Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma prevented by natural sunlight, but doctors still don't teach it

Wednesday, June 15, 2005 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: natural sunlight, vitamin D, Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Researchers in Australia have discovered that exposure to natural sunlight reduces the incidence of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL). The researchers were trying to find out if exposure to the sun really does cause this type of cancer; instead, they found that it actually protects people from the disease.

Why is this the case? Being exposed to natural sunlight results in the creation of vitamin D in your body, and vitamin D is extremely important in protecting you against bone loss, osteoporosis, schizophrenia, cancer (especially of the prostate and breast), and many other chronic diseases. In fact, the vast majority of people living in modern societies worldwide don't get enough natural sunlight on their skin. They thus suffer from chronic vitamin D deficiencies and have much higher risk of these diseases than would normally be expected.

What they need is sunlight. Sunlight really is the prevention, and in many cases even the cure, for these diseases, especially if they are still in their early stages. And yet, conventional medicine advises most people to avoid the sun. This teaches people to fear the sun, claiming that natural sunlight is going to kill them through skin cancer. As a result of that misguided advice, people avoid the sun and put on sunscreen practically every time they venture outside. Not surprisingly, they do not get enough ultraviolet radiation, or the vitamin D they need to prevent Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, as well as many other chronic diseases. That's one of the many reasons why we're seeing these skyrocketing rates of chronic diseases like schizophrenia, prostate cancer, and breast cancer.

The cure for these diseases is freely available

Many of these diseases, if not the vast majority of them, are easily preventable, and many of the prevention modalities are free of charge. All you have to do is walk outside. Your skin is a biochemical factory. Your skin manufactures the cure for cancer simply by being exposed to sunlight.

See, the strategies for preventing these diseases are readily available. Your body already knows all of this. But when you go outside and put on sunscreen, you interfere with your body's normal system of disease prevention. Of course, this doesn't mean you should go outside and burn yourself to a crisp. If you're not used to getting lots of sun on your skin, then you have to use some common sense. You should limit your exposure until you build up some skin pigmentation (a tan) to help you resist the DNA damage caused by excessive ultraviolet exposure. But most people are doing far more damage to themselves by avoiding all exposure, than by any overexposure.

People need some sunlight on their skin, and finally we're starting to see some of the research come out on this. There are now a number of proponents of this theory. I've interviewed the world's foremost expert on vitamin D and sunlight exposure -- Dr. Michael Holick, the author of the book, "The UV Advantage." (You can download the full interview for free at www.TruthPublishing.com.) In his book, he talks about how important it is to get some ultraviolet light if you want to be a healthy human being. I strongly recommend this book for those who really want to know how vitamin D works and what a fascinating journey it takes through your body. You’ll learn how it is transformed by one organ and stored by another, and how the kidney, the liver, and the skin are needed to create this crucial nutrient for human health.

Fired for telling the truth about sunlight

For writing "The UV Advantage," Dr. Michael Holick was ostracized and thrown out -- fired -- from his position by a group of dermatology medical experts. They didn't like his message, and the reason is not surprising. Much of the dermatology industry is funded by the very same companies that profit from selling sunscreen products. So if you tell the American people to stop using sunscreen for a few minutes a day, the makers of those sunscreen products don't like that message, because it costs them money. They want to keep selling sunscreen products.

It's just like the pharmaceutical companies, the drug makers, who want to keep selling products to generate profits regardless of the health consequences to the public. They're not interested in what happens to your health; they just want to make the money. They have demands from shareholders and investors, and they have personal ambitions and aims to meet sales figures and do better in their own careers. Those goals take precedence, not your health.

And besides, they can always say, "Oh, the sun causes cancer." Most people still believe that, so few would question that kind of statement anyway. But now evidence that will question it is coming out. In fact, there's now more than enough evidence to show that sunlight is absolutely essential for human health.

Getting back to health basics

I'm often surprised that we even have to question this. How obvious can this be? We evolved under the sun! It's not like the sun is brand new. It's not like the Earth created life in total darkness and then all of a sudden, in the last 40 years, the sun appeared and now we have skin cancer. I mean, think about it! Use some common sense here, because the doctors and researchers certainly aren't.

