67. Harvesting Light: The Alchemy of Sun & Human - Nadine Artemis

In a brilliant act of human photosynthesis, our cells evolved over millennia to receive and transform information from the source of all life on earth, the sun. Yet our species has moved further and further away from the consistent solar interaction that our ancestors thrived on. As industry seeks to instill fear for profit, and as millions of us slap highly toxic sunscreen onto our (and our childrens!) bodies each summer, we are missing out on a profoundly rich source of health and vitality. Let’s talk about all the ways in which the sun supports wellness, and how we can most wisely interact with our local star.

IN THE INTRO:

  • Lessons of the tulip

IN THE INTERVIEW:

  • Radical beauty- how an early feminist consciousness got Nadine interested in the medicalization of women’s bodies and the need to reframe beauty as radiant health

  • The effect of sunlight on the human body is like charging a battery

  • When our Vitamin D receptors are amply supplied, our chance of developing many diseases is dramatically lessened

  • The sun directly affects both the topical and internal microbiome, as well as our cell signaling systems

  • What we have to do to to make up for the lack of sunlight we get is often more harmful than just getting the sun exposure our bodies evolved to need

  • Heliotherapy: our forebears knew how to utilize the sun for healing

  • When and how we came to fear the sun 

  • Science shows that people who get lots of sun exposure, and people who live closest to the equator, have LESS chance of developing melanoma (plus, the form of light that *is* implicated in this insidious form of cancer)

  • A meta review of studies showed no correlation between melanoma and sun exposure, meanwhile over 2,500 studies have linked lack of natural, sunlight derived Vitamin D3 to increased cancer risk

  • Our DNA is able to heal a sunburn much more easily than it can heal the effects of chemical-laden sunscreen baking into our skin all day (which is not to say that we shouldn’t try to avoid sunburns- we should)

  • Sunscreen separates UVA from UVB rays, which bypasses the body’s natural sunburn warning system, exposes us to the dangerous form of solar radiation, and filters out Vitamin D

  • Our bodies can store up Vitamin D to keep us supplied (and less likely to catch viral infections) throughout the winter

  • How to acclimate our sun exposure slowly in the springtime so that our bodies are ready for unabashed sun worship come summer

  • Laying out in the sun literally creates muscle tone (all while laying still!)

  • What we offer to the sun, in terms of what we put into and on our bodies, matters when it comes to getting the most nourishment- and the least harm- from our time in it

  • What to eat to maximize our nutrient intake from the sun and create an internal SPF effect

  • Peptides: new science around how to get a base tan before sun exposure

  • How zinc works as a sunblock

  • Food is just sunlight slowed down into matter

  • Shadow food: pesticides affect plant’s abilities to photosynthesize appropriately (eat organic), pastured animals eat sunlight that we then ingest (eat pastured animals), eating plants and animals that grow in the same light environment we live in is helpful (eat local)

  • Making sure Vitamin D gets in to our bones

  • What we can tell by comparing ancient Egyptian skulls to those of their contemporaries

  • The best cure for many skin conditions is sunlight

  • We can get up to 2/3rds of the energy that fuels our mitochondria from sunlight (!)

  • Vision and the sun: eye health, myopia, and why to limit your time with sunglasses on 

  • Nadine and I both have our phones on night shift (red light) 24/7

  • The connection between the oral microbiome and the gut microbiome: the mouth is a portal into the rest of our body (more on this in the next podcast episode)

  • The importance of Vitamin D in preventing viral infections

LINKS:

Get the PDF transcript of this episode here.

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immunity, Nadine Artemis, geeking out on healthAmber Magnolia HillComment