A survey entitled “The Employee Experience” has been carried out by a company called Future Workplace. The organisation surveyed 1,614 North American employees and found that access to natural light and views of the outdoors was their number one request for the workplace.
This is no coincidence: the sun is an essential condition for human survival, and exposing ourselves to it is a healthy habit. Keep reading to learn all there is to know about the health benefits of daylight.
The health benefits of sun exposure
The above survey only scratches the surface of what sunlight can do for us. Indeed, daily exposure to sunlight can bring many benefits and improve your health in a variety of ways.
While research is still ongoing and there are too many benefits to list here, we’ve selected the four most important ones to remember.
Boost your vitamin D levels
Let’s start by saying that sunlight doesn’t distinguish between direct exposure and exposure through a window. This is a key point, as thinking about how many hours you spend indoors can be daunting.
Consequently, vitamin D is known as the “sunshine vitamin” because it is obtained through exposure to sunlight. The vitamin is produced by your body when it comes into contact with the sun, rather than travelling millions of miles from the sun.
According to scientists, it is also a crucial nutrient, as it regulates the absorption of calcium and phosphorus and helps the immune system.
In other words, adequate vitamin D production helps to strengthen teeth, bones and the immune system. If you don’t consume enough of this vitamin, your body can develop osteomalacia (soft bones) or osteoporosis (brittle bones).
Helps combat seasonal depression
Do you get the autumn or winter ‘blues’? This is the mild depression that accompanies the change of season during the winter months. According to research by Steven Targum and Norman Rosenthal, 6% of the population suffer severely from it, while the remaining 14% suffer minimally, equivalent to feeling ‘blue’.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a condition that can be greatly improved by exposure to natural sunlight. Also, if you tend to be grumpy and irritated during these months, don’t underestimate the sun’s ability to reset your axis. Did you know you can buy SAD lamps to help you get that much-needed boost if you live in a dark environment?
More restful sleep
Day and night, as you may know, govern our sleep patterns. Melatonin is a hormone that our bodies naturally produce between 9pm and 8am, allowing us to say goodbye to the waking world and hello to the realm of dreams.
The presence of modern objects such as screens that generate blue light can interfere with our melatonin production. If your body doesn’t produce enough melatonin in the hours before you go to sleep, you may find it difficult to fall asleep and not wake up feeling refreshed the next morning.
A tiny piece of research carried out in 2014 on office workers found that the more sunlight they were exposed to during the day, the better they slept at night. As a result, their immune systems and general health improved significantly.
Poor sleep habits, on the other hand, can contribute to chronic disorders such as type 2 diabetes and depression, among others.
Reduced stress levels
The stress hormone cortisol is what we all want to get rid of. We sense danger as soon as it’s present, and our bodies prepare for that perilous moment. This is an ancient threat response mechanism that has kept humans alive in the past. We no longer have predators to fear.
In any case, when cortisol is present in our blood, our brain switches to this mode. How can we counter the effects of cortisol? Well, another hormone called serotonin is released. The release of serotonin, which can help us fight cortisol and recover from chronic stress, can be triggered by exposure to sunlight.
Working in a dark environment, with little or no sunlight, causes our brain to release melatonin (darkness = bedtime). You start to feel sleepy, but you don’t want to fall asleep at work, so you beat yourself up with caffeine and become anxious. You’ll start to release cortisol and feel restless at this point.
Good artificial lighting or natural sunlight in the office could be the solution to this extremely common problem. These techniques can help you avoid sleep conflict while helping you overcome chronic stress.
What are the best options for replacing natural daylight?
Have you ever heard of light therapy? When the cold months start, it’s a great way to replace sunlight. You’ll need to use a light box (between 2,500 and 10,000 lux) and expose yourself to it for 10 to 15 minutes.
Although still being researched, this light treatment could help release serotonin in our brains, which helps stabilise our mood and fight depression.