Sunlight supercharges your cancer-fighting T-cells

Sunlight is one of the unsung heroes of good health. Even a few minutes spent basking in old Sol’s glory each day can make a remarkable difference in your overall wellness and risk of disease.

For example, did you know that sun is the greatest cancer-fighter? That’s because sunlight encourages your skin to produce vitamin D. And vitamin D has been shown to prevent a long list of cancers, including kidney, bladder, colorectal, stomach, liver, breast, prostate, lung, gallbladder and pancreatic cancer.

But vitamin D isn’t the only reason sunbathing (in moderation) is good for your cancer risk. Researchers recently uncovered another compelling reason to get your RDA of sunlight…

It turns out, sunlight also energizes your T-cells — your immune cells that fight infections and ward off cancer.

Now this sounds a lot like immunotherapy… that’s what mainstream medicine calls a “cutting-edge” area of research that looks at harnessing your own immunity  to fight cancer. In fact, they believe they may be able to eventually produce a cancer vaccine based off what they are learning.

But thanks to this research from Georgetown University Medical Center, you may be able to benefit right now from low levels of blue light present in sun rays to help your T-cells move faster, which ultimately makes them work better.

“T cells, whether they are helper or killer, need to move to do their work, which is to get to the site of an infection and orchestrate a response,” says the study’s senior investigator, Gerard Ahern, PhD, associate professor in the Georgetown’s Department of Pharmacology and Physiology. “This study shows that sunlight directly activates key immune cells by increasing their movement.”

Of course, researchers performed their experiment on mouse and human cells in a petri dish. But they’re still excited about what their findings show about the sun’s effect on the immune system… mainly that getting your daily dose of sunlight could be an effective way to fight infections and even cancer.

Tapping into the sun solution

Whether you want to prevent cancer through supercharged T-cells or more vitamin D, you need to go out and get some sunlight. That means spending at least 10 to 20 minutes in the sun without sunscreen, preferably around midday.

Unfortunately, depending on where you live, sunlight may be in short supply for much of the year. But the good news is, you can also get T-cell boosting blue light from lamps.

Blue light therapy lamps are already a popular accessory for health-conscious people living in colder climates, because they’re known to improve your mood, boost your energy level and fight seasonal affective disorder (SAD). And now, since blue lights could improve your immune response too, they’re definitely a worthy investment. A quick Google search for “blue therapy light” will turn up several reputable options you can purchase online.

If you decide to invest in one of these lights, you can make a morning ritual out of it. Sit in front of your therapy light for 20 to 30 minutes every morning while you enjoy your coffee or tea. It will not only energize your T-cells, but it will energize your entire body and get you ready to tackle the day ahead.

Sources:

1. Phan, T. X. et al. Intrinsic Photosensitivity Enhances Motility of T Lymphocytes. Sci. Rep. 6, 39479; doi: 10.1038/srep39479 (2016).

2. “Time in the Sun: How Much Is Needed for Vitamin D?” U.S. News & World Report. http://health.usnews.com. Retrieved December 20, 2016.

3. “Seasonal affective disorder (SAD).” Mayo Clinic. http://www.mayoclinic.org/. Retrieved December 20, 2016.