Get Healthier–Spend More Time Outdoors

Sunshine Can Improve Your Health

Did you know that sunshine can improve your health? We are about to give you some great reasons why it’s good to shift your life to more outdoor time as much as possible. In most of the United States, it’s possible to increase time spent outdoors at least 2-3 seasons of the year without much of a stretch, but even winter in the harshest climates provides benefits.

Look at this article as reasons to play hooky from life and still be productive. First, we will share with you some of the possible benefits of increased sunshine and vitamin D and then how to do some easy shifts in your life to incorporate more outdoor time on a daily basis with ease.

Sunshine, Vitamin D & COVID Connection

Vitamin D is sometimes called the sunshine vitamin because vitamin D is produced in your skin when you spend time in sunlight. More sunlight equals more vitamin D production. Our bodies produce vitamin D, but we also can get vitamin D from specific foods and supplements.

We are finding out last year how important vitamin D is to our health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Low vitamin D levels and less time in sunlight seem like they correlate with more infections. Higher levels of vitamin D seemed to give people a better chance of better outcomes when infected. So why is vitamin D so important?

So Why Is Vitamin D Important?

Sunshine, which helps produce vitamin D does so much for our bodies; it can help our bodies fight disease, can reduce depression, may assist with weight loss, can improve our immune function, and it can help us have good gut health.

Vitamin D helps our bodies regulate the absorption of calcium and phosphorus so it’s very important for the normal growth and development of bones and teeth, as well as giving us resistance to some diseases. You can say that is great for kids, but I’m an adult, it also helps your bones from becoming soft or fragile and developing osteoporosis. A flexible strong body is able to enjoy life and do so much better into the elder years.

Top Benefits of Sunshine & Vitamin D

Let’s start with fighting disease, that’s a good place to start. Vitamin D can reduce your risk of multiple sclerosis, developing heart disease, and your likelihood of getting flu. Much research has been done on the link between low vitamin D levels and depression.

Research has shown the vitamin D might help regulate your mood and help ward off depression. So, once again, more than an old wife’s tale, spending more time in the sun helps with mood and SAD or seasonal affective disorder. Lower vitamin D levels can also make you more prone to anxiety and fibromyalgia because vitamin D helps regulate so many functions in our bodies.

Sufficient vitamin D levels can help your body lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. Also, research has shown a correlation between vitamin D and lowering heart disease risk factors. After the last year, we have all been through with COVID, it’s interesting to note that vitamin D can help increase gut microbial diversity, in straight talk, it makes for a healthier gut, a healthier gut helps support a healthy immune system.

Why Vitamin D Levels Are Lower Today

Our lifestyles don’t support as much time outdoors as the last two generations, plus these factors deter vitamin D production:

• High pollution rates
• Increased carbon dioxide levels
• Spending more time indoors
• More sedentary jobs
• More screen time, TV, computers, tablet, and phones
• Using sunscreen

So, with some simple modifications of lifestyle, you can improve your vitamin D production and have fun doing it!

Creative Ways to Spend More Time Outdoors & Lower Stress

Most all of us are balancing so many things these days that being told to change a behavior is just one more thing on the to-do list we don’t need. But, here are some creative and fun ways to do some simple modifications of your current lifestyle to increase your outdoor time and possibly your vitamin D. Worst-case scenario, you can choose to supplement with vitamin D, it’s a very inexpensive supplement that is readily available both locally and online.

• Consider having some meals outdoors in a sunny location.
• Move your home office outside and soak up some sun while your work. There are sunshades for laptops that work great!
• Play with your children outdoors instead of watching TV in the late afternoon.
• Take a walk with your dog, your spouse, or your kids in the morning or afternoon.
• Install a tree swing or porch swing to relax or meditate in that gets sunlight during the day.
• Start a DIY project outside.
• Work in your garden or plant a vegetable garden. Hint, kids eat more vegetables when they plant them and harvest them.
• Bring your cooking outdoors with your barbecue or an Instant Pot-between the two you can create an entire meal.
• Install a hammock between trees or put up a hammock stand and read a book in the sunlight.

This is just a starter list for all the creative ways you can move your lifestyle more outdoors at least 2-3 seasons a year and reap the benefits both to your mood and health. All of us at Shed Windows and More are working at incorporating more outdoor time into our busy schedules because we want to reap the benefits of lower stress and better health to be able to enjoy all the incredible moments in life.