Sunlight and Vitamin D:
They’re Not the Same Thing
part 2.
(CONTINUED from October 2020 issue of Masters of Health magazine.)
By Stephanie Seneff,
B.S., M.S., E.E., Ph.D.
SUNLIGHT AND THE EYES
Sunglass marketing ads have programmed many of us to wear sunglasses whenever we go outside in order to protect our eyes from damaging UV rays. Melanin is what gives your eyes their color - blue, hazel, green, brown. It also protects them from UV rays. The human eye has evolved to naturally deal with sun exposure through antioxidant protection by melanin, as well as other antioxidant-defense systems based on gluthathione and the enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD).
I believe it is crucial to get adequate sunlight exposure to the eyes, not just for the sake of eye health but also because critical nuclei in the brain stem make good use of light that enters through the eyes.
PINEAL GLAD AND SLEEP DISORDER
The pineal gland sits behind the eyes and it can easily receive light that enters through the eyes. It plays an important role in circadian rhythms, and promotes restful sleep, by synthesizing large amounts of melatonin as the light fades in the evening. The melatonin is conjugated with sulfate and shipped out into the cerebrospinal fluid at night. In a paper published together with Wendy Morley, I have argued that melatonin supplies sulfate to the neurons in the brain at night and that this supports activities during sleep to break down and recycle cellular debris.29
During the daytime, a sulfotransferase enzyme is sharply upregulated in the pineal gland, and it increases the amount of sulfate in the glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in the intercellular spaces of the pineal gland.30 From this, we can infer that sunlight catalyzes sulfate synthesis in the pineal gland, and indeed, the cells there express eNOS. The sulfate built up by day can be extracted from the matrix and conjugated to melatonin in the evening to maintain the brain’s supply of this critical nutrient.