It doesn’t just affect your skin… what really happens to your body when you go in the sun
From your mood to your blood, bones and kidneys... things start to change after just 20 minutes outside in the heat
SUN exposure doesn’t just damage your skin – it has an effect on your mood, blood, nails, kidneys and bones as well.
Harmful UV rays are the cause of 80 per cent of people's visible wrinkles, according to a 2013 study published in the medical journal Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology.
Scarily, too much exposure can cause cancer and tumours - as well as freckles, moles, pigmentation and sallowness (a yellow discolouration of the skin).
But the sun’s rays pierce deeper than this and can have a massive effect, both positive and negative, on your entire body.
After just 20 minutes in the sun without SPF, your body starts to change. Here’s how…
- Mood: Your brain releases feel-good hormones endorphins when exposed to UV, which is why people are often happier in the sun.
- Cholesterol: Apparently, sunbathing can actually lower your cholesterol levels – because UV light converts cholesterol in the blood stream into Vitamin D.
- Nails: Sunlight stimulates nail growth, because your body increases blood flow in order to keep the body cool.
- Kidneys: Spending too much time in the sun can dehydrate your body. This can then put strain on the kidneys.
- In extreme cases, this can turn your urine dark yellow and even cause kidney stones.
- Bones: Sun exposure makes your body produce Vitamin D, which then makes your bones stronger.
- It also helps your body absorb calcium and phosphorus, which keep your bones and teeth healthy and strong.
- Heart: Some studies have linked Vitamin D deficiency to cardiovascular disease.
- While exposure to sunshine is thought to lower blood pressure, because nitric oxide is absorbed into the bloodstream – which can help widen blood vessels.
- Lungs: If you live in an urban area affected by pollution, the sunshine may make the air you breathe even dirtier – and this will tend to get worse throughout the day.
- UV rays can trigger the release of smog-forming chemicals, increasing the risk of asthma and other related health issues.
- Eczema and psorasis: According to one Australian study, kids living in less sunny areas were twice as likely to develop eczema, which is often treated with a UV light through phototherapy.
- But on the other hand, skin damage caused by sunburn can make psoriasis worse.
- Sleep: Exposure to sunlight during the day, and darkness at night, can help your body maintain a normal sleeping pattern - and beat insomnia.