SUNLIGHT ROBBERY:
Health benefits of sunlight are denied by
current public health policy in the UK
By
Oliver Gillie
(click here for information)
Human beings need regular exposure
to sunlight on their skin so that they can make vitamin D
which is vital for health. Yet the British government advises
the public to “cover up, keep in the shade”. This
advice is mistakenly modelled on a programme developed in
Australia where a tropical to Mediterranean type of climate
provides much more vitamin D. Faulty calculations made by
the National Radiological Protection Laboratory have misled
UK government advisers into thinking that casual exposure
of hands and face to the sun in the UK will provide sufficient
vitamin D for health. In fact casual exposure does not provide
enough vitamin D in the British Isles and the majority of
people in the UK have an insufficient level of vitamin in
the blood, particularly in winter.
The risk of skin cancer from sun exposure is much smaller
than the public has been led to believe while the risks of
vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency, which are seldom mentioned,
are now known to be very substantial. Insufficient vitamin
D at crucial times of life or for prolonged periods appears
to increase the risk of several cancers, including breast
and bowel cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, schizophrenia,
multiple sclerosis and many other chronic diseases including
even tooth decay.
The UK government campaign for prevention of skin cancer,
led by Cancer Research UK, has in effect been a campaign against
sunbathing. Perhaps its most misleading aspect has been the
slogan: “There is no such thing as a healthy tan”.
This ignores evidence that people who have a deep tan are
less likely to get melanoma, the most serious form of skin
cancer. While people who get sunburnt, an indication of extensive
exposure to the sun, are less likely to get multiple sclerosis
or prostate cancer. Oliver Gillie’s report, Sunlight
Robbery, explains how government policy has gone badly wrong
and urges people to sunbathe whenever they can, wearing as
few clothes as possible, while taking care not to bake or
burn.
Download a copy of this report free (click
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68, Whitehall Park
London N19 3TN, UK
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