Sun increases cognitive performance
May 14, 2020
Sun increases cognitive performance
Sun is energy and you need to make sure you get enough exposure to it every day! Essentially for us entrepreneurs, it is almost even more important for its mere capacity to increase intelligence; our memory and cognitive capacity. That alone is already an excellent reason to seek out the energy of the sun. My success in business is directly related to how much I have to offer that business to make it a success.
Exposure to the sun increases cognitive capacity, levels of energy, intelligence, learning capacity, memory and mood. It also helps regulate my biophysical rhythms and biochemical processes, which manifests itself in a more balanced life and also better health. The circadian cycle I am so 'fussy' about.
Many of us entrepreneurs dig our heels so deep into the work that we forget, or just simply miss out on spending at least a few minutes out in the sun when it shines. It can be as simple as taking the bike to work when the weather is good, or instead of going on the treadmill take a run and do some cross fit outside in the sun. Planning your coffee break for example, or lunch break outside, if the weather is good, should be part of our habits to harvest the sun's 'goodness'.
Melatonin is the key hormone that helps regulates your sleep-wake cycle, which in turn is the trigger for aligning the circadian cycle to our 24hr rhythm. The Sun is directly involved in this process. Melatonin is primarily released by the pineal gland of your brain and higher levels of Melatonin will trigger sleep.
The more red light is, like a candle or a sunset, more you become sleepy, the bluer light is, like a morning sun, or the emitted light of a TV or phone, the less sleepy you become. Blue light triggers the pineal gland to stop producing Melatonin and you don't want that just before you go to sleep. On the other hand, to stare a few seconds into the sun (sun-gazing) is good for entrenching a healthy wake and sleep cycle.
The more red light is, like a candle or a sunset, more you become sleepy, the bluer light is, like a morning sun, or the emitted light of a TV or phone, the less sleepy you become. Blue light triggers the pineal gland to stop producing Melatonin and you don't want that just before you go to sleep. On the other hand, to stare a few seconds into the sun (sun-gazing) is good for entrenching a healthy wake and sleep cycle.
Building your business and spending every minute of your time as an entrepreneur on your businesses is, undoubtedly, essential and needs to get priority over most other things in life, but it cannot be more important than your own physical health and mental that helps to give you the energy you need to drive your business. Because, the sun is energy, harvest it!
How are you to succeed if your body doesn't have the energy to see you through to the end with your ambitions??
The Sun also has many positive bearings on both body and mind. Its radiant warm feel to the skin is comforting and calming at the very least.
Dietary sources of vitamin D are limited and while available in small quantities in fish, liver and egg yolk. Therefore, the main reason for lack of vitamin D is not a nutritional cause, it is a lack of access to sunshine. Our skin synthesises vitamin D, which is produced from cholesterol by using UVB rays, and that needs exposure to the Sun. This doesn't cost us a dime and brings many benefits. In other words, if you are living in a country that already has little sunshine, using sunblock is not the right thing. Rather train up your skin to get used to the sunshine by giving it 10–20 min exposure every day it is available.
Seasonal depression is a statistical fact directly relating depression to the winter season. But most of us know that, and still many miss the opportunity to get out into the sun it is there and when they need it most. Wilkins et al. from Washington University School of Medicine have found that vitamin D deficiency is associated with the presence of an active mood disorder. Mood disorder in its worst form represents depression. For the construction worker or the farmer, the issues of vitamin D deficiency is far less of a problem than for the entrepreneur and businessman who sits in the office all day and may completely forget to make use of the few hours of sunshine that may be present that day outside. And so, another day has passed without a minute of exposing the skin to sunshine. That will take a toll on mood and energy.
And now here it comes! Wilkins et al. have also found that vitamin D deficiency is related to worse cognitive performance and, as published in the journal Behavioural Brain Research, Alex Becker et. al have found that a vitamin D deficiency is related to subtle alterations in learning and memory functions of adult rats. But there is also tons of more research. Elena et al., published in the journal Neurology, found that there was a clear decline in cognitive function with vitamin D deficiency and Llewellen et al. have even found that there was a substantial cognitive decline in older people and that between 40–100% of them, mostly in the EU and the US, had vitamin D deficiencies.
