Lifestyle
Solar therapy that can ease a lot of life’s woes
Country Living with Francis Farragher
Having been out and about the weekend before last including a trip to one of those real jewels along our Galway coastline – the Aran Islands – I picked up the usual farmer’s tan . . . well in fact it was more of a burning than a yellowing with no ‘protection’ at hand.
The sight of a beetroot red head confronting me in the mirror on a Sunday morning, (with alcohol not the culprit) was not a pretty sight, and the sun must be respected, but here in Ireland we get so accustomed to our duller days that we don’t take precautions with that burning ball in the sky.
We’ve done okay with sunshine so far this Spring and this added to the ever lengthening days, does help greatly to life the spirits and cast aside the doom and gloom of the winter period.
All a far cry from this time last year, when farmers desperately scrambled to buy a few bales of hay or silage, with not a pick of fresh growth to be found anywhere.
It is a medically researched and proven fact that daylight, and more particularly sunshine, do add greatly to our sense of well being, with the sun’s rays one of the great natural sources of vitamin D.
According to bodies like the Mayo Clinic, vitamin D3 helps the body to absorb calcium that in turn offers protection against such conditions as osteoporosis, high blood pressure, cancer, and other diseases.
Sunlight is also believed to be an aid in maintaining the levels of serotonin in our brains, the chemical that we need to keep us in a fairly decent mood or humour and to prevent us from slipping into any cycle of depression.
Seasonal Affected Disorder or SAD, is now taken very seriously by most GPs and psychiatrists, and tending to strike in late autumn and early winter as the days get shorter and our exposure to sunshine diminishes.
As well as serotonin, the change in the seasons from lighter, brighter days to heavier and darker ones, can also have an adverse impact on our levels of melatonin, the natural hormone produced in the body that helps us to sleep and rest quite naturally.
So during the summer – if ‘we’re good’ – and get out in the open air whether it be walking, cycling, jogging or just working outdoors, there is a huge therapeutic spin-off, that’s now being medically defined and proven.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.