You Need Sunlight!
It sounds a little aggressive, but it’s a fact. All humans need sunlight — even you! We’re not the only people saying this. Neuroscientists like Dr. Andrew Huberman, physicians, and the National Institute for Health (NIH) all talk about the importance of sunlight, particularly morning sunlight.
In a culture where we draw the curtains in order to better see our screens that are emitting artificial light, using black out curtains to see sleep longer, and sitting inside on a computer to make our living, we are desperately deprived of sunlight. In some cases, doctors recommend prescription level doses of Vitamin D to manage depression and anxiety symptoms. Our brains are starving for sun.
Early Sun
You may be saying to yourself, “Yeah, yeah. The sunroom company wants to tell me why I should get more sun. How convenient.” And, fair enough. We are bias in choosing this topic and have a vested interest in you taking action. But, that doesn’t mean we’re wrong.
Neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman of Stanford University posted this on his LinkedIn…
“If you wake up before the sunrise, try to get some sunshine in your eyes once it comes out. If you miss that morning sun for more than a few days and you view the evening sunlight, you delay your circadian clock, which makes you fall asleep later, wake later, etc. Get morning light.”
Sunlight in the morning can make or break your mental health, which feeds into your physical health. Getting morning light is essential.
When you get at least 2-10 minutes of morning sunlight, it does amazing things to your brain! When the sun hits your eyes, it triggers a time release of cortisol and starts the clock for when melatonin will kick in.
Cortisol is a hormone that acts as a sign to your body to wake up and focus. When steadily released throughout your body, it helps you maintain energy throughout the day! There are few people who don’t struggle with at least a couple of these things!
Why is melatonin release important? Melatonin helps you sleep. If you get the release timer started early in the day, then you’ll get tired at a reasonable time. Most importantly, it means that when it’s time for bed, you won’t be tossing and turning for an hour. You will actually sleep!
The facts put briefly are this: if you get at least 2-10 minutes of sunlight hitting your eyes soon after waking up, you’ll have more energy, higher alertness, and an easier time falling asleep at night!
What Else Sun Does
The sun also helps with hormone regulation. Many humans experience hormone imbalances because of our lifestyles. These are manifested by sluggishness, higher proclivity to obesity, and other issues. So, how does the sunlight help with that?
Researchers from Tel Aviv University found that regular sunlight exposure has an astounding impact on humans. After completing animal testing, the University conducted an experiment utilizing 32 human subjects and varied their sun exposure while testing hormone levels. The results are astounding!
The sunlight exposure regulated their endocrine systems. This particularly rose romantic passion (according to self reports) in men and women and increased testosterone levels in men.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, average testosterone levels are decreasing every year! This can either be the cause or be caused by the average population being more obese, having less muscle mass, and sleeping less (or having low quality sleep).
While the causation is unclear, the correlation is unquestionable! If testosterone levels in men are low, they have lower confidence, energy, sex-drive, and are more likely to be obese. Conversely, high levels of testosterone correlate with confidence, energy, focus, a high sex-drive, and general improved health.
In animal studies, researches noticed that females exposed to more direct sunlight had extended periods of heat and enlarged ovaries.
Professor Levy, head researcher on the study had this to say to the Jerusalem post
“As humans, we have no fur, and our skin is thus directly exposed to sunlight. We are only beginning to understand what this exposure does to us, and the key roles it might play in various physiological and behavioral processes…It’s only the tip of the iceberg.”
Does a Sunroom Count
It depends on which effects you’re seeking. If you’re looking for the early morning affects —namely energy, alertness, focus, and a internal clock that works — then yes! When sunlight hits your eyes, the hormones are released.
If you’re trying to get the effects or higher testosterone, higher sex drive, or confidence, then you’ll need direct sunlight. BUT, don’t write All Seasons Sunrooms off yet. We do more than just Sunrooms.
Before diving into the potential solutions, you need determine your goal. If you’re looking for Israeli study kind of results, you’ll need something that is going to get you direct sun exposure. But, if you’re looking for the neurological affects described by Dr. Huberman, then there are a variety of options.
You can view our enclosure solutions here on our website. For the neurological effects, any will suffice!
However, in order to get direct sunlight, we need to remove any barriers to the UV light. That means no glass. Thankfully, that doesn’t limit you much! The only thing to consider in this case is temperature control. With solutions such as a screened in porch, a pergola, and porch covering, you will have some relief from harsh heat, but you will also be able to expose your skin to direct sunlight.
For the neurological effects, you could get a way with a temperature controlled space such as a sunroom or conservatory! Now we have to answer the big question: is there a compromise?
The Compromise
In a lot of cases, compromise is a bad word because it implies that everybody kind of wins and sort of loses. Not this time! The composite is 100% a win all around.
An Eze-Breeze room is the way to choose whether you want direct sunlight or temperature control!
What is it? Initially, it looks like a standard sunroom with screens on the outside. What is special is that all the windows open to turn it into a screened in porch! That means that if you don’t want to tolerate the outside temperature, you can enjoy the 72 degrees you love. But if it’s a perfect cool day with that beautiful breeze, just slide those windows down and let the breeze easily move through!
After all that, what’s the call to action? Get some sunlight in the morning and throughout the day. This isn’t a sales pitch. It’s encouragement to take steps to improve your physical and mental health.
As little as a couple minutes of sun in your eyes first thing in the morning is a great first step to feeling more awake and happy. It’ll help you sleep at night and be productive throughout the day. Exposure to direct sunlight throughout the day will help you even more. Just twenty minutes a day makes a big difference.
It just so happens that the best way to make that happen is by calling All Seasons Sunrooms, so you can get maximal sunlight comfortably all year around!