The sun is the primary source of heat, light and energy on our planet. It helps things grow and contributes to many of the Earth's natural cycles. For this reason, they are also essential to human life. The sun can be a source of energy, excitement, and health benefits for many people. However, prolonged exposure to it can also be dangerous. Here are some of the effects of the sun that you should be aware of as you spend time in the great outdoors.

Four advantages and four disadvantages of sun exposure

Advantages of sun exposure

Spending time in the sun has many health benefits. Different types of radiation, including UV-A and UV-B, can cause your body to produce different hormones that help regulate body functions.

 

sleep improvement

Our sleep is naturally influenced by the Earth's day-night cycle. Exposure to the sun can help you get better and more natural sleep because it affects the hormones that regulate your circadian rhythm, your body's sleep clock. These hormones, serotonin and melatonin, can affect more than just your sleep, but if they become unbalanced, your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep may be affected. Studies have shown that people who get exposure to sunlight on a regular basis will balance these hormones and get better sleep as a result.

improve mental health

Spending time in the sun has also been shown to have significant mental health benefits. The presence of the sun can literally brighten many people's days, as it stimulates the production of vitamin D in the body, which can help boost mood. It can increase dopamine levels, which leads to an increase in overall happiness. This is one of the reasons why so many people experience seasonal affective disorder, a depressive mental health condition, during the winter when the sun is not around or strong during the day.

Skin improvement

The sun's stimulation of vitamin D production in the body does not only affect mental health. It can also improve skin and bone health, because vitamin D strengthens your cells. So, while excessive sun exposure is unhealthy, a moderate amount of exposure can do wonders for the health of your skin.

Strengthening the immune system

All of these benefits of the sun can also combine to improve the function of the immune system and the overall internal wellness of your body. Moderate exposure to sunlight has been shown to protect against disease, including serious conditions such as cancer.

Disadvantages of exposure to sunlight

While there are a lot of benefits from sun exposure, overexposure can lead to negative health consequences.

sunstroke

The most obvious form of injury from the sun is sunburn, which occurs when your skin gets too hot in the sun and becomes damaged. The sun's radiation can break down your cells over time, and can alter them.

skin cancer

With everything in life, there is a balance, and this certainly applies to exposure to the sun. While a little bit of sun (5-15 minutes at a time) can be good for your skin, routinely spending hours in the heat and light of the sun without adequate radiation protection can burn your skin as well as cause mutations that lead to cancer. Skin cancer can be just as risky as any other type of cancer, especially if it's caught late or left untreated. Like many other forms of cancer, it can also lead to death if it's serious enough. When you spend time outdoors, you should wear sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30. You'll still reap the benefits of spending time outdoors, but you'll reduce your risk of skin cancer and sunburn.

High temperature

The sun's heat can be intense during the spring and summer months. People who spend long periods of time outdoors during warm or hot months know this all too well. The sun can easily dry you out due to its heat, and when that happens, your body will begin to suffer as a result of its inability to cool off. Heat exhaustion is the first stage of this condition, and it's easy to go unnoticed. Some symptoms include fatigue and your body becoming unable to sweat.

If you don't take cover from the sun or take time to rehydrate, heat stroke is the next stage. Heat stroke is a form of hyperthermia, a condition in which your body begins to shut down as a result of its inability to control its core temperature. Some symptoms include hot and dry skin, high body temperature, dizziness, confusion, and nausea. To avoid this, be aware of how much heat your body can handle, and take regular breaks in the shade to drink water.

blindness

If you spend a lot of time in the sun without adequate eye protection, your vision may be affected over time. Just like your skin, the sun can burn your eyes and damage the sensitive cells inside them. Excessive sun exposure can be a contributing factor to the development of cataracts, along with early blindness conditions such as macular degeneration.

Ways to protect yourself from the sun

Being aware of your body's reaction to the sun is key to spending healthy time outdoors. Fair skin is more likely to get burns than dark skin, and therefore, fair skinned people are more susceptible to the harmful effects of the sun than dark skinned people. However, everyone, regardless of skin tone, should do their best to protect themselves from sun damage. Techniques for doing this include:

Take regular breaks in the shade

Wear long clothes while working to protect your skin

Continuously apply sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher

Drink a lot of water

wear sunglasses