How is sunlight beneficial for us?

Sunlight has many beneficial effects on human beings and life in general. But now it has been scientifically proved that sunlight also has medicinal values that help in the prevention, cure and treatment of many diseases. Sunlight destroys certain fungi and bacteria that may settle on our skin and cause diseases. Secondly, it acts as a protective agent by further activating the white blood cells. The white blood cells defend the body from the attack of disease-causing germs, thus sunlight helps us to develop a greater resistance to fight diseases. When sunlight falls on the skin, it causes certain substances to move into the blood and gives the muscles a new tone. The muscles become tenser and thus work better. In fact, our nervous system gets a kind of ‘charge’ from the sunlight and thus we feel stimulated and get the energy to move about. There is a substance in the skin called ergo sterol that is transformed into Vitamin D by the ultraviolet rays. This vitamin is very useful for bones, particularly, in diseases like rickets. Exposure to the rays of the Sun is just like swallowing a teaspoonful of medicine every five minutes. But it is important to remember that this ‘medicine’ is by no means harmless. We have to be just as careful about sunbathing, as we would have to be about taking medicine. Sunbathing raises the blood pressure, so people who have heart trouble or certain lung diseases run the risk of physical harm by excessive exposure to the Sun. In fact, we should expose ourselves to sunlight only in phases. For instance, while sunbathing, the best thing is to begin by exposing one-fifth of the body for about five minutes. The next day, expose another onefifth of the body for an extra five minutes, and so on. In this way, one can get all the benefits of sunlight without taking any undue risk.