That substantial lack of vitamin D may also not be easily replenished by supplements, as a study on submariners by Duplessis et al. have discovered and published in the journal Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine. Their findings conclude that supplementation with vitamin D was insufficient for the submariners to mitigate biochemical evidence of bone resorption (break down) and their evidence supported the enormous capacity of UVB (sunlight) mediated vitamin D production. These findings substantially underline the importance of being exposed to sunlight for this vitamin to be sufficiently present.
However, all stated here, and my further below suggested, are to be understood in the light that levels and production of vitamin D will vary drastically from individual to individual. We are not all the same and every skin is different and has a different sensitivity, which will drastically change the measures you should take to get sufficient access to the sun. How much depends on the fairness of your skin type.
The below suggested is a very rough general measure and will apply to a large portion of the population, especially for people who do not provide sufficient time to spend a few minutes in the sun every day, like entrepreneurs and business men. It is your responsibility to consult your doctor or a dermatologist, for your ideal amount of exposure to the sun. It is easy, it is quick, and it boosts your mood and intelligence and it merely takes a few minutes a day. So here are some tips that will help you achieve that:
a. Know your skin type and if you are not sure consult your doctor.
b. Just 20-30min of sun, 4-5 times per week, or 15min/day is enough.
c. For example, do your physical fitness outside, not the gym! Very simple.
d. Anything longer put on sunscreen.
Now before we come to the end of this blog post, I thought it might be useful for you, while you are here, to listen to my podcast episode that talks about and also gives more of my opinion on this topic. If you like it, please subscribe to my podcast for regular updates.
Last to be said is that you schould stick to the ABC of skincare. The skin is your largest organ and your first line of defence. Next to vitamin D production, it is also responsible for a whole host of other bio-physiological processes. Taking care of your skin is exceptionally important and should include keeping it moist and giving it access to vitamin A, B and C at specific times of the day. Let me know if this topic, the ABC of Skincare interests you? I have material on it and am thinking of creating a blog post about it!
Both your body and your brain are like a muscle that need training, your body through physical activity, and your brain through mental activity. Both are so intertwined with each other that the health and sickness of the one directly impacts the other and neither should be ignored. The beauty is that both can be achieved relatively simply without investing too much effort or time. Merely a few habits may need to be implemented and once these have ingrained themselves, a healthy lifestyle will become second nature to you.
If you wish to perform your Greatness and serve others well with your purpose and vocation, it is actually your duty to look after yourself. If you don't care about others, you also don't need to look out for yourself.
Wolfgang J. von Loeper
You have clearly made it this far, so I am sure you like what you have heard and read. So, subscribe to my Blog & Podcast for regular updates and share this with others below - Wolfgang
If you wish to perform your Greatness and serve others well with your purpose and vocation, it is actually your duty to look after yourself. If you don't care about others, you also don't need to look out for yourself.
Wolfgang J. von Loeper
You have clearly made it this far, so I am sure you like what you have heard and read. So, subscribe to my Blog & Podcast for regular updates and share this with others below - Wolfgang
Bibliography
Becker, A., Eyles, D. W., McGrath, J. J., & Grecksch, G. (2005). Transient prenatal vitamin D deficiency is associated with subtle alterations in learning and memory functions in adult rats. Behavioural Brain Research, 161(2), 306–312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2005.02.015
Llewellyn, D. J., Lang, I. A., Langa, K. M., Muniz-Terrera, G., Phillips, C. L., Cherubini, A., Ferrucci, L., & Melzer, D. (2010). Vitamin D and risk of cognitive decline in elderly persons. Archives of Internal Medicine, 170(13), 1135–1141. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2010.173
Toffanello, E. D., Coin, A., Perissinotto, E., Zambon, S., Sarti, S., Veronese, N., De Rui, M., Bolzetta, F., Corti, M. C., Crepaldi, G., Manzato, E., & Sergi, G. (2014). Vitamin D deficiency predicts cognitive decline in older men and women: The Pro.V.A. Study. Neurology, 83(24), 2292–2298. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000001080
Wilkins, C. H., Sheline, Y. I., Roe, C. M., Birge, S. J., & Morris, J. C. (2006). Vitamin D Deficiency Is Associated With Low Mood and Worse Cognitive Performance in Older Adults. In Washington University School of Medicine (Vol. 14).
