Book Review: The Healing Sun

I think I was led to this book through my research on Flouride. I get emails from someone who sends out info about flouride and other health hazards and one of them said something about the dangers of sunscreen. Which led me on a search for information about that subject.

I have always had a love/hate relationship with the sun. I suffer from Season Affective Disorder (SAD), so I need sunlight. And at the same time, if I get too much sun, I get sick. We have been using less and less sunscreen the past few years, partly do to the expense of Feingold approved sunscreen and partly because I prefer to use UV protective clothing, rather than slather chemicals on our skin. So all of this combined made me quite intrigued by the subject of this book.

The theory is that, while the sun definitely has some hazards, such as malignant melanoma, it is actually cable of healing or preventing quite a few things, including other cancers. The book documents the practice of heliotherapy (light therapy) before antibiotics came on the scene. Apparently, regulated sunbathing was used to heal TB, wounds and other infections. Once antibiotics came into play, this "unscientific" practice fell out of vogue. (I found it interesting to note that antibiotics came into use in the 50's. Yet another factor that came in at the same time as widespread vaccine usage and fluoride usage. Lots of things piling up on our systems around that time.)

There is several references to evolution, ancient sunworship and Chinese medicine. But, other than the evolution, these were mostly provided for historical background and examples of how other cultures used the sun to their advantage. So, I could forgive most of that. It does have to be factored in when weighing the information being presented.

Another thing to note is that it is written by a British author. On the one hand, it was good to read a book written within another country. Gives a new perspective. But, But, I was frustrated when I wanted a bit of information on optimal sun usage at my latitude. He mentions that in Britain optimal sun can not be reached during certain parts of the year. I really wanted to know what it was at my latitude! But, I will just have to do some research into that myself.

There are several references to the fact that architects used to have to have a medical background. That buildings were built with the well being of the occupants in mind. And that usually included making sure that optimal sun exposure was provided. With the advent of medicines, central heating, etc, we no longer build our buildings with health in mind.

On the subject of SAD, he mentions that many SAD sufferers have a "light hunger" or a craving for light. Turning on lights at every opportunity. That is me! Drives my energy conscience husband nuts, but I need light! Granted, artificial light is not always the best (and this book mentions it may even zap our energy or cause melanoma itself.) But I need light!

There is information on the connection between Vitamin D deficiency and osteoporosis, MS, Cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc. Very interesting reading and lots to think about.

As far as sunscreen and UV protective clothing it seems that these things block out the UVB rays which are what we need to stockpile Vit D, but they let through the UVA rays, the ones that damage our skin and cause certain cancers. So their use may actually be doing us more harm than good. It is suggested that it is better to gradually expose the skin to the sun to provide a natural protection against burning. But he does not give an exact formula for doing this and urges caution as each person's skin type, diet, location on the globe, etc affects how their body reacts to the sun.

Interesting to note that a whole foods diet, low in fat, is also recommended.

Anyway, it is a fascinating book that I have marked in several places and will keep as a reference. There are several books recommended in the back that I plan to read. In fact, a couple of them (on SAD) were already on my TBR shelf before got this book.
(Review written October 2007)