The Significance of Sun
The excitement of the holiday season carries us Midwesterners through the beginning winter months with no problem. As the sun disappears for longer and longer amounts of time, we are too busy to notice: buying Christmas presents, whipping up holiday desserts, wrestling wrapping paper, assembling trees, hanging lights, and inviting friends and family to celebrate together.
But as New Year’s Day passes, suddenly we’re settled into January where the only thing to look forward to is… a birthday? The beginning of the next month? Lunar New Year? Valentine’s Day? Whatever’s on your mind, the absence of the sun is noticed all at once, in the abrupt stillness of the post-holiday first month of the year.
Darkness hovers in the morning hours. The sky brightens just enough to get to work and back (barely). Dinner emerges as the last light of day fades away. The night stretches ahead, and the cycle repeats itself.
How long can a human being go without seeing the sun? Without feeling the sun’s rays on the skin or experiencing the warm light illuminating the daytime hours? According to the Internet, this may be a little bit dramatic, but when Northern Indiana experiences three straight weeks of the “Permacloud”(yes, that’s real thing, and it even has its own X account), I think some dramatics are acceptable.
Benefits of Sun
Although many today associate the sun’s rays as harmful, the benefits of sunlight outweigh the risks that come with exposure to UV rays. The primary effect of sunlight is assisting your body in producing Vitamin D, which is an essential nutrient that affects our bones, blood cells, and immune system. Vitamin D also helps our bodies absorb other essential nutrients including calcium. While a balanced diet ought to provide an adequate amount of Vitamin D, spending time in the sun to soak it up is worth it. Certain health conditions like autoimmune diseases have been found to be more common in northern climates where the sunshine is less frequent and less concentrated. These conditions may be linked to lower levels of Vitamin D (Huotari & Herzig, 2008).
Exposure to sunlight also affects our sleep and circadian rhythms. Getting some rays during the early morning can improve sleep at night, helping you sleep better and longer. Research has shown some correlations between exposure to early morning sun and weight loss. Sunlight has also been linked to emotional well-being. Spending time in the sun can boost serotonin levels in your brain. Known as the “happiness molecule,” serotonin promotes positivity, peace, focus, and energy. Seasonal affective disorder and other types of depression linked to low serotonin levels are sometimes treated with sunlight, or light therapy that mimics the sun’s rays.
Animals Too!
You can’t deny the animals love the sun too, especially after watching the calves run and play!
If sunlight has all these positive effects on humans, it benefits animal health as well, specifically in the absorption of Vitamin D to promote bone growth and strength. In general, natural light is essential to livestock health. Dairy cattle produce more milk and are less likely to get sick. Animals detect the changing seasons based on light. Our cattle, who spend all their time outside, are able to develop their winter coats at the appropriate time and also shed them based on the changing light patterns throughout the year. Being outside in the natural light actually helps the social aspect of a cattle herd due to improved eyesight and communication through visual cues. In the warm summer months, we take precautions against the harmful effects of overexposure by providing shade and shelters for our livestock to prevent sunburn and heat exhaustion.
The sun provides many benefits to humans and animals alike. I, for one, sure miss her when she’s gone! As January and February melt away, hopefully the sun will emerge once again and remind us that even when it’s all gray outside, time keeps moving forward, carrying us with it. The best we can do is soak up the sun when we can, finding hope and health as our lives carry on.
References
Eternit (2022, June 26). The importance of natural light for your animals and productivity. https://www.eternit.co.uk/en-gb/blog/237231/the-importance-of-natural-light-for-your-animals-and-productivity%20/
Frysh, P. (2022, Feb. 22). Sunlight and your health, WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/ss/slideshow-sunlight-health-effects
Huotari, A., & Herzig, K. H. (2008). Vitamin D and living in northern latitudes--an endemic risk area for vitamin D deficiency. International journal of circumpolar health, 67(2-3), 164–178. https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v67i2-3.18258. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18767337/