Common sense says the sun has been here for the 350,000 years of human evolution and the millions of years of pre-human evolution that created the DNA blueprint you now carry in your body. The sun was here all that time. If the sun was causing disease and killing people, do you think we would even be alive today? Of course not! We evolved and adapted as a species to live in harmony with the sun. Sunlight is present each and every day on the planet. And as beings, we evolved a genetic plan to exploit that sun to enhance our own health. I've said this many times before, but it's worth repeating: human beings did not evolve under fluorescent lights sitting in chairs in cubicles. We evolved in the wild, outdoors. We evolved under the sun, and our bodies learned how to use the sun to support our health.

Prevent prostate cancer with sunlight

As we see more research on this, I suspect we’ll receive more evidence proving that the sun protects us from a long list of chronic diseases. This research in particular was about Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), but I expect to see a lot more research about prostate cancer especially. And this is the big message that men need to hear about prostate cancer. No one ever tells them this stuff. Their doctors don't tell them; the media doesn't tell them; even the national health organizations don't tell people this. The big message is that you can prevent prostate cancer by getting sunlight. This is not rocket science folks! If you go out and regularly get sunlight on your skin -- as a child, as a teenager, and as an adult, you will not get prostate cancer.

Of course, the darker your skin, the more sunlight you need. This is another point I've said over 100 times on this website. People with dark skin have a natural adaptation that blocks more ultraviolet rays. As a result, they need 20 to 30 times as much sun exposure to generate the same amount of vitamin D as a white-skinned person.

Once again, think about it: Where did people who have darker skin come from? They came from regions near the equator of the planet. What's near the equator of the planet? The answer is that there's more intense sunlight there. This high-intensity sunlight motivated a skin color adaptation in humans. This pigmentation blocks more sunlight to avoid overexposure, but still allows some ultraviolet light into the skin so the organism, the human being, can generate vitamin D, thus preventing chronic disease.

Fair- or white-skinned people lived in northern climates, where sunlight exposure is a fraction of that at the equator. Thus, they did not need the ultraviolet protection of dark skin pigmentation; they needed lighter skin that lets in more ultraviolet light and enables them to produce more vitamin D.

The exception to this is people who lived in Alaska and other northern climates. Despite their location, they still had dark skin. Why? Because they got their vitamin D from their diet, which was rich in fish oil. Now, again, this is not rocket science, it doesn't take a genius to figure this out. All you have to do is take the globe, put it in your hand, look at the planet, look at the equator, think about skin color, think about the physics of ultraviolet radiation and the seasons, throw in factors like the fish oil diets of the Eskimos. Then, throw in factors such as how vitamin D prevents prostate cancer, and look at the skyrocketing rates of prostate cancer in black men who live in northern climates, such as the UK, Canada, and the northern United States. The answer is so obvious that it's almost laughable that the modern medical community hasn't stumbled across this.

I find it absolutely amazing that doctors aren't taught this stuff. I mean, what are they learning in medical school? If they're not learning about how humans should experience the natural environment and prevent chronic disease, then what are they learning? Obviously they're not learning anything useful, because they're not giving people information that would actually help them prevent chronic diseases. They're only being taught how to mask symptoms of disease with expensive drugs.

This is Nutrition 101, folks. This is fundamental, basic information about how the human body works. I just can't believe medical schools graduate doctors who don't know this stuff. And it's worse than that -- it's not just that they don't know it; but they’ll attack and discredit anyone who explains this.

Our current system of conventional medicine is so far from nature and is so steeped in the mythology of junk science, that simple, basic truths of disease prevention don't even occur to its practitioners. Now, granted, there are good doctors out there; there are people who know this stuff. My hat is off to you, especially if you're working to educate your patients about this. But you are the exception, not the rule.

The vast majority of the physicians, researchers, med school teachers, and university professors still teach people that they need to avoid the sun because it will kill them. This bad information results in the untimely disease and death of countless people around the world. People need to hear the opposite information. They need to learn the true link between ultraviolet radiation, the creation of vitamin D, and the prevention of chronic disease. And until they hear that, we're going to have needless suffering and death around the world from people who sadly believe what their doctor (and the sunscreen industry) keeps telling them.