We are Light Deprived
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” ― Plato
People say I spend too much time in the sun.
I walk and/ or run outside each day, usually shirtless. I work remote and several hours are outside on the porch. On weekend I do long hikes, runs, rides outside. I never wear sunscreen. At cafes I like to sit in the sun. At the seaside I spend most of the day out in the sun.
And yet, in the middle of summer, I still don’t get enough sun.
I am light deprived. And so are you.
How do I know?
Because I monitor my vitamin D levels. I have a history of deficiency so I regularly test it. This summer I did not take supplements as I spent so much time outside. After two months of summer, my vitamin D levels had dropped to deficit level.
I don’t have a problem in producing vitamin D from the sun. Rather I just don’t get enough of it, even though most people think I spend too much time in the sun.
My Garmin smartwatch has solar charging. With it comes a feature that measures how much light hits the watch during the day. More light means more power from solar charging. It’s also a good proxy for how much light I get during the day.
