness and eye disease in the industrialized world may result, to a large extent,
from the misinformation that the sun is dangerous. Please be aware that in sunny parts of the world almost
everyone nowadays wears sunglasses. This may very well account for the increase of cataracts in these
248
places. There may be others factors involved, such as malnutrition (diarrhea can lead to severe
demineralization), smoking, pollution and poor diet. To keep your eyes healthy, make sure to let enough
sunlight into your eyes every day.
The reason so many people are attracted to being in the sun or longing for it when it doesn’t shine is
inherent in the natural instinct of the body to expose itself to the healing and cleansing properties of
sunlight. Without being tricked into overexposure by “protective” sunscreens, the body will naturally
know how much sunlight is good for its balanced growth. And even if circumstances lead to sunburn, the
human body is perfectly equipped to handle it.
Chemical interference in this process of self-protection, however, can have serious consequences. By
regularly using any of the following drugs or chemicals internally or externally, both skin and eyes
become oversensitive to sunlight and the skin may badly burn even after a few minutes of exposure.
Among these are antibacterial agents such as Sulfa; the aforementioned PABAs and other sun lotion
ingredients; hypoglycemic agents used by diabetics; diuretics for control of high blood pressure;
tranquillizers and anti-depressants; broad-spectrum antibiotics; anti-arrhythmic Quinidine used to suppress
abnormal heart rhythms; halogenated, antiseptic compounds used in cosmetics; many types of soaps;
synthetic ingredients in most commercial beauty products; and antihistamines used for colds and allergies,
etc.
In addition, gallstones in the liver prevent the liver from sufficiently detoxifying pharmaceutical drugs,
alcohol, and other noxious substances. Whatever the liver cannot remove from the blood ends up in the
kidneys and skin. once overburdened with these internal, highly acidic toxins, the skin becomes
vulnerable to the natural elements, including sunlight. Skin cancer and cataracts only occur if the liver is
congested.
It is much easier to treat the cause of a physical problem than to suppress its symptoms. If you are
taking any of the above drugs and wish to treat the cause rather than the effect of an illness, consult your
doctor about how to phase them out gradually, cleanse your elimination organs, and at the same time begin
exposing your body to the sun starting with 1-2 minutes and building up to a few more minutes each day
(see directions below). Make certain, though, that your skin doesn’t get burned. If you wear sunglasses,
expose your eyes to natural light as long as it is comfortable until you no longer require them (sunglasses).
To avoid dehydration of the skin, drink fresh water before and after exposure to the sun.
Sunlight Prevents Cancer, MS, Heart Disease, Arthritis, Diabetes…
According to a study published in the prominent Cancer journal (March 2002; 94:1867-75)
insufficient exposure to ultraviolet radiation may be an important risk factor for cancer in Western Europe
and North America. The findings, covering mortality rates from cancer in North America, directly
contradict official advice about sunlight. The research showed that deaths from a range of cancers of the
reproductive and digestive systems were approximately twice as high in New England as in the Southwest,
despite a diet that varies little between regions.
An examination of 506 regions found a close inverse correlation between cancer mortality and levels
of UVB light. The likeliest mechanism proposed by scientists for a protective effect of sunlight is vitamin
D, which is synthesized by the body when exposed to ultraviolet B rays. According to the study’s author,
Dr William Grant, the northern parts of the United States may be dark enough during the winter months
that vitamin D synthesis shuts down completely.
249
While the study focused mainly on white Americans, it was found that the same geographical trend
affects black or darker skinned Americans, whose overall cancer rates are significantly higher. As
explained earlier, darker skinned people require more sunlight to synthesize vitamin D.
The study showed there are at least 13 malignancies affected by lack of sunlight, mostly reproductive
and digestive cancers. The strongest inverse correlation is with breast, colon, and ovarian cancer, followed
by tumors of the bladder, uterus, esophagus, rectum, and stomach.
Not dissimilar to the study on cancers, researchers found a strong correlation between geography and
multiple sclerosis. As it turns out, the incidence of MS decreases the closer to the equator (where the most
sunlight is) one resides.
