UVB/UVA exposure

[MarkKol]

When I look back, in the last 5 years, my health has been a rollercoaster, I've been through the highest of highs and lowest of lows, but when I was at those high points of health, basically perfect health in terms of how I felt (energy mostly), high libido, no acne, I felt like my testosterone was at it's highest based on just how much energy I had, even though, and this is just my personal habit, I was consuming a sub-1000 calorie diet of only fruit and nuts, basically a fruitarianism (It's just something that I naturally gravitate to because I hate cooking), this period of my health was characterized by high UVA/UVB/high sun exposure, sure many things were also better back then, but this is something that I did back then, to a high degree, that I also don't do any of now. Now I'm lucky if I get 5 minutes of outdoor sunlight a week, and even though I've been supplementing with 2000 IU of vitamin D3 every day consistently, I feel awful, I've been at my worst health in decades recently, and my acne is at Its peak, I have work-induced insomnia that I just can't get rid of unless I find another job, which sounds easy to people living in first world countries. It's come to a point where my sex drive is gone, and I mean 0. If I could realistically rate it from 0-10 I would give it a 2/10.

I'm only 20, with 0 sex drive and my life is a fucking joke at this point. Based on how I used to feel and how I feel now, I can say with certainty that It's never been a dietary issue, which is the thing I've been trying to improve all this time, diet. This is the thing everyone on social media is talking about, with such dogma and certainty. I'm going back to things that made me feel great, which includes high sunlight exposure no matter the time of day. Is there any way I can mitigate my risk of skin cancer while doing this?

[Leo Gura]

The supplement astaxanthin makes the skin not sunburn as easily as usual.

So you could take a few pills before going in the sun.

[Davino]

@Leo Gura Could you make a blog post/video sharing more on supplements and nootropics. I think you have a lot more of value to give in that area.

[Jason Actualization]

4 hours ago, MarkKol said:

Is there any way I can mitigate my risk of skin cancer while doing this?

Yes.

Try to time your exposure around solar noon to maximize the ratio of UVB to UVA that you are being exposed to (the former will confer the benefits you seek, namely vitamin D and cholesterol sulfate synthesis, while the latter more greatly potentiates photoaging) which will minimize the total exposure time required to reap the rewards.

[MarkKol]

4 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

The supplement astaxanthin makes the skin not sunburn as easily as usual.

So you could take a few pills before going in the sun.

Great

1 hour ago, Jason Actualization said:

Yes.

Try to time your exposure around solar noon to maximize the ratio of UVB to UVA that you are being exposed to (the former will confer the benefits you seek, namely vitamin D and cholesterol sulfate synthesis, while the latter more greatly potentiates photoaging) which will minimize the total exposure time required to reap the rewards.

How much time would you recommend at solar noon?

Also, as someone who doesn't tolerate dairy that well, what would be your alternative to milk? (to meet your caloric needs)

Edited March 31 by MarkKol

[Leo Gura]

3 hours ago, Davino said:

@Leo Gura Could you make a blog post/video sharing more on supplements and nootropics. I think you have a lot more of value to give in that area.

I don't have much to say about it.

[Jason Actualization]

8 hours ago, MarkKol said:

How much time would you recommend at solar noon?

It depends on the latitude you are located and time of the year. There is an app called dminder that can help you decipher this for your specific circumstances.

9 hours ago, MarkKol said:

Also, as someone who doesn't tolerate dairy that well, what would be your alternative to milk? (to meet your caloric needs)

Have you tried supplementing lactase to improve digestion?

If so and that was to no avail, I would say the next step depends on the context of your entire diet. Without dairy, you need to be especially mindful you have high quality/bioavailable sources of, most notably, protein, iodine, calcium, vitamin A, and fat (i.e., low PUFA).

Eating more whole eggs will help tremendously, but I'd need to know what else you are eating to know how best to compliment what you're already doing. 

[Michael569]

Why don't you start by having your vit D measured? If you are concerned the test is really cheap and easy to do. 

[Yousif]

You can also check you UV index in your weather app before you go sunbathe.