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Sun & Sleep
Bodybuilders have believed for a long
time that to lose fat you need the sun. They spend
quite a bit of time on the beach wearing beach wear,
exposing their skin to the sun - without sun block.
Now bodybuilders are pretty quick to both take up new ideas
and to discard those that don't work; sun bathing is one
activity that has withstood the test of time.
What is it about sun bathing that reduces fat stores?
When skin is exposed to sun it produces large amounts of vitamin D3.
Now, the USDA says you need 400 IU a day of vitamin D3, but for someone as
light skinned as I am (just short of albino) 20 minutes of sun exposure on
the beach produces nearly 20,000 IU of vitamin D3. I can only conclude
that the USDA is wrong and my body wants that massive amount of vitamin D3
for some reason.
It turns out that vitamin D3 together with calcium
reduces the production of the inflammatory fat hormone Tumor Narcosis
Factor-alpha, TNF-alpha and thereby increases the production of the
anti-inflammatory hormone adiponectin. (ref)
Adiponectin is also responsible for decreasing insulin resistance making it
easier to lose fat and helps to prevent fat from returning.
Vitamin D3 also boosts your immune system,
helps protect against most cancers, protects against
coronary artery disease (CAD), is necessary for bone
health, and elevates mood.
Now, before dismissing this idea because everyone
knows that over-exposure to the sun without sun screen causes cancer, lets
hit hard on that word "over-exposure". Yes, over-exposure can cause
cancer. But recent research in Sweden demonstrates that under-exposure
to the sun also causes cancer. That's right, too little sun is just as
bad as too much sun. Now I live in the North where there is too little
sun in the winter and I have an indoor job so I generally get too little sun
in the summer. My solution was to buy a "sun canopy" which is the top
half of a tanning bed. Tanning beds require 220V while a sun canopy
requires 120V and can be plugged into any outlet. I worked up slowly
to 20 minutes front-side and 20 minutes back-side to get my full dose of
vitamin D3. I also turned it vertical so that I could (carefully) work
out with free hand weights while sunning. It saves time. I also
do this first thing in the morning because the mood elevation it causes
makes the day just go better.
I'd also like to mention that most sun screens
promote cancer. This is because the sun emits both UV-A and UV-B, two light
frequency groups. UV-B is the one responsible from sunburn and UV-A
causes skin wrinkling and cancer. Without sunscreen, UV-B causes your
skin to tan blocking both UV-B and UV-A. Almost all sun screens block
only UV-B and prevent the tanning that would block UV-A. End result?
People become over-exposed to UV-A because they think they can stay in the
sun longer, their skin ages rapidly and they are at much greater risk of
getting skin cancer.
Vitamin D3 is also necessary for normal sleep.
Sleep is cyclic and a normal night is divided into five identical cycles of
about 1.5 hours each. At about 1 hour into each cycle your pituitary
gland releases growth hormone, hGH. hGH triggers the repair of tissue
in the body's organs and muscles. Low levels of hGH are associated
with many diseases, but the two of most interest to us is that low levels of
hGH causes weight gain and accelerated aging. Increasing hGH causes
weight loss and can actually reverse many of the effects of aging. You
will find it very difficult to lose weight and maintain that weight loss
without adequate sleep.
More comes into play than just vitamin D3 when it
comes to sleep. Perhaps even more important is the brain
neurotransmitter serotonin, 5-HT.
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