Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 What has happened to you since publishing this book and taking this stand on being a proponent of sun exposure?
Dr. Holick: Well, from my perspective, you know you have to look at life and see that the glass is half full or half empty, and I've always seen it as being half full. And I think that in many ways it's been good. |
| In fact, that's what I make very clear in the book, is, go out for the 5-10 minutes, be exposed to sensible sun exposure, then put a sunscreen on with the proper SPF. And I even teach you in the book how much sunscreen to use to make sure that you're getting the full sun protection that's stated on the bottle. |
| Even though I was unfortunately fired from my position in dermatology because my views on some sensible sun exposure were counter to the American Academy of Dermatology and some of the so-called leaders in the dermatology field, for the most part I think that it's been a benefit because it's really raised the public's awareness about this issue and for that I'm really grateful. Because in the past people have just said vitamin D, ho-hum, sunshine vitamin ... who really cares about it? And these people now have to take pause and begin to think about it. |
| Holick: But there's very little evidence in my opinion that sensible, moderate sun exposure increases your risk of the most deadly form of skin cancer, melanoma. In fact, there's good evidence to suggest that it may decrease your risk.
Adams: What about sunscreen products? The sunscreen manufacturers, I think they're happy to go along with the idea that sun should be avoided. What's been your experience?
Dr. Holick: Yeah, I think that there's no question that the American Academy of Dermatology is well-funded by the sunscreen industry, and I'm sure that that plays a role in this. |
Mehmet C. Oz., M.D. and Michael F. Roizen, M.D.
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 That's especially important if you're allowing sun exposure to deplete your folate levels, which happens when you get more than twenty minutes of sun exposure a day. Be sure to add B6 and crystalline B12 (see the YOU Extended Warranty Plan on page 313).
YOU Tip: Get Sauced. As if your grandmother's spaghetti sauce recipe weren't enough incentive. Studies show that the risk of developing certain cancers decreases when you eat ten or more tablespoons a week of tomato sauce. Many believe that the active ingredient responsible is lycopene, a carotenoid known for its antioxidant properties. |
Elaine Magee
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 And don't forget good old-fashioned sun exposure. While experts say that in just 10 minutes you can soak up as much as 5,000 IU of vitamin D if you expose 40 percent of your body to the sun without sunscreen, given the link between skin cancer and sun exposure, you may be better off sticking to that glass of milk.
DIET AND DIABETES
Among all chronic diseases, diabetes best illustrates the power of food in ensuring good health.
One in every 20 people in the United States has diabetes, and the numbers keep growing each year. |
Andreas Moritz
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 Their skin absorbs sun rays less efficiently, hence their need for extended sun exposure. Not being exposed to enough sunlight puts African-American men, for example, at a much higher risk of developing cancer of the prostate than white American men. The use of sunscreens, including sunglasses, multiplies this risk.
During the summer period, it is best to avoid direct sun exposure between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., whereas during the winter, spring, and fall seasons, this time period may be most beneficial for the body, especially for those who live at higher latitudes. |
Bottom Line Health
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| Recent studies suggest that limited sun exposure (10 to 15 minutes, a few times a week) on the face, arms, hands or back without sunscreen can do you a great deal of good. Ideally, this sun exposure should occur before 10 am and after 4 pm, when damaging UV rays are the least intense.
•Vitamin E. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University analyzed 19 previous clinical trials of vitamin E and discovered that people taking daily doses of 400 international units (IU) or more per day had a higher risk of dying from any cause than people not taking the vitamin. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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 Older adults are especially susceptible to low levels of vitamin D because number one, they get less sun exposure, and two, their skin is less efficient in producing vitamin D from the sun in the first place. And it's not easy to get enough vitamin D from food sources.
New Moms at Risk
The scientist who's done the most research on vitamin D and the one who's been sounding the alarm the loudest about our collective vitamin D deficiency and the need for smart sun exposure is Michael Holick, M.D. He's written a great book called The UVAdvantage, which I highly recommend. |
Andreas Moritz
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 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-million dollar sunscreen industry and those in the medical mainstream have falsely made for decades.
