We all know we 'are what we eat'. However, have you ever stopped to consider the role natural light plays in your health and well-being? Even if you have, you may not have appreciated how vital it is to being alive, and the role sunlight plays in energising our bodies. Light is about far more than our mood!
There really is nothing that compares to the mood ‘uplift’ you get from feeling bright, warm sunshine on your face. It also boosts the production of hormones like serotonin, giving us more ‘pep in our step’.
Another value of sunlight is linked to our sleep-activity patterns of course. Access to sufficient periods of daylight is central to our circadian rhythm. This is why shift workers can struggle with ‘unexplained’ health issues.
The role sunlight plays in the production of vitamin D, and the many crucial roles that nutrient plays, are now more widely understood too. Though this often goes hand-in-hand with dire warnings about the dangers of overexposure to the sun’s harmful rays.
However, this is just a small part of the role sunlight plays in our existence. Particularly our ability to fight dis-ease, and benefit from good levels of daily energy. The less discussed and understood aspect of this topic is our body’s energetic conductivity. In other words, the way humans convert natural light into a form of electricity/energy.
This then leads to the question of the biochemical changes you can make – through nutrition – to increase the energetic conductivity of your body. Something that is the basis of much of naturopathy.
In this article, we will be ‘shedding light’ on the fundamental ways humans gain energy from exposure to the sun, and how that informs and supports cellular functioning and electromagnetic nutrition.
Before we start though, it's important to not confuse the electrical elements of your body with any spiritual beliefs. We are confining our discussion here to the physical realm, and scientific principles.
The electromagnetic spectrum and us
The fundamental fact is that the human body has evolved to optimise the full spectrum of sunlight. Different categories of light exposure are absorbed through our eyes and skin and then interact with our bodies on a cellular level, including impacting the way our bodies utilise nutrition.
In fact, the processes by which we digest, metabolise and store micro and macro nutrients involve various steps that rely on input from light.
Electromagnetic (EM) radiation is all around us. It describes the way energy travels. Its properties are like waves that sit on various wavelengths (frequencies), which is called the EM Spectrum.
The EM Spectrum includes things like the radiation frequencies used for X-rays and microwaves, for example. It also includes the light rays coming daily from the sun. The solar spectrum (sunlight) extends from ultraviolet to infrared light waves.
Clearly, sunlight drives much of what happens on Earth, including the growth of plant life through photosynthesis. The latter process involves plants using sunlight to create nutrients, from carbon dioxide and water.
With that in mind, it stands to reason that sunlight - entering our body through our eyes and skin - interacts with the human form in multiple ways. That includes stimulating repair, detoxification and energy.
Only absorbed light matters
The Principle of Photochemical Activation (The Grotthuss–Draper law) dictates that only absorbed light can create photochemical/biological change.
Human bodies are capable of that light absorption. That is because we have multiple biological molecules that contain chromophores. Each of these is ‘tuned’ into processing different light frequencies.
Here is a good example of how this works ‘in action’.
Some specific categories of amino acids (such as phenylalanine, tryptophan and tyrosine) that we eat feature an ‘aromatic ring’ containing benzene. (You will see this illustrated as a ring of six carbon atoms.)
Benzene is responsible for helping our bodies to absorb UV light. This shows that not only are these amino acids a type of ‘matter’ that our body needs, but they are also light-sensitive ‘conductors’ that enable us to process a type of light.
Other biological chromophores that interact with certain wavelengths of light include melanin and vitamin D.
Mitochondria and light
Of course, this whole process is highly complex; especially how hormone production and other biological processes are stimulated by the light our body absorbs. We will dig further down, as we advance through this article.
It is important to mention here that there is now a big push for covering up and limiting sun exposure. Also, the frantic pace of life or ageing can mean some people get less time outdoors. That clearly means they are getting reduced access to the full spectrum of sunlight.
There is even an argument that some of the skincare and cleansing products we use are actually adding ‘toxins’ that block our vital need to absorb natural light.
Less exposure to the full spectrum of light means your body can't do its job properly! Especially, our Mitochondria.
Mitochondria are membrane-bound cells that generate most of the chemical energy we need to power the biochemical reactions our existence depends on. They need light to do their job.
Red light, in particular, ensures our mitochondria can produce enough adenosine triphosphate, which is the energy source of all cells. Growing appreciation of this is why red and infrared light are now used in so many treatment pathways, including various skin conditions.