The American National Institute of Health (NIH) has linked deficiencies of the sun-made vitamin D to
rising rates of many diseases, including osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, and diabetes, just
to name a few. To get the disease-curbing benefits of sunlight, you need to get outside at least three times
a week, for a minimum of 15-20 minutes.
The Amazing Sunlight/Exercise Combination
Sunlight and exercise each seem to have excellent health and fitness benefits, but when used together,
the effects are even multiplied. Tuberculosis patients who are being treated with sunlight therapy alone
(regular exposure to sunlight) experience a significant increase in muscle tone with very little fat, even if
they don’t exercise. The same happens to a person who is on a regular fitness program. But if sun
exposure and exercise are combined, muscular tone and muscular strength increase much more than if just
either one is used.
In the male physiology, muscular development is linked to the production of the male hormone,
testosterone. The old Greek practice of exercising nude on a warm sandy beach was used to develop a
healthy muscular body. When sunlight falls on any part of the body, testosterone production increases
substantially, but when it strikes the male genitals directly, secretion of the hormone is greatest. A study
at Boston State Hospital has proved that ultraviolet light increases the level of testosterone by 120% when
the chest or back is exposed to sunlight! The hormone, however, increases by a whooping 200% when
genital skin is exposed to the sun.
Regular sunbathing increases strength and size of all muscle groups in the male physique. The
combination of sun and exercise is, therefore, ideal to develop a strong and healthy body with optimal
reproductive abilities. Given these findings, it may well be that constant lack of sun exposure along with
physical congestion, is the main cause of the increased infertility problems among the city populations in
the world. If you want to improve your sex life or fertility rates, rather than using one of the currently
available costly treatments and risking your health due to their serious side effects, I would recommend
that you first try the sun.
Women, of course, benefit from sunlight, too. Their levels of female hormones rise when they are
exposed to particularly one specific portion of UV light, i.e., 290-340 nanometers (UVB), which is
assumed to be dangerous and useless. Women, who have only very little exposure to sunlight, are often
suffering from menstrual problems or have no menstrual periods at all. They can re-establish a healthy
menstrual cycle by sunbathing regularly and spending several hours of the day outdoors. Normalization of
the menstrual cycle can occur within a few weeks after starting sunlight therapy.
250
Several independent studies have demonstrated that hypertensive patients who followed a vigorous
exercise program for six months lowered their blood pressure by 15 percent, whereas those who had one
single exposure to the ultraviolet light of the sun, had a markedly lower blood pressure for five to six
days. Exercising in the sun could, therefore, be one of the best non-medical treatments for hypertension,
cost-free and without any side effects. At the same time, both exercise and sunbathing increase the heart’s
efficiency, which is measured by the amount of blood pumped by the heart at each beat. one single
exposure to the ultraviolet rays of the sun alone has shown to increase heart efficiency by an average of
39 percent, again lasting for as long as five to six days. Such an approach could effectively replace drugs
currently used to stimulate the heart. It should be noted that sunlight acts not like a drug that merely
suppresses the symptoms of disease, but rather restores balance in body and mind.
Diabetics, too, can benefit from exercise and sunlight. Their blood sugar drops when they exercise or
sunbathe. one single exposure to sunlight stimulates the production of the enzyme phosphorylase, which
decreases the amount of stored glycogen. Two hours after sun exposure, another enzyme, glycogen
synthesize, increases storage of glycogen in the tissues while lowering blood sugar levels. Thus, sunlight
acts just like insulin. The effect may last for days. It is important for diabetics to know that they may need
to adjust their insulin dose and should, therefore, regularly consult their doctor while gradually increasing
their body’s exposure to sunlight.
Both sunlight and exercise have beneficial effects on reducing stress levels. These include decrease of
nervousness, anxiety, emotional imbalance; increase of stress tolerance, self-confidence, imagination and
creativity; positive changes in personality and moods; reduction of unhealthy habits such as cigarette
smoking and alcoholism. Studies from Russia also showed that duodenal ulcers are greatly improved
through regular exposure to the sun.
