How much time do you spend in the sun each day? and other associated thoughts

[Paleo Donk]

I have a haphazard proposal for attaining correct skin color and thus correct sun exposure.

You simply must get your skin color to match the color of your penis.

The skin of the penis is normally known to be quite a bit darker than the rest of the body. I think it could be the case that the penis has evolved in a manner where it was protected and thus not exposed to the same amount of sun that the rest of the body was. Humans have the largest penis among primates and would seem like it would get in harms way when hunting(do any men hunt naked now?). Perhaps men wore some kind of string bikini deal like I have seen some traditional groups doing. So to protect the penis from sunlight if and when it did get exposure it evolved with a tan to the degree of how much protection the rest of the skin had evolved to getting. Skin darker than that of the penis would be getting too much sun and be damaging and skin lighter than the penis would not be getting enough.

[bharminder]

Sun is extremely important. The darker the skin, the more time a persons should spend in the sun. Fully body exposure is ideal, as this creates the most Vitamin D in the shortest amount of time. It's best to get out when the sun is at it's peak or near, around 9am-3:30PM. I'd say light skinned people should aim for < 1 hour each day and dark skinned people should aim for < 3 hours each day, and in between colored people should aim for in between. I don't think sunscreen is helpful, from my understanding it blocks the UVB rays which are the rays required to produce Vitamin D. I believe there are other nutrients that we get from the sun, currently unknown by modern science, other than vitamin D.

I try to get about 2 hours a day in the sun, but I live in the Midwest, United States. 6 months out of the year here are without sun,and usually cloudy. In the summer I try to get out for at least an hour if not more.

note: sunburn is bad and does damage the body. it's best to avoid sunburn while getting lots of sun exposure. if you have sunburn i don't recommend letting that part of the skin get exposure to sun until it's healed. sometimes i put aloe vera gel on my shoulders because the shoulders get exposed to the sun no matter which direction you're facing, and they are always being shined on by the sun. therefore I am somewhat prone to sensitivity/pink/sunburn on my shoulders, so sometimes i cover my shoulders with a t-shirt(draped around my shoulders only), and the rest of my body never gets burned because I make sure not to spend too much time in the sun either.

Vitamin D has been linked to so many benefits in modern science, including immmune system and cognitive benefits, as well a link to many many diseases...that is,  having a higher vitamin D level is associated with lesss disease

[maxscan]

A while back I came across this sunlight / vitamin D calculator:

http://nadir.nilu.no/~olaeng/fastrt/VitD-ez_quartMED.html

It was developed by the Norwegian Institute for Air Research and it calculates the amount of exposure you need to produce 25mcg / 1000 IU of vitamin D.

Takes into account date, time, location, skin type, cloud cover, altitude etc.

You need to put lat / long values in - you could just look at these pages:

US cities: http://www.realestate3d.com/gps/latlong.htm
World cities: http://www.realestate3d.com/gps/world-latlong.htm

Alternatively you can get them from Google maps if you put a place in, then click the 'link' button upper right, then scroll along in the first line 'Paste link in email or IM' - you'll see something like this:

maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=SE1+1TL&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=17.937521,39.506836&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=London+SE1+1TL,+United+Kingdom&t=h&z=16

The bit in red is your lat & long values... (for where the red balloon icon is)

Hope this helps...

[KD]

Skin darker than that of the penis would be getting too much sun and be damaging and skin lighter than the penis would not be getting enough.

I sun my penis. I lay out against a fence on one side and plop it out on the side of my shorts. [ stay in your seats ladies, I wear really short shorts ] I think its important for people to get some amounts of full bodied exposure, per health reasons if not per natural requirements. I know for yeast issues its supposedly vital. Either way I seem to be giving my guy a run for its money in terms of my increasing tan. I think as long as people prevent regular burning and eat an appropriate diet, they can build up to some pretty outrageous tans safely.  

--

One thing I'm curious about with others is if anyone does any skin brushing or scratching/rubbing-with-fingertips to get out dirt and dead skin and such. My skin just seems to be cranking this stuff out in huge quantities. For example I can just rub my bicep area from my shoulder gap to arm pit with my pads of my finger and it will usually pull out grime that is either grayish, light-brownish or blackish-brownish. My skin has been looking better than ever (and it was always pretty healthy), and I'm beginning to see some transparency and elasticity talked about by Robert Cassar. Judging also by my increased energy, I have to admit more and more that there is much truth to the theory of fungus and microbes lining the entire surface of the body.

[actionhero]

At least 3 hours every day, shirtless about 30 minutes.     

I'm beginning to see some transparency and elasticity talked about by Robert Cassar.

Me too. It feels paper thin, super elastic and regenerated. 

[KD]

Me too. It feels paper thin, super elastic and regenerated.  

cool. for me its only barely noticeable so far. Or when I move my muscles in a certain light I can sorta see it. I noticed my veins raised in my arms working out the other day, but usually its pretty smooth still. I can grab alot of skin around my arms and hands and stuff. its a little weird! I can infact feel some odd tissue and such underneath which is not at all muscle of course, so there is something to be done there apparently. I am finally after 5 years of hearing about the comparison of showering with unfiltered water to drinking tons of tap water - going to be getting my shower filter soon for my new place. We'll see if that speeds up the process. I tend to take cold showers anyway, but hopefully that means I won't have to burn through filters.

[miles]

When I go in the sun and it's warm, or in a solarium, my skin starts smelling like sun cream. I think it's related to the vitamin D synthesis, but if I go in the equally strong sun when it's cold(e.g. because of icy wind) I don't get the same thing. Can the body not synthesise vitamin D properly in the cold? It would alter the state of the fat on the skin for one thing, as well as drawing away blood and other effects.

[CHK91]

I do a full body nude tan at solar noon, when it is sunny, for about 15-40 minutes depending on the season.

[goodsamaritan]

I'm not a believer in the we-should-be-under-sunlight the whole day hypothesis.
My latest opinion is that we are forest creatures thriving under the canopy of enormous trees.
I don't really need that much sunlight myself.
10 minutes a day will do... morning sun
I have seen really sick people need tons of sunlight, but it's like an instincto thing... only when you need it.
Even babies, we just sun them some 30 minutes in early morning sun.

But mid-day sun? 10am to 3pm?  Absolutely no way.
We know better to get under the shade at that time.

I live in Manila, so the sun I get may be different than yours.
differing temperatures and humidity.

[raw-al]

I wish I had sun like you GS. In Canada at 45.30 North I try to get as much as I can, but I need to move around or escape it in the midday hours.

When I go out sailing I have to be careful (although I never am. LOL) but I like to go shirtless and shorts.

I am not able to go completely raw nowadays but find it fantastic when I can.

[CitrusHigh]

I'm absolutely head over heals in love with the sun. I'd ask her to marry me, but she's too hot. hyuck. Anyway, I try to get at very minimum 30 mins of direct exposure over as much of my body as possible, in the midday (10am-2pm) for the vitD, but I'm certain the other spectrums of sun have their purposes as well so I don't modulate it too much, as long as I get about 30 mins direct sun each day, I'm a happy camper, my whole body loves the stuff! Haven't used sunscreen in many years and wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. My fam probably gets a little annoyed at my constant reminders of the toxicity of that junk and the beneficence of the sol!