Red Light Therapy (photobiomodulation) is also being explored as a way to tackle muscle atrophy and bone density issues with boosted cellular energy, for example.
Western/Eastern wisdoms align.
What foods can we eat, to better harness our light absorption and energy levels? The most obvious answer is electrolytes, which improve electrical conductivity in our bodies.
Electrolytes – essential minerals like sodium, calcium, and potassium – have either a natural positive or negative electrical charge. They are responsible for regulating your body’s chemical reactions, and for maintaining the balance of fluids in and around your cells.
Their behaviours are central to diagnosing many medical conditions and diseases and increasing your consumption can be important to maintaining your health. This is just one of the ways that western biochemical observation and ancient eastern health principles overlap. Especially the philosophy of energy meridians.
For instance, yogis in India have long promoted the need to gain exposure to natural light, and that an alkaline, hydrated cellular terrain will optimise the movement of energy from one Energy Meridian to another. A principle followed by Tesla’s Medicine Resonance.
Therefore, you could say that electromagnetic Nutrition and optimising light exposure is a blend of western biochemical observation and the energetic Eastern understanding of well-being.
Deeper into the light and human electricity
Without electricity – energy and signalling – running through your body, our very existence would not be possible.
So, let’s look at that in a more detailed way.
A core principle of physics is that all things are made from atoms, which contain protons (positive charge), neutrons (neutral charge) and electrons (negative charge).
Depending on the balance of these, atoms can be either positive or negative. The flow of electrons through an atom is a form of electricity, and it is happening constantly, throughout our body. It is how your brain signals your hand to touch something or your legs to move when you need to run; electrical messaging.
Not all cells are electrical conductors, but most are. An ion is an atom with a net electrical charge, and these are largely sodium or potassium atoms. How these two interact with each other is called the sodium-potassium pump, which works to balance (or alkalise) the cell.
(This is why electrolytes – especially potassium and sodium – are so vital to human health and balance.)
The basic mechanics are this.
When a cell is in a negative state, it is referred to as its resting membrane potential or RMP. There would be sodium and potassium ions sitting on either side of the membrane. How do they then cross the cell membrane, to change the cell’s charge to positive?
This process involves channels in the cellular membrane, which consist of phospholipids. What triggers this channel – enabling potential membrane changes —is a shift in the charge inside the cell, in comparison to outside.
The official name for this process of cell membranes opening and allowing ion transfer is voltage-gated ion channels. It is a highly precise and incredible process that underpins human cell activity.
Let’s use another illustration to show how this works. Your finger touches a sharp edge, and you instinctively and quickly withdraw your hand. For this to happen, sensing pain causes an opening of sodium voltage-gated ion channels, near to where you felt the danger. Sodium ions start moving into the cells, to stimulate the positive action of moving away.
Clearly, after the risk has passed, things need to settle back to ‘normal’. So, your sodium-potassium pump pushes sodium ions out and draws potassium ones in. In this way, it can restore your cellular membrane to its resting state (RMP).
You may hear this process referred to as ‘depolarisation and repolarisation’ of cells. It all starts with electrical messages received by your brain, which then sets off a chain reaction to ensure your cells (and therefore muscles) can act in the way required.
Truly astounding, isn’t it? It is also clear that everything we can do to restore and protect our body’s electromagnetic capabilities is crucial to everyday life, especially how much energy we have and how healthy we remain.
Nutrition, detoxing and accessing energy.
We have established that our bodies are equipped to deal with the full spectrum of light from the sun, and each wavelength can be absorbed by our biological chromophores. This is then used in various ways, including stimulating our natural energy levels and maintaining our sodium-potassium pump.
We could draw an analogy with a car battery, which features cells full of fluid that store energy. Our bodies have that same capability. However, we have a tendency to restrict its energy source (sunlight) and cause our ‘car battery’ to become stagnant or polluted.
This means our car (body) does not perform to the best of its ability and may have trouble starting and keeping going!
To avoid this, we need to tap into the healing and development benefits of sunlight, in a way that mitigates the more harmful rays. Also, it is possible to use what we eat, to increase our ability to absorb and use light effectively, and this is why Electromagnetic Nutrition is such a vital concept.
If this is a topic that you would like to understand in greater depth, then it is recommended that you read the works of author Barbara Wrens, including Cellular Awakening and Our Return to The Light.
An interview with Barbara is featured on this website.
An Interview with Barbara Wren
How Light Governs Physiology: Nutrition, Natural Sunlight and Photobiomodulation with Bart Kay
