Exposure to soft sunlight is important for our health as it provides vitamin D which is an essential vitamin for the human body. When you limit the exposure to sunlight, you are depriving yourself of this vital vitamin but other than that, there are some other notable reasons why you should expose yourself to sun a little. Research has found that reduced exposure to sunlight increases the risk of colorectal cancer(cancer of colon, bowel and rectal). If you don’t take enough sunlight, you must start getting it now and read this study to understand the risk.
Risk of Colorectal Cancer
Colorectal cancer or CRC is the cancer of the colon, rectal and bowel. This is not as common as several other commonly known cancers but it is equally disastrous. There are various risk factors for colorectal cancer and limited exposure to sunlight is one of them. Sunlight consists of ultraviolet or UV rays. Overexposure to UV rays is bad for the skin as UVA rays cause skin aging and UVB rays cause sunburn. However, this doesn’t mean that you completely refrain from soaking up the sun as it might cost you cancer!
BMC Public Health journal recently published this study which found that inadequate exposure or zero exposure to UVB rays can double up the risk of colorectal cancer. While anyone irrespective or gender or age can get this cancer, elderlies are at maximum risk. Also, this research isn’t limited to a country but was conducted in over 180 countries with data collected through the Global Cancer (GLOBOCAN) database to get the best results.
Also Read: 9 Signs That Your Body Is Begging For Vitamin D
UVB Rays Reduce the Risk of Colorectal Cancer
The more UVB rays you get, the less prone you are to cancer. This might sound absurd to some people but UVB rays are slightly good for your holistic health. One of the reasons why researchers assert this could be vitamin D. As we all know, sunlight is the greatest source of vitamin D and its low levels can affect health. Taking sunlight early morning and during sunset would not harm your skin but provide you with the abundance of vitamin D. If you don’t exposure yourself to the sun at all, you might be missing out on vitamin D which then increases the risk of many health issues including cancer. The deficiency of vitamin D can cause colorectal cancer.
Also Read: Prevent Colon Cancer With These 5 Foods
One of the authors of this study said: "Differences in UVB light accounted for a large amount of the variation we saw in colorectal cancer rates, especially for people over age 45. Although this is still preliminary evidence, it may be that older individuals, in particular, may reduce their risk of colorectal cancer by correcting deficiencies in vitamin D."
The research found that colder countries like Canada, Norway and Denmark receive lower levels of UVB rays whereas India, UAE, Sudan and Nigeria are some countries where UVB is received at maximum. Thus, you must try to get some sunlight daily as it boosts vitamin D levels and promotes overall health in many ways.
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