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Healthy Home Economist / Archives / Natural Remedies / Gut Problems? Get That Belly in the Sun!

Gut Problems? Get That Belly in the Sun!

by Sarah Pope / Affiliate Links ✔

Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
  • Why Belly Sun is So Beneficial
  • Gut Problems Helped by Sun on the Belly
  • Animals Sunbathe their Abdomens
  • Near Infrared Saunas Do the Same Thing!
  • Sources +−
    • More Information

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.

two cats sunning their bellies

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.

https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Cat-sunning-belly.mp4

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!

benefits of belly sunning

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

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Category: Healthy Pregnancy, Baby & Child, Natural Remedies
Sarah Pope

Sarah Pope MGA has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. She is a summa cum laude graduate in Economics from Furman University and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

She is the author of three books: Amazon #1 bestseller Get Your Fats Straight, Traditional Remedies for Modern Families, and Living Green in an Artificial World.

Her four eBooks Good Diet…Bad Diet, Real Food Fermentation, Ketonomics, and Ancestrally Inspired Dairy-Free Recipes are available for complimentary download via Healthy Home Plus.

Her mission is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.

Sarah was awarded Activist of the Year in 2010 at the International Wise Traditions Conference, subsequently serving on the Board of Directors of the nutrition nonprofit the Weston A. Price Foundation for seven years.

Her work has been covered by numerous independent and major media including USA Today, ABC, and NBC among many others.

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Reader Interactions

Comments (108)

  1. Kristin Mückerheide Jones via Facebook

    Aug 29, 2014 at 5:31 pm

    If only it wasn’t so hot right now :/

    Reply
  2. Karen Messina via Facebook

    Aug 29, 2014 at 9:21 am

    Knew this more than 30 years ago. Everything old is new.

    Reply
  3. Ahlgren Fam via Facebook

    Aug 29, 2014 at 12:00 am

    Beneficial, plus it feels pretty wonderful… especially when pregnant!

    Reply
  4. Brekka Walker via Facebook

    Aug 28, 2014 at 10:37 pm

    No, but I definitely believe it and have always been a big believer in getting enough sun. Trying tomorrow!!

    Reply
  5. Beth Smith via Facebook

    Aug 28, 2014 at 10:09 pm

    I just did it today!

    Reply
  6. Danae Marie Carroll via Facebook

    Aug 28, 2014 at 10:07 pm

    What about a tanning bed? Not for a prolonged period but if say you live in a very cold climate during fall and winter.

    Reply
  7. RobinAKAGoatMom

    Apr 13, 2013 at 4:25 pm

    I grew up in S. FL and my belly got a lot of sun as I was growing up. Never had any GI illnesses and pretty healthy kid. Fast forward several decades and I developed reflux/GERD and spent a couple years on the purple pill. Still had bad reflux, changed my eating, improved but not gone. Stopped the pills and upped my Vit D, cleaned up the eating even more and started sun bathing again! I read a little blurb in an article about sun on the belly. I try for 15-20 minutes several times a week. It really has helped.

    Reply
  8. Danae

    Apr 13, 2013 at 12:52 pm

    I’m 30 weeks pregnant and all I want to do is sunbathe. I used to tan outside in the summer and use a tanning bed (minimally) in winter before I was pregnant. I live in CO and the sun just doesn’t want to make an early appearance this year. I’m literally dying to get in the sun. But Im worried about a tanning salon. Do you think it’s safe to go for 5 minutes every other day in the lowest setting tanning bed? I know I need sun.

    Reply
    • E

      Aug 21, 2014 at 12:57 pm

      Tanning beds are definitely not healthy, especially if you are pregnant. They emit unhealthy UV rays that could possibly harm your child (and you for that matter.)

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