Vegetarianism (Part 4)

I decided to continue writing about this topic, but I know I may provoke a lot of vegetarians and vegans. For health and justice sake, as well as revealing the truth, it doesn't stop me from sharing all the facts about vegetarians. A lot of discussion for this topic, may NOT directly related to nutrition and diet, but for reading purpose, you may find some facts interesting.

Now, let's start with a cow, an animal  who has evolved to do one thing exquisitely, take cellulose, ubiquitous, non nutritional grass, and turn it into mass and motion. Like all members of a healthy biotic community, our cow is producing food for someone else. Her manure feeds soil, plants, insects, the mechanical action of her teeth and her hooves help the grasslands stay diverse, her digestive processes free up nutrients, and not just for her, but for the whole community and her body will become a meal for predators, scavengers and degraders of all sizes.

Guess what? She helps too, like we all do. Friendly bacteria fill her rumen to do the actual work of breaking down that cellulose. She gives them a home and then she eats them, And it's more than just bacteria she's nurturing. There are fungi, yeast and protozoans.Every gallon of rumen capacity can contain approximately 200 trillion bacteria and few billion protozoans, with fungi and yeast by the millions. Has she domesticated them, or have they colonized her? This is the only question that can arise, a culture saturated in power and hierachy and its defenders.

Observing our cow, observing across the long arc of evolution, can reveal both the complex dependencies of living communities and where human culture has gone so dreadfully wrong. All animals have evolved in an environment dense with microbes. Just as plants do the work of producing, bacteria do most of the work of degrading, and those activities, producing and degrading, are the only two functions necessary for life. What animals have done is figure out how to work with and around bacteria. Large populations of microorganisms inhabit the gastrointestinal tract of all animals and form a closely integrated ecological unit with the host. This complex mixed, microbial culture comprising bacteria, protozoa, anaerobic fungi as well as