American research found that when exposure to sunlight is added to fitness programs, subjects have a
19 percent increase in performance as measured by physical fitness tests. In addition, those exposed to the
UV light had 50 percent fewer incidences of colds than those who didn’t. Their immune systems were
maintained on a high level of efficiency. Also, children who receive extra UV light during wintertime
have a marked increase in physical fitness. A
And if you are on pain medication, check this out: A recent hospital study found that patients in
sunnier rooms needed fewer painkillers than patients in darker rooms. In fact, they were able to cut their
drug costs by 21%.
What Makes the Sun so “Dangerous” – The Fat Connection!
Sunlight is most beneficial for those who eat a balanced diet according to their individual requirements
and body type. Sunbathing may be dangerous, however, for those who live on a diet rich in acid-forming,
highly processed foods, and refined fats or their products. Also alcohol, cigarettes, and other mineral and
vitamin depleting substances, such as allopathic and hallucinogenic drugs, can make the skin highly
vulnerable to ultraviolet radiation. In particular, polyunsaturated fats as contained in refined and vitamin E
depleted products, such as thin vegetable oil, mayonnaise, dressings, and most brands of margarine, pose
a particularly high risk in the development of skin cancer and most other cancers. According to Archives
of Internal Medicine, 1998, polyunsaturated fats increase your risk of breast cancer by 69 percent (by
contrast, monounsaturated fats as found in olive oil reduce your breast cancer risk by 45 percent).
This phenomenon is quite easy to understand. once in contact with air, these fats attract lots of oxygen
free radicals and become oxidized, that is, rancid. Oxygen radicals get generated when oxygen molecules
251
lose an electron. This makes them highly reactive. These free radicals may quickly attack and damage
cells, tissues, and organs. They can be formed in refined, polyunsaturated fats when are exposed to
sunlight before consumption. Otherwise, the radicals form in the tissues after the oil has been eaten.
Polyunsaturated fats are difficult to digest, since they are deprived of their natural bulk and are no longer
protected against free radicals by their natural protector, vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant. Eating a
hamburger and French fries, for example, can flood your body with free radicals.
Saturated fats are solid and found in products such as lard and butter. They contain large quantities of
natural antioxidants, which make them much safer against oxidation by free radicals. Since
polyunsaturated fats are man-made and do not exist in natural form, they are indigestible and considered
dangerous by the body. Margarine, for instance, is just one molecule away from plastic, and therefore
extremely difficult to digest. Free radicals, the natural cleansers of the body, try to get rid of the fatty
culprit which attaches itself to the cells walls. When the radicals digest these harmful fats, they also
damage the cell walls. This is considered to be the main cause of aging and degenerative disease.
Research has shown that out of 100 people who consumed large quantities of polyunsaturated fats, 78
showed marked clinical signs of premature aging. They also looked much older than others of the same
age did. By contrast, in a recent study on the relationship between dietary fats and the risk for Alzheimer’s
disease, researchers were surprised to learn that the natural, healthy fats can actually reduce the risk for
Alzheimer’s by up to 80 percent. The study showed that the group with the lowest rate of Alzheimer’s ate
approximately 38 grams of these healthy fats every day, while those with the highest incidence of this
disease consumed only about half of that amount each day.
Tissue cells that are damaged by abnormal free radical activity are unable to reproduce properly and
can impair major functions in the body, including those of the immune, digestive, nervous, and endocrine
systems. Ever since polyunsaturated fats have been introduced to the population on a large scale,
degenerative diseases have increased dramatically, skin cancer being one of them. In fact, polyunsaturated
fats have made sunlight “dangerous,” something that would have never been the case if foods hadn’t been
altered and manipulated, as they are today. When polyunsaturated fats are removed from their natural
foods, they need to be refined, deodorized, and even be hydrogenated, depending on the food product they
are used for. During this process some of the polyunsaturated fats undergo chemical transformations,
which turns them into trans fatty acids (trans fats), often referred to as “hydrogenated vegetable oils.”
Margarine can contain up to 54 percent of them, vegetable shortening up to 58 percent.
