Gut health can be helped tremendously by sunning the belly with no sunscreen for short, nonburning periods at midday. These deeply penetrating, near-infrared waves have the potential to kill candida and other gut pathogens to help restore intestinal balance.
Can the simple act of sunning the belly actually be beneficial to health even to the extent of helping to resolve gut problems? Yes, it can and here’s why…
When I was pregnant with each of my three children, I experienced extremely strong urges to sit in the sun with my belly uncovered. I did this as often as I could, typically 2-4 times a week depending on weather conditions.
This urge to sunbathe my belly was pretty much a constant thing from the very early part of the pregnancy right through to when labor started.
Why Belly Sun is So Beneficial
I didn’t understand at the time why I was wanting to sunbathe my belly, but sometimes you don’t need to understand all the ins and outs about something to do it. You just figure that you instinctively know what you need and that the answers will come later.
My husband used to tease me a lot about my belly sunning habit.
“There she goes flashing the neighborhood again!” he would joke.
We would both laugh and scratch out heads and wonder about this strange obsession.
Once I learned about the importance of the fat-soluble vitamins and Vitamin D in particular through the teachings of Dr. Weston A. Price, I figured the belly sunning thing might be simply a primitive urge to increase my Vitamin D levels for the benefit of the fetus.
However, I never fully bought into that notion as sitting in the sun with plenty of skin exposed but my belly covered did not feel the same.
It just felt so good to get that belly in the sun. It just wasn’t the same as my legs in the sun though that was certainly nice too.
What I was getting from the sun was much more than just Vitamin D as it turns out…
Gut Problems Helped by Sun on the Belly
I believe I have finally gotten an answer to this long-held question at the International Wise Traditions Conference. It came unexpectedly while chatting with Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, author of the groundbreaking book Gut and Psychology Syndrome.
Dr. Natasha was telling me about some very new research that indicates that certain wavelengths of the sun that have not been studied before actually pass right through the human body and have an energetically balancing and overall beneficial effect on the human physiology even helping to resolve longstanding gut problems.
And, in the case of a pregnant woman, these rays could energetically benefit the fetus as well when the belly is exposed to full-spectrum sunlight.
What’s more, Dr. Natasha suggested that these deeply penetrating sun waves have the potential to kill candida and other gut pathogens so as to help resolve gut problems and heal the gut environment as a whole! (1)
This gut balancing effect would have especially positive implications during pregnancy when the immune system is depressed due to pregnancy hormones giving any gut pathogens an easy opportunity to potentially take over dominance from beneficial flora.
Animals Sunbathe their Abdomens
Animals seem to instinctively know that belly sunning is beneficial. My two cats above roll onto their backs to sun their bellies quite often! I’ve seen many other animals including my backyard free ranging chickens do it too!
Here’s a quick video of one of my cats sunning her abdomen. She does this regularly for several minutes pretty much any day it’s clear with direct rays. After I turned off the camera, she continued on her back in the sun for about another 5 minutes.
Interestingly, she typically does it at midday as well, when the sun’s rays are strongest and most direct.
Near Infrared Saunas Do the Same Thing!
Dr. Mercola touched on this exciting area of research during his keynote address at the same Wise Traditions Conference when he said that the sun has an antiseptic effect on the human body. (2)
For example, he suggested that sunlight was a natural way to clear toenail fungus. Simply getting the affected foot out in the direct sun for a few minutes each day for a period of time would clear the infection!
He even went on to say that sunbathing the armpits would go a very long way toward eliminating body odor from that part of the body!
Incidentally, infrared sauna therapy does basically the same thing. 45% of the total energy received from the sun is in the near infrared range. I recommend and use this near-infrared sauna because it has zero EMF exposure.
None of the rays of the sun are in the far-infrared range, which is why only a near-infrared sauna mimics the sun’s energy. According to scientific studies, these healing rays penetrate up to 9 inches into body tissue beneficially stimulating the mitochondria of every cell that contacts it. (3)
The implications of using the sun (or a zero EMF near-infrared sauna!) as a simple and inexpensive way to resolve gut problems by helping rebalance gut flora and improve health is nothing short of astounding and very encouraging to those who have long struggled with gut imbalance issues.
Even persistent body odor that requires the use of deodorants or antiperspirants is frequently a sign of gut problems and overall imbalance and could be improved with regular jaunts in the sun.
So get outside and let the power of the sun go to work for you today! Don’t forget to skip the sunscreen and flash that belly for sensible nonburning exposure while you’re at it!
