Did You Have Your Sunshine Vitamin Today?

-
Give Me Some Sunshine, Give Me Some Rain
Give Me Another Chance I Wanna Grow Up Once Again
Saari Umrr Hum Mar Mar Ke Ji Liye
Ik Pal Toh Abb Hamein Jine Do, Jine Do
Na Na Na Na Na Na......

Remember these catchy lyrics from the blockbuster movie, “Three Idiots” pleading for sunshine?! It was metaphoric. With us playing hide and seek with sunshine, it’s time now to literally plead for it.

Exposure of skin to sunlight produces vitamin D. Called the “Sunshine Vitamin”, vitamin D helps in better transportation and absorption of calcium in bones preventing osteoporosis (weakened and brittle bones that cause fractures). Low levels of vitamin D also cause fatigue and muscle weakness.

Despite India being a tropical country with plentiful sunshine, Vitamin D deficiency has become a national public health emergency as per experts. That’s unfortunate!

Sunlight is the best source of vitamin D. Congested dwellings in dense metropolitan cities and atmospheric pollution disallow sunshine. Our national obsession with fair complexion doesn’t help either. Going out in the sun is discouraged. Tan ho jayega!

To add to the many reasons of sunshine deprivation, there is the proud variety of office aficionado who hammers in more than 55 hours per week in his/her air-conditioned cabin. All this at a heavy cost.

Sunlight is also beneficial for immune system, nervous system, cardiovascular health, insulin regulation for diabetes management, skin health and so on. No wonder, the ancient rishis practiced the technique of Surya Namaskar or 'Sun Salutation' to express gratitude to the sun.

Photo Credit: Min An (Pexels)
Sunny Side Up!
1. Sunlight is the best source of vitamin D
2. Expose forearms, hands and lower legs to sunlight uncovered, without sunscreen, for about 45 minutes daily
3. Brown skin needs more vitamin D as compared to white skin as the former has pigment melanin in the skin
4. Be careful not to overexpose in intense sun and burn the skin. In intense sun, cover up with suitable clothing, sunglasses, seek shade and apply at least SPF15 sunscreen
5. Popping vitamin D pills is not the best alternative
6. Egg yolks and fish oils are natural sources of vitamin D
7. In deficiency conditions, vitamin D supplements or fortified foods (milk, cereal, orange juice) are advised
8. What say about lesser indoor working hours per week? Comments?!

Comments

  1. Taruni GandhiMay 17, 2019 at 8:42 AM

    Good one

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shalini sharmaMay 17, 2019 at 8:49 AM

    I consider you as MAVEN...

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownMay 17, 2019 at 6:45 PM

    Actually now a days air conditioned working style is in the trend.
    &
    as ACs are also causing for every year some increase in the temperature.

    We have to think about this
    .
    Even all professions like teaching, IT, Drs etc. now use such A.C environment which ultimately leads to other Medical problems....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TwoPenniesMay 23, 2019 at 10:59 PM

      Agree!
      Sunning helps in keep some diseases away, therefore, steal time for it :)

      Delete
  4. NeelamMay 17, 2019 at 8:11 PM

    It's a harsh reality of today's time that in the name of comfort actually we are deteriorating our health.which is very painful .we want to keep our body to as much rest as we can..

    ReplyDelete
  5. PreethiMay 19, 2019 at 3:06 PM

    Well said, I also need my daily dose of sunshine!! Hope everyone out there gets to read your blog and benefit!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TwoPenniesMay 20, 2019 at 9:13 PM

      Thanks! Free and bountiful sunshine has many health benefits.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wake-Up Call: This is What Happened to My Mellow Mornings!

-
Image
Working a typical nine to seven office job, I had got bored of the monotony surrounding my life. I decided to take a weekend break. What better than countryside, the pind of my friend. Moreover, she had invited me many times to come experience the bucolic laid back life of her village. Lock, stock and barrel I reached her village in Ludhiana.  Reaching there, I was embraced in magnanimous bear hugs and chirpy welcomes from her family members. As I unloaded and made myself comfortable, I was deluged with food offers. Foodie as I am, I indulged in soft delicious roti, slow-cooked daal, mixed vegetable sabzi, thick curd raita, dollops of snow white butter, mint chutney, roughly chopped salad to be polished off with melt-in-the-mouth gur (jaggery) . The food being organically raised, was finger licking good. I felt like a long lost princess who had returned home to great adulation. It was succour to the battle ravaged spirit. With conviction I can bet, no five star hotel can beat s
Read more

Pareto at Play: How Can We Get More Out of Life

-
Image
allef-vinicius_unsplash As life events happen around us, Nature seems to be busy churning numbers. It’s almost like one giant data science machine that’s working on the predictability of situations - dropping hints for course correction. Consider these examples from the new age world: 1.   80% of wealth in the world is owned by 20% people (and vice versa) 2.   90% of Warren Buffet's wealth is from just ten most paying investments 3.   In a business, roughly 20% of the customers bring in 80% of the revenue 4.   I n sales, typically 80% of  the deals are closed by  20% of the sales staff 5.   Financial gurus suggest 20% allocation of income towards financial goals, and the remaining 80% for everything else 6.   80% of the total healthcare expenditure happens in the last 20% of a person’s life 7.   80% of road traffic accidents happen due to 20% of the most common reasons 8.   80% employees reach late to the office due to 20% of the most common reasons
Read more

Curse Of Information Overload

-
Image
The day is all of 24 hours. And the information to be captured, assimilated  and retained is huge!   As the day breaks and our eyes fall on our cell phone, its a deluge of information. Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, advertisements, news channels, entertainment channels, ineffectual reports, data sheets, power point presentations, unimportant mails, etc. etc. compete  for our seconds. There is so much to sift and process. Our poor little brain goes into a nervous tizzy. Remember the school teacher’s common  refrain to a student in the class, “ Come back! You are physically present but mentally absent ”. Now, the refrain may well apply to all age groups. In our continuous effort to make sense out of all that is thrown at us, we assimilate some and get brain foggy about other vital happenings around us. Information overload is not only polluting our working environments but also encroaching into our personal lives. Its time to use mindfulness and get the maximum out
Read more