Dr. |
| In fact, the quickest and most efficient way top obtain enough cancer-preventing Vitamin D is sun exposure. Although direct contact with sunlight has prevented cancer and many other diseases for thousands of years, it is discouraged and even warned against by today's health care industry.
As is so often the case, the purely symptom-oriented medical theories fall short in explaining the causes of disease. In fact, they are likely to make you ill. |
| Ultraviolet light
• improves electrocardiogram readings
• lowers blood pressure and resting heart rate
• improves cardiac output when needed (not contradictory to lower resting heart rate)
• reduces cholesterol, if required
• increases glycogen stores in the liver
• balances blood sugar
25 People with a dark skin, such as black Africans, block out the most rays and may need several hours of sun exposure each day to stay healthy. Fair-skinned people need less time (from 20-60 minutes each day) in the sun to receive the necessary amount of the beneficial rays. |
| As shown later, these are deaths that are easily preventable through the Vitamin D produced by the body in response to regular sun exposure.
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 favored by the medical community, at least in Europe. |
Dr. Steve Blake
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 With lower sodium and protein levels, with regular weight-bearing exercise, and with adequate vitamin D from sun exposure, less calcium is needed to ensure bone health. Upper intake levels for calcium have been set at 2500 mg daily for ages one and above.
Food Sources of Calcium
Everyone knows that dairy products are high in calcium. Dairy products provide about 75 percent of the calcium in American diets. In spite of this, children in their highest growth years receive only 10 to 25 percent of their needed calcium. |
Bill Sardi
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 Yet advice from dermatologists has likely frightened the public away from sun exposure. The message to get exposed to some solar UV radiation was drowned out by the call to prevent skin cancer.
Several large studies plus a review of all previous studies have shown there is a link between low vitamin D levels and colon cancer. A 50% reduction in colon cancer risk can be achieved by adults who maintain adequate blood levels of vitamin D, but for most adults in North America and Europe this means vitamin supplementation will be required. |
| Furthermore, while twins inherit duplicate sets of genes, they also grow up eating the same diet, drinking the same water, receiving the same amount of sun exposure. So how can inheritable or genetic factors be separated from environment factors?
So, should every human being be screened for genetic flaws that might increase their risk of developing cancer? |
| Patients should be warned about sun exposure when taking these drugs. [Journal Dermato-logical Treatment 16: 19-21, 2005]
Given the high price of Herceptin, it should be noted that components found in olive oil (oleic acid) have been found to inhibit the HER2 proteins by 36%, while Herceptin inhibits them by 48%. [Journal Annals of Oncology, Jan. 10, 2005]
Herceptin Breast Cancer Statistics Source: New England Journal Medicine 353: 1673-84,2005
Herceptin breast cancer (only represents 2 breast cancer patie
Disease-free survival
3 years
87.1%
75.4%
11.7%
4 years
85.3%
67.1%
18. |
| But studies show sun exposure actually is associated with increased survival, suggesting vitamin D may be an antidote since it is produced in the skin by solar ultraviolet rays. [J National Cancer Institute 97: 195-99, 2005] Diets low in alcohol intake and consist of vitamin D and carotenes (beta carotene, lycopene, lutein) which are skin antioxidants, may reduce the risk for melanoma. [Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers Prevention 13: 1042-51, 2004]
Why not prevent them all?
There are so many types of cancer to prevent. |
Dr. Sharon Moalem
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 The campaign was especially effective at producing unintended results—Australian sun exposure went down, and Australian vitamin D deficiencies went up.
On the flip side, researchers have discovered that tanning can actually help people who have vitamin D deficiencies. Crohn's disease is a disorder that includes significant inflammation of the small intestine. Among other things, the inflammation impairs the absorption of nutrients, including vitamin D. Most people who have Crohn's have a vitamin D deficiency. |
| As everybody knows, skin color changes, to some extent, in response to sun exposure. The trigger for that response is the pituitary gland. Under natural circumstances, almost as soon as you are exposed to the sun, your pituitary gland produces hormones that act as boosters for your melanocytes, and your melanocytes start producing melanin on overdrive. Unfortunately, it's very easy to disrupt that process. The pituitary gland gets its information from the optic nerve—when the optic nerve senses sunlight, it signals the pituitary gland to kick-start the melanocytes. |
| Fortunately, the body is so efficient at making vitamin D that, as long as people get sufficient sun exposure and have enough cholesterol, we can usually accumulate enough vitamin D reserves to get us through the darker months.
