The location is the Gord Harry Rail Trail just east of Lowbanks. It’s late morning last Monday, and my wife and I have cycled there from Port Colborne. A chill wind is blowing briskly off a still-cold Lake Erie, and although the sun is shining brightly, the temperature is just 8 C.
A tall, definitely underdressed fellow in ‘60s-style short shorts and light jacket is striding toward us, his large black dog happily sniffing its way along behind him. The fellow’s expression is stern and rigid, think Samuel L. Jackson or Daniel Craig, as he glares at our approach. Suddenly a mini-smile appears, his eyes brighten, and he says to us, “It’s so nice to be out in the sunshine at last!”
Is it just me, or is everyone feeling the same way this spring? Chats with neighbours in the driveway as they walk by, chance meetings with friends outdoors, or cycling with a group all lead to a similar thankfulness when bright, mood-boosting sunshine appears.
This feeling that we’ve experienced an abnormal level of overcast days this year is accurate. This warmest-ever Niagara non-winter meant the air held more moisture, consistently increasing cloud cover and general dreariness. Quickly melting, on-again off-again light snowfalls added to this trapped moisture, which low-angle winter and early spring sunshine was unable to mix with clearer skies above.
The extra joy that sunny days are bringing many of us this year is not imaginary—there are lots of mental and physical benefits to be had from time spent in sunlight.
(All things in moderation. There are certainly risks to overexposure which should be acknowledged, and care should be taken. See https://www.pelhamtoday.ca/columns/the-balanced-life/the-balanced-life-the-truth-about-sunscreen-6348460 )
The sunny-day smiles we experience around Pelham may be caused by increased levels of serotonin, a mood-enhancing hormone. Our bodies are triggered to produce serotonin in various ways. We’ve all heard about the “runner’s high,” an example of the most common stimulant to serotonin production—exercise and body movement.
Exposure to bright sunlight is the second most effective way we have to increase serotonin levels. Sunlight triggers a unique area in our retina that messages our brain to increase serotonin production, which is associated with elevated mood, a feeling of calm and focus, reward signaling, lower pain perception and other behaviours.
Exposure to bright sunlight is the second most effective way we have to increase serotonin levels
There are now studies confirming that the sun’s ultraviolet radiation can trigger endorphin release too. In 2013 David Fisher of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital published a study that suggested the release of these feel-good hormones “acted like a drug, making exposure to sunlight addictive.” Interestingly, our brains are influenced via the same neurotransmitters that opioids affect, although recent research has found that the endorphins themselves don’t cross the blood-brain barrier.
At this time of year, living in Niagara’s relatively northern latitudes, we’re able to enjoy the general sense of well-being plus the stress and pain relief benefits that sunshine-induced endorphin release generates without risking overexposure and addiction.
Walking, hiking, gardening, cycling, pick your favourite—combined with a bright sunny day gives our psyche a double boost of the feel-good hormones we relish each time the clouds break.
The hormone melatonin, which we produce in darker lighting and at night, helps us sleep and regulates our circadian rhythms, the physical and mental cycles that follow our 24-hour sleep-wake patterns.
Without proper balance between sunlight-induced serotonin and melatonin, our brains and bodies become confused, frequently resulting in mild to severe depression or Seasonal Effective Disorder (SAD). This condition includes a range of symptoms similar to major depression such as fatigue, loss of interest in activities previously enjoyed, changes in appetite, feelings of purposelessness, or worse.
Physically, the prime benefit of exposure to sunlight is that the sun’s ultraviolet-B rays help your body manufacture Vitamin D, a nutrient critical to many functions. Vitamin D assists your body in processing calcium, phosphorous and other minerals important to bone and bloodcell health and immune system function.
W.B. Grant (PhD, University of California Researcher) has taken the health benefits of sunlight a step further in international epidemiological studies, with quite surprising-to-me results. Based on evidence in a 1990s study by Garland and Gorham that found a negative correlation between geographic latitude, sun exposure and Vitamin D status to developing many cancers, Grant worked to validate and quantify their results. His more recent analysis concluded that between 69,000 and 88,000 adults residing in the United States and Britain die prematurely from 13 cancers as a result of inadequate sun exposure.
After establishing that the major source of Vitamin D for most humans is exposure to sunlight, Grant proved that, “A wide variety of other tumor cell lines including leukemia, melanoma, lung, breast, and prostate cancer cells have been shown to respond to the antiproliferative and prodifferentiating activity of Vitamin D.” Both these activities allow our immune system to perform better.
Perhaps the clouds of our dreary last few months will have a silver lining. A 2017 Angus Reid poll of 1500 Canadians found that although we know being outdoors is beneficial, 64 percent of us are outdoors for less than two hours per week, and 29 percent spend less than five minutes a day outside.
If the broad smiles seen on the sidewalks and trails of Pelham when the sun is shining are an indication, we may all be understanding and appreciating our sunshine therapy a bit more this year.
