XPOST [PathOfHealth #169]: Sun Exposure

[Guest guest]

I rarely write saying that something is just plain wrong, but this teaching

that once one eats a raw diet, one somehow becomes magically immune to sun

exposure is not only incorrect, but downright dangerous.

 

While it is correct to say that raw food favorably influences our capacity

to integrate sunlight, our relationship with the sun is also reasonably

independent, as well. If one is habitually out of the sun, for example, then

eats raw food for a year, then goes out into the midsummer, midday sun for a

few hours, one will undoubtedly get fried.

 

Reentry into the sun is a process, a relearning process for the body, as is

any other adaptive shift. When we reenter the sun's light slowly, over time,

we allow a type of cells in our skin, called melanocytes, to " come back to

life " , to begin producing melanin in increasing quantities. Melanin is the

pigment that darkens the skin in response to sun (specifically ultraviolet)

exposure, resulting in " sun tan " . As the quantity of melanin resident in the

skin increases over time, our capacity for sun exposure increases, as well.

 

This process is fundamentally the same, regardless of one's diet. The raw

food diet, by providing better building material, consuming less energy,

etc., simply allow the process of reacclimation to proceed more easily,

quickly, and safely. But raw food is no substitute for either melanin or for

common sense!

 

Best to all,

 

Elchanan