Gut health can be helped tremendously by sunning the belly with no sunscreen for short, nonburning periods at midday. These deeply penetrating, near-infrared waves have the potential to kill candida and other gut pathogens to help restore intestinal balance.
Can the simple act of sunning the belly actually be beneficial to health even to the extent of helping to resolve gut problems? Yes, it can and here’s why…
When I was pregnant with each of my three children, I experienced extremely strong urges to sit in the sun with my belly uncovered. I did this as often as I could, typically 2-4 times a week depending on weather conditions.
This urge to sunbathe my belly was pretty much a constant thing from the very early part of the pregnancy right through to when labor started.
Why Belly Sun is So Beneficial
I didn’t understand at the time why I was wanting to sunbathe my belly, but sometimes you don’t need to understand all the ins and outs about something to do it. You just figure that you instinctively know what you need and that the answers will come later.
My husband used to tease me a lot about my belly sunning habit.
“There she goes flashing the neighborhood again!” he would joke.
We would both laugh and scratch out heads and wonder about this strange obsession.
Once I learned about the importance of the fat-soluble vitamins and Vitamin D in particular through the teachings of Dr. Weston A. Price, I figured the belly sunning thing might be simply a primitive urge to increase my Vitamin D levels for the benefit of the fetus.
However, I never fully bought into that notion as sitting in the sun with plenty of skin exposed but my belly covered did not feel the same.
It just felt so good to get that belly in the sun. It just wasn’t the same as my legs in the sun though that was certainly nice too.
What I was getting from the sun was much more than just Vitamin D as it turns out…
Gut Problems Helped by Sun on the Belly
I believe I have finally gotten an answer to this long-held question at the International Wise Traditions Conference. It came unexpectedly while chatting with Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, author of the groundbreaking book Gut and Psychology Syndrome.
Dr. Natasha was telling me about some very new research that indicates that certain wavelengths of the sun that have not been studied before actually pass right through the human body and have an energetically balancing and overall beneficial effect on the human physiology even helping to resolve longstanding gut problems.
And, in the case of a pregnant woman, these rays could energetically benefit the fetus as well when the belly is exposed to full-spectrum sunlight.
What’s more, Dr. Natasha suggested that these deeply penetrating sun waves have the potential to kill candida and other gut pathogens so as to help resolve gut problems and heal the gut environment as a whole! (1)
This gut balancing effect would have especially positive implications during pregnancy when the immune system is depressed due to pregnancy hormones giving any gut pathogens an easy opportunity to potentially take over dominance from beneficial flora.
Animals Sunbathe their Abdomens
Animals seem to instinctively know that belly sunning is beneficial. My two cats above roll onto their backs to sun their bellies quite often! I’ve seen many other animals including my backyard free ranging chickens do it too!
Here’s a quick video of one of my cats sunning her abdomen. She does this regularly for several minutes pretty much any day it’s clear with direct rays. After I turned off the camera, she continued on her back in the sun for about another 5 minutes.
Interestingly, she typically does it at midday as well, when the sun’s rays are strongest and most direct.
Near Infrared Saunas Do the Same Thing!
Dr. Mercola touched on this exciting area of research during his keynote address at the same Wise Traditions Conference when he said that the sun has an antiseptic effect on the human body. (2)
For example, he suggested that sunlight was a natural way to clear toenail fungus. Simply getting the affected foot out in the direct sun for a few minutes each day for a period of time would clear the infection!
He even went on to say that sunbathing the armpits would go a very long way toward eliminating body odor from that part of the body!
Incidentally, infrared sauna therapy does basically the same thing. 45% of the total energy received from the sun is in the near infrared range. I recommend and use this near-infrared sauna because it has zero EMF exposure.
None of the rays of the sun are in the far-infrared range, which is why only a near-infrared sauna mimics the sun’s energy. According to scientific studies, these healing rays penetrate up to 9 inches into body tissue beneficially stimulating the mitochondria of every cell that contacts it. (3)
The implications of using the sun (or a zero EMF near-infrared sauna!) as a simple and inexpensive way to resolve gut problems by helping rebalance gut flora and improve health is nothing short of astounding and very encouraging to those who have long struggled with gut imbalance issues.
Even persistent body odor that requires the use of deodorants or antiperspirants is frequently a sign of gut problems and overall imbalance and could be improved with regular jaunts in the sun.
So get outside and let the power of the sun go to work for you today! Don’t forget to skip the sunscreen and flash that belly for sensible nonburning exposure while you’re at it!
Sources
(1) Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride Lecture, Wise Traditions Conference
(2) Dr. Joseph Mercola Keynote Address, Wise Traditions Conference
(3) Effect of NASA light-emitting diode irradiation on molecular changes for wound healing
More Information
Heliotherapy: Benefits of the Sun Far and Beyond Vitamin D
Using Heat to Heal
I had to spend a long time in the dermatologist’s waiting room last Friday, and was soooooo frustrated with all the bad info they kept posting on their information screen. “Stay out of the sun. Always wear sunblock. Use mineral oil all over your skin.” ACK! I had to wonder if it was a misinformation campaign to boost business. They kept touting broccoli for skin health, never mentioning bone broth or healthy fats. Really, really frustrating.
EEK there is nothing good about any of that!!!
