My friend who has lived abroad since her youthful days has for nearly six years now, always found solace to come home and spend some months here once the cold season dawns on them in the Northern Hemisphere.

Since Covid-19, she has found it necessary to even spend more time in Ghana than she ever used to. It was in a chat only recently that she told me her Doctor confirmed to her that her six months in the sun every year was a good health decision she had taken.

I deduced from the conversation that we have an abundance of natural and health-related resources, including some twelve hours of sunshine, every day for 365 days. Unfortunately, many of us overlook such health opportunities despite their critical roles in our well-being.

Research report

I was stirred last week as I read a scientific research report which confirmed to me the potency of the free sunlight one is blessed with here in our part of the world.

A research finding published in October this year in the Journal of Science and Technology has endorsed the health benefits of sunlight, especially for older people. 

The study, based on blood analyses of 125 older adults aged 55 years and above who attended the KNUST Hospital in Kumasi was carried out over a period to determine Vitamin D concentrations. This was coupled with structured questionnaires to evaluate sunlight exposures as well as the dietary habits of those sampled.

The research study also measured the body composition of the participants.

According to the findings published in the Journal, as high as 70 per cent of those sampled were deficient in Vitamin D while only six per cent of the sampled group were said to be properly exposed to sunlight, a factor said to be crucial to the natural production of Vitamin D.

Vitamin D

The study further showed that only 22.3 per cent of those sampled regularly consumed foods rich in Vitamin D, a super Vitamin said to help regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in one’s body.  These nutrients, per my search, are needed to keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy while the lack of the Vitamin can lead to bone deformities such as rickets in children, bone pain and osteoporosis in adults.

Adequate intake of Vitamin D is said to have many potential benefits in the body including reduction of inflammation, regulating mood, reducing depression and supporting weight loss.

Further to that, sufficient levels of Vitamin D support good immune function while reducing the risk of autoimmune diseases hence the strong advocate of Vitamin D during the Covid-19 era.

Sunlight

The good news however, as supported by the research conducted by researchers from the Food Science and Technology Department of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, led by Professor Mrs. Ibok Oduro, is that our bodies, when naturally exposed to sunlight, produce some amount of Vitamin D.

Consequently, the researchers recommended more outdoor activities for adequate sunlight exposure, especially for the elderly.

To support exposure to the sun, participants were encouraged to include more Vitamin D-rich foods in their diets. Such foods include fatty fish, fortified cereals and dairy products, as well as engaging in moderate physical activities to improve muscle health and body composition.

In our environment, fatty fish varieties are in moderate supply and these include salmon, sardines and herrings.   Above all that, added dietary supplements such as Omega 3 and Cod liver oil are said to provide adequate levels of Vitamin D in one’s blood.

The caution is that prolonged Vitamin D insufficiency has been implicated in conditions such as compromised muscle function and a weakened immune system.

Inadequate Vitamin D is said to impair muscle performance and overall health, especially among older people, the researchers have asserted.

The research finding, in my conservative view, throws a positive light on the wisdom in the old practice of our grand and great-grandmothers where the feebly old and bed-ridden members of the family were brought out of their rooms daily and kept in the sun for some time to absorb some sunshine.

The practice no doubt confirms the scientific research that there are value and health benefits in the sun, a natural element that today’s generation in our part of the world, will run away from and surround themselves with air conditions and fans. 

The irony is that those in the cold climates rather save money just so that at least, in the year, they can take a holiday in a warmer climate with an abundance of sunlight away from air conditions, fans and heaters as the case may apply.

The sun, our potent natural Vitamin D, no doubt, is an immense health value which research is proving as good and advising that one makes every effort to take advantage of by being outdoors, especially in one’s older age. 

Is it not ridiculously true that free things are hardly valued on the face of it?

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The writer can be contacted via email at vickywirekoandoh@yahoo.com