You can detect hydrogenated vegetable oils in foods by reading the food labels. Most processed foods
contain them, including breads, crisps, chips, doughnuts, crackers, biscuits, pastries, all baked goods, cake
and frosting mixes, baking mixes, frozen dinners, sauces, frozen vegetables, and breakfast cereals. In
other words, nearly all foods that are shelved, processed, refined, preserved, and not fresh can contain
trans fats. Trans fats inhibit the cell’s ability to use oxygen, which is required to burn foodstuffs to carbon
dioxide and water. Cells, which are inhibited in completing their metabolic processes, may become
cancerous.
The trans fats also make the blood thicker by increasing stickiness of platelets. This multiplies the
chances of blood clots and build up of fatty deposits, which can lead to heart disease. Research at Harvard
Medical School, observing 85,000 women over eight years, found that those eating margarine had an
increased risk of coronary heart disease. Further studies have shown that trans fatty acids prevent the body
from processing Low Density Lipo Protein (LDL) or bad cholesterol, thereby raising blood cholesterol to
abnormal levels. A Welsh study linked the concentration of these artificial trans fats in body fat with
death from heart disease. The Dutch Government has already banned any products containing trans fatty
acids.
252
Polyunsaturated fats have also been shown to suppress immunity. For this reason, they are used today
in patients who have undergone kidney transplant operations or skin grafts taken from other people. This
helps the patients to prevent the immune system from rejecting the foreign tissue, but of course this leaves
them vulnerable to infection and other disorders. The same approach is used in the so-called autoimmune
diseases where the immune system attempts to kill off some of the body’s own cells, i.e., those that have
become toxic and a risk for the survival of the body. But the tragic in all this is that such treatments don’t
change overall mortality rates, only the cause of death is altered.
What Really Burns and Damages the Skin
A person who consumes polyunsaturated fats in his diet and exposes his skin to ultraviolet light to the
point of reddening produces hormone-like substances called prostaglandins from the linoleic acid
contained in the fats. Prostraglandins suppress the immune system, thereby contributing to tumor growth.
In addition, polyunsaturated fats are accompanied by free radical production, which can damage cells. If
you add suntan oils to the skin you have the right combination of chemicals to produce skin cancer,
especially on areas that are more exposed to the sun than others.
In nature, oils never occur in large quantities. To obtain one tablespoon of corn oil in natural form you
would have to eat 12-18 ears of corn. Since oil extraction from corn, grains, and seeds became possible
80-90 years ago, consumption of polyunsaturated and unsaturated fats (thicker oils) as salad and cooking
oils has increased dramatically in the industrialized world. The average person today consumes 16 times
more of these fats than a person did 90 years ago. That does not include all the other fats contained in
today’s foods. The lack of exercise, fresh air, and foods rich in nutrients make it even less possible for a
human being to cope with such large amounts of unnatural fats. They impair the digestive power and lead
to a build-up of toxins and subsequent crises of toxicity. The presence of excessive amounts of free
radicals indicates that the body is full of toxins. once they enter the skin tissue, even short-term exposure
to ultraviolet light can burn and damage skin cells.
If your eyes and skin are sensitive to sunlight, this indicates that your body is toxic. Your subsequent
effort to avoid the sun may result in serious light deficiency, which can lead to serious health problems.
The fact that cancer of all kinds increased when sunscreen was introduced is hardly surprising. The UV
light entering the eyes stimulates the immune system. Today, more than 50% of the U.S. population wear
prescription or sun-protective glasses, which are able to block out most UV light. The latest fashion is to
wear plastic glasses; they also block out all UV light. Indoor activities, sun tan lotions, clothing, UVrepelling
windows, etc., make certain that we hardly get any of it. Without regular exposure to sunlight,
however, the immune system decreases its effectiveness with every year of age. With sunlight, the use of
oxygen in the body tissues increases, but without it, our cells begin to starve for oxygen. This leads to
cellular malfunction and premature aging and even death.
Starved of a balanced sunlight diet, we tend to look for help elsewhere, even though nature is ready to
cure us at any time. It is very unfortunate that sick people are mostly kept indoors, often with curtains
drawn and windows closed. one of nature’s most potent preventive and curative powers is there for
everyone to use.