FWIW I do like to use avocado oil when needed (topically). 🙂
What if you are not pregnant and like to bare your belly?
What if you are not pregnant and like to bare your belly?
If we had any sun, I’m ready to get my son to bare his belly. He’s had an awful year with his gut.
If we had any sun, I’m ready to get my son to bare his belly. He’s had an awful year with his gut.
Hi Sarah,
What should we do if 8 months out of the year is cold weather?
I really don’t know Erica. Take your vacations during the winter and get some sun then if you can. That is a real dilemma.
Seems like I remember having the urge to bare my belly in the sunshine during my last pregnancy. It just felt so good to stretch out in a chair in the sun and get as much clothing off my pregnant belly as I could.
So my question is this, what do you do when you live in a northern state and this time of year it’s so cold outside that you don’t even leave the house without multiple layers?
Dr. Mercola promotes his tanning bed, but I don’t really know how I feel about that option. Perhaps just start doing this in the spring when you can 🙂
Or, come on down to Florida for a winter hiatus!!!!
You could always sit in a window….maybe?
Actually, it was stated at the conference that these beneficial rays do not penetrate through windows, unfortunately.
maybe sit in front of one of the lamps for S.A.D.; just aim it at your belly instead of your face for a few minutes a day.
This makes sense to me, but I have recently had a large portion of my back skin removed due to melanoma, and the doctor cautioned me to basically avoid all sun. According to your understanding, is melanoma caused by sun, genetics, or something else?
Melanoma is most definitely not caused by the sun. Melanoma rates go higher the farther north you go! Melanoma rates in my state of Florida are lower than Michigan!
I’m sure your doctor is well meaning, but he is unfortunately like many doctors, sadly misguided and not at all up on current research.
Melanoma is auto immune … auto immune issues all originate in the gut (per GAPS book), so getting your stomach in the sun would be one of the best things you could possibly do in my opinion besides a wholesale diet change to rebalance your gut. The GAPS book would be an invaluable resource on your journey.
Please don’t go sunburning yourself though. Sensible sunning is the key. Too much of even a good thing is not helpful!
Thank you for your reply. I am nursing, and have a 10 week baby. Is it healthy for him if I do the GAPS diet? I do feel like my stomach is messed up since surgery, probably from the IV antibiotics. I have been drinking broth, eating yogurt, and taking a probiotic along with prenatal vitamins. But, other than those additions, I have been eating a pretty standard american diet.
There is much detoxification that happens on GAPS. Doing it while pregnant or nursing is a dicey choice. I personally would wait until you wean. You can certainly get on a Traditional Diet though! Add in PLENTY of good fats with emphasis on the sacred foods such as deep yellow grassfed butter, liver and other organ meats, pastured eggs, fish eggs. I have a video on this on my Contact – Sarah page. Lots of broth is excellent!!! Try to reduce that processed food or even eliminate if you can. I know it’s a difficult thing to do. Take it a step at a time and be persistent.
Many people recommend you do the full GAPS diet, but not the intro, during pregnancy and nursing. You may find it difficult to get enough calories on GAPS though (I do — I need something like 3,000 calories a day!). You should probably just do the best real-food diet you can, with plenty of fat, liver, eggs, raw milk if you can get it, and veggies.
I’ll second what Sarah said about melanoma. This is what I was told when I had suspected skin cancer (which luckily turned out to be just a funky mole) — the other times of skin cancer may be caused by sun damage (from excessive sunburns, not normal exposure) but melanoma often appears in parts of the body that aren’t exposed to the sun — scalp, soles of feet, inside of nose, etc. Even mainstream doctors usually agree it isn’t caused by sun.
Why do you think melanoma is autoimmune? All diseases involve the failture of the immune system in some sense, but that doesn’t make them autoimmune – i.e. the body attacking itself. You could argue that cancer is a kind of opposite to autoimmunity – the body not removing self cells that need to be eliminated because they are damaged.
Hi Joy,
My dermatologist told me that that Melanoma is not caused by the sun. (Just like Sarah said.) He did tell me to avoid it though, due to other types of cancer. I just can’t bring myself to avoid the sun and I rarely put on sunscreen, unless I’m going to be out a long time and want to avoid sunburn.
You may want to get some advice on the scar tissue and sun. We had to avoid exposing the scar tissue to sunburn due to “permanent” skin color change. We didn’t take chances and just kept the scars covered, both with sunscreen and cloth. We didn’t want the scars to be any more noticeable than necessary.
I have also research soaps, lotions, oil, etc. that they say are safe for you. However most soap etc on the market is FULL of chemicals that cause cancer. One of those being skin cancer. Sunscreen is a big to on that. They just want to make money off people so they spread fear about what is healthy. As said tan, just a little pink should be tan in morning and shouldn’t hurt. Mercola.com does a great job explaining how. I find it very interesting that the one patch of skin cancer my dad got was along his ear. not on nose or area that really stands out to sun. He always came out of bathroom after shaving with shave cream there. Chemical cream. I spent my child/teen years telling him to go wash it off. he rubbed it in instead. HUUUM???????
Gut Problems? Get That Belly in the Sun! – The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/xKoYDGPK
My Dad believed strongly in the suns healing rays ..If me or my siblings got sick he would put us in a chair in the sun for a short while. It worked every time .