health benefits of sunshine

["Muscovites for Equal Rights" <wearemuscovitesforequalrights@hotmail.com>]

This was forwarded to our group.  We do not endorse medical advice, but 
thought some of you would find it interesting.  Perhaps this will lead you 
in the direction of further research.  We do not advise getting sunburned!
MER

Spend time in the sunshine--15 minutes a day, 3 times a week. Sunlight on 
breast tissue has been linked to lower breast cancer rates, and helps the 
body to produce vitamin D

Go braless for a few hours each day. In Dressed to Kill: The Link Between 
Breast Cancer and Bras, (Avery Publishing Group, 1995), authors Sydney Ross 
Singer, Ph.D., and Soma Grismaijer found that women who wore a bra more than 
12 hours a day had a 19 times greater risk of breast cancer than those who 
wore a bra fewer than 12 hours

Researchers Tout Benefits Of Sunshine
Posted on: 02/21/2002

BOSTON--While a lot of sun exposure increases the risk of skin cancer, a 
little bit of sunlight is good for you, according to experts who spoke Feb. 
15 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of 
Science, reported Reuters Health on its Web site.
Researchers spoke at a press briefing on the effects of solar radiation on 
human health, particularly ultraviolet-B (UV-B)--the component of sunlight 
that triggers the body's production of vitamin D. Vitamin D doesn't just 
help keep bones strong, noted Dr. Michael Holick, a professor at Boston 
University School of Medicine who has studied the effect of sun on the body 
for more than 10 years. He also explained that it also activates several 
genes responsible for regulating cell growth, thus helping to prevent the 
out-of-control cell division that can lead to cancer.
According to Holick, sunlight exposure is a more effective way to get 
vitamin D than taking the vitamin orally, and vitamin D manufactured by the 
body from the sun's energy also lasts longer in the body.
"Vitamin D deficiency is a major unrecognized epidemic in the adult 
population," Holick said. As many as 40% to 50% of adults older than 50 may 
be deficient in the vitamin, according to the researcher. He noted that some 
people who appear to have fibromyalgia, a syndrome marked by chronic muscle 
and joint pain, may in fact have vitamin D deficiency.
Holick also said that African Americans may be "chronically vitamin D 
deficient," largely because their darker skin allows less UV-B radiation to 
penetrate. For whites, who absorb UV-B radiation more easily, Holick said 
that exposing the hands, face and arms to sunlight for 5 to 10 minutes two 
to three times a week will be enough to build the body's vitamin D stores.
Here's an amazing fact: The valves of the lymph system move the waste-filled 
fluids to be flushed and filtered. But since there is no pump as there is 
with the heart, lymph circulation depends solely upon your breathing and 
muscle movement. Physical exercise and diaphragmatic deep breathing are 
critical to lymph cleansing and to healthy immune response.


This is one reason why exercising the arms is so beneficial to the 
prevention of breast cancer: moving the arms, especially when stretching or 
raising the arms above the head, exercises the lymph system, removing toxic 
substances out of the breast area, and out of the body.

Women who do not exercise the lymph system are more likely to develop breast 
cancer.



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