253
Guidelines for Increasing Sun Exposure
If you wish to benefit from the sun but cannot afford much time to be outdoors, there are several ways
to increase your exposure to sunlight:
? Windows should consist of glass that permits UV light to enter
? Have as many such windows as possible
? Keep your curtains pushed back so that you have maximum exposure
? Depending on weather and season, keep your windows open
? Install as many full spectrum lights as possible (the best alternative to natural sunlight)
Those living in a moderate climate can sunbathe regularly. It is best to avoid the sun between 10.00
a.m. and 3.00 p.m. during summer, whereas during winter and spring this time is OK, too. During winter
you can sunbathe if you lie in a totally wind protected place. You can build your own sunbathing area
against a wall facing the sun. The sidewalls should be made of material that can serve as a good
windbreak. The wall pointing toward the sun should be at an angle slanted toward the sun so that the low
winter rays can shine into the sunbathing area. Lying on a blanket, you will be warmer than if you were
indoors.
Note: Avoid sunlamps, which produce UVA and can cause skin cancer, including melanoma. If for
any reason you are going to be exposed to the sun for unduly long periods, you may apply Aloe Vera gel,
coconut oil or olive oil.
For maximum benefits, through, and to wash off any oiliness, it is best to take a shower before
sunbathing. Start your sunlight treatment by exposing your entire body (if possible) for a few minutes to
start, and then increase the time each day by a few more minutes until you reach 20-30 minutes.
Alternatively, walking in the sun for 40-60 minutes has similar benefits. This will give you enough
sunlight to keep your body and mind healthy, provided you incorporate the basic measures of a balanced
diet, lifestyle, and daily routine as outlined in the earlier chapters.
The Ancient Practice of Sun Gazing
Sun energy is the source that powers the brain. It enters the body through the elements of air, water,
fire and earth. Sunlight enters and leaves the human body most easily and directly through the human eye,
provided it isn’t filtered out by colored spectacles. Sun gazing is an ancient practice that can induce
healing of body and mind.
The eyes are very complex organs, consisting of 5 billion parts. Acting as a photo lens, the human eye
is able to break down the entire spectrum of sunlight into the different color rays. In a camera, the various
rays of light react with the chemicals of the film and encode the pictures you take. Likewise, upon
entering the pineal gland in the brain, the different rays are being chemically encoded in the brain and are
passed on to the organs and systems in the body. The vital organs of the body are dependent on specific
colors of the light spectrum. For kidney cells to function properly, for example, they require red light.
Heart cells need yellow light, and liver cells require green light. Light deficiencies in any of the organs
and systems of the body can lead to disease. Regular sun gazing can help restore balance and efficiency to
all cells in the body.
254
One should gaze at the sun only in the morning or evening hours, about one or two hours after sunrise
or before sunset. Look at the rising or setting sun once per day. on the first day, look at the sun in a
relaxed manner for a maximum of 10 seconds. on the second day, look at it for 20 seconds, adding about
ten seconds every succeeding day. So after ten continuous days of sun gazing you will be looking at the
sun for about 100 seconds. The eyes can blink or flicker, and don’t need to be steady.
To receive the main benefits of sun gazing, you need to increase the duration in the above manner until
you reach three months. This brings you up to the length of 15 minutes of gazing at a time. At this stage,
the sun energy of the sun’s rays passing through the human eye will be charging the hypothalamus tract –
the pathway behind the retina leading to the human brain. As the brain increasingly receives extra power
through this pathway you will find a drastic reduction of mental tension and worries. With access to this
additional source of energy, you are likely to develop a more positive mindset and increased selfconfidence.
If you suffer from anxieties and depression, you will find that these go away. Sadness and
depression are known to increase with reduced or lack of exposure to sunlight. With fewer worries and
fears, your brain may use the saved and additionally supplied energy for healing and improvement of
mental and physical wellbeing. one of the most frequently reported benefits of regular sun-gazing is
improvement of eyesight.
255