Sources
(1) Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride Lecture, Wise Traditions Conference
(2) Dr. Joseph Mercola Keynote Address, Wise Traditions Conference
(3) Effect of NASA light-emitting diode irradiation on molecular changes for wound healing
More Information
Heliotherapy: Benefits of the Sun Far and Beyond Vitamin D
Using Heat to Heal
Well there’s one reason to be thankful I live in the tropics! Usually I’m constantly complaining about it because of the complete lack of FOOD on this darn island. Will have to do some daily sunning when I start GAPS!
I have to say though, my nana did this a lot when she was pregnant and my uncle (who she was pregnant with at the time) was born with a HUGE birthmark all over his back which never faded and he still has and it has been the bain of his life. He has very fair skin and nothing has been proven, of course, but it is interesting to note. I would just be careful, that’s all!
That’s likely coincidence. The spectrum of sunlight rays which pass deeply and all the way through the tissues are not the same ones that cause pigmentation in the skin.
Yeah, not going to happen in Virginia in the winter! But interesting information and it makes sense. Doesn’t help me that both of my pregnancies have been the majority of the time in cold weather.
Sarah, I just love your posts.
Thank you for being a voice of reason in a sea of misinformation!
* I think N-acetylcysteine was in there too 🙂
Just to jump into the whole sun exposure debate, I’m extremely fair skinned and have burned frequently. I worked at a Naturopathic clinic where one of the doctors was working on an ‘internal’ sunscreen. If I remember correctly it was Vitamins E & C, selenium, and zinc. I essentially was getting all of these through my multivitamin {again Pharmax-it’s what we sold-Four pillars}, Virmunity, and diet. Once I went out to lay by the pool, intending to swim, and took the antioxidant pill and drank a bottle of Emergen C water….well, I woke up three hours later. No burn! I went into work on Monday in utter disbelief and this was when she explained how certain vitamins can act as an internal sunscreen. It was really amazing! I would slam a pack of the Virmunity before any long term sun exposure and I’d be A-okay.
It’s true: the very best internal sunscreen is an extremely potent antioxidant, such as astixanthin. One of my little sisters is extremely fair, and although she would take a while to burn considering her skin (usually about 30 mintutes or so) due to our wonderfully nourishing diet at home. But if we just give her an astixanthin about 10 minutes before goin into the sun, she seems to become un-burnable! We litterally went out into the beach, in the summer, in Florida, no shade, for 4 hours, and no one was the least bit burnt!
This is so fascinating. Thanks for sharing, Sarah!
It really bothers me that many (read: most) allopathic physicians – and especially dermatologists – urge patients to avoid sun at all costs and dump all sorts of nasty chemicals on their bodies to “protect them from the sun’s harmful rays”. What ridiculousness! How can a sane person fall for this huge scam – man-made chemicals will save you from the natural sun that has been supplying the earth with energy for millennia?!
Anyway, thanks Sarah for pointing out how important the sun is for health. I would add that they’re finding all sorts of other benefits to sun exposure including cancer prevention: And it turns out Vitamin D supplementation doesn’t even come close to obtaining it from the sun: http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110706/full/475023a.html. 3/4 of American adults and teens are Vitamin D deficient (which is linked to a ton of diseases), so people need MORE sun. The only caveat is that there IS such a thing as overexposure, and that’s dangerous (burning is an obvious indication of overexposure). But most people are deficient … so advising them to spend more time in the sun is a wise idea!
I couldn’t help but laugh when I read this because it describes my first pregnancy perfectly! Currently in my third trimester with number two and I don’t have those overwhelming urges this time around. I can only think to attribute this to the fact that I now take daily doses of high quality probiotic {Pharmax HLC} and make & enjoy my own kefir. With #1 I literally wanted to walk around all day with my shirt pulled-it was the craziest thing {especially because I’m extremely private with that particular part of my body}. I haven’t gotten off scot-free this time though because I did sun my bottom once……or twice 😉
Gut Problems? Get That Belly in the Sun! – The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/VkzeznnO #realfood #wapf
Body odor is a sign of gut imbalance?
Sure is. Toxin overload.
Also indicates imbalance of flora on the skin to a certain extent. If the imbalance of flora on the skin gets really bad, then eczema and other skin issues result. Imbalance of flora in the nasal passages contributes to sinus issues. The amazing thing is that if you balance the gut flora, the flora everywhere else magically normalizes too.
I’ve never considered the bacterial colonies in places other than the gut, but it makes sense. My mom struggles with recurrent, low-grade sinus infections in the winter; do you have some sources on this information that I could point her to?
The GAPS book is a simply indispensable resource on all things flora related.