By the way, the next time you get your cholesterol checked, make a note of the season. Because sunlight converts cholesterol to vitamin D, cholesterol levels can be higher in winter months, when we continue to make and eat cholesterol but there's less sunlight available to convert it. |
Bill Sardi
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| Blacks and darkly pigmented people don't make as much vitamin D from sun exposure. Vitamin D shortage is a strong factor in the development of cancer, particularly lung cancer.
Examine the lung cancer mortality rates for the 23 countries displayed on map Nr. 1 in this chapter. |
Marshall Editions
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 Replacing any water, salt, and potassium lost by the body due to sun exposure will help prevent sunstroke from occurring. Eliminate caffeine, hot drinks, and alcohol from your diet, as they keep you hot and contribute to dehydration.
Prevention: Wear light, loose clothing, such as cotton, so that sweat can evaporate. Better yet, get clothing that is best suited to hot weather, which wicks away moisture from the body to keep temperatures low. Also wear a hat that provides shade and allows ventilation. |
Mehmet C. Oz., M.D. and Michael F. Roizen, M.D.
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| In this setting of low sun exposure, a substance called Apo E4 rises to help create more cholesterol and subsequent vitamin D. Apo E4 elevations of cholesterol lead to atherosclerosis and Alzheimer's later in life. And in another mutation, those of us whose ancestors lived in areas where the UVB rays were not so plentiful evolved to have less melanin in our skin to allow all those UVB rays to get through. But if the skin color is too light or too much sunlight enters the cells, then folate levels plummet. |
| Related to excessive sun exposure (which is why most of us will never get them on our buttocks), these cancers are rarely fatal and can be simply removed as long as you catch them early. The other kind of cancer, melanoma, is related to sunburns, as opposed to long-term exposure, and it's much more dangerous.
Interesting note: The majority of skin cancers occur on the left side of the face. Why? Driving. The trend these days is to have bigger windows and moon roofs. Makes sense, especially when you consider that driver's side windows aren't tinted. |
Bill Sardi
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| Guerin-Tosh, like many millions who live in northern climates, most likely did not produce enough vitamin D from sun exposure due to the angle of the sun at that latitude. The cancer belt in the world runs around the globe in northern latitudes. Guerin-Tosh's advisors gave him enough information to avoid toxic treatment which carries the risk of death. On the other hand, the advice he received on alternatives was only marginally helpful. Guerin-Tosh succumbed to cancer in 1965, nine years following his diagnosis. |
Joan Liebmann-Smith, Ph. D., and Jacqueline Nardi Egan
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 Pingueculae are actually age spots, and like age spots on the skin, they result from cumulative sun exposure. These slow-growing eyeball bumps are also a telltale sign of overexposure to wind and dust. But unlike many other sun-related age spots, they usually don't become cancerous. They may, however, become irritated and grow so large they interfere with eyesight or make contact lenses hard to fit.
STOP SIGN
Even if Pingueculae and pterygia are removed surgically, they tend to grow back bigger and more quickly than before. |
Paula Begoun and Bryan Barron
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 On lighter to medium skin tones, solar lentigenes emerge as small- to medium-sized brown patches of freckling that can grow and accumulate over time on areas of the body that receive the most unprotected sun exposure, such as the back of the hands, forearms, chest, and face. For those with darker skin colors, these discolorations can appear as patches or areas of ashen-gray skin. Regardless of how or why these benign discolorations occur, the response to them is the same worldwide: this is something women want to get rid of and prevent from recurring, or to prevent in the first place. |
| Wrinkles are caused by a number of factors, chiefly years of unprotected sun exposure and a person's own genetics.
EXFOLIATE REGULARLY. Exfoliation is the natural process all skin goes through in which the outermost layers of skin are sloughed off and replaced by the new cells that move to the surface. This endless inside-out rotation is the hallmark of healthy skin. For many reasons this healthy cell turnover may get impaired, causing problems for many skin types. |
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