Masters of Health Magazine October 2023

arogyam bhaskaradichhet, early morning sun rays are the giver of good health.

The Vedas, now known to be written 10,000 years BCE, and validated to be the oldest systematic philosophy and science conceived by man, wrote about the importance of the rising sun. The Vedas are also the oldest science continuously followed through time to the present day. Several rituals developed to emphasize the importance of the early morning sun, including surya-namaskaram, a series of yoga movements facing the morning sun, and mantras to be evoked in front of the morning sun, like the one my mother does each morning.

Of course, biology tells us that the biosphere is sustained by the Sun, and weather patterns are deeply affected by the undulating heating and cooling during rotation and revolution of the earth around the sun. But there was something specific about the rays of the morning sun being more beneficial than its rays at any other time of day. The ninth chapter of the Atharva Veda describes 22 diseases that can be cured by the rays of the rising Sun.

The Vedas claim that the sun can heal heart problems, jaundice, and anemia. Long ridiculed as far-fetched claims, science is now discovering the importance of vitamin D, produced by the skin from the sun, in modulating hormones and enzymes that affect the heart and blood. Indeed, premature babies are laid in incubators with UV light to cure their neonatal jaundice. Over a thousand different genes, governing almost every tissue in the body, are now known to be regulated by the active form of the vitamin D3, including several involved in calcium metabolism, endorphin and pain regulation, blood pressure through modulation of renin in the kidneys, and the optimal functioning of the neuromuscular and immune systems. There is also a connection between vitamin D deficiency and the development of diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Vitamin D also induces cathelicidin, a polypeptide that effectively combats both bacterial and viral infections.

When people are exposed to sunlight or very bright artificial light in the morning, their nocturnal melatonin production occurs sooner, and they enter into sleep more easily at night. This hormone from the pineal gland also plays an important role in countering infection, inflammation, cancer, and auto-immunity.

Unprotected sunlight exposure has been discouraged mainly due to melanoma risk. However, reports also state that 0.1% of the human population is at risk for UV-light related diseases whereas 50% of the human population is at risk of other diseases from lack of sunlight exposure. The safest compromise seems to be to take in sunlight when the UV Index is low. In general, the intensity of UV rays at the end of the day is higher than at the beginning of the day.

Masters of Health Magazine October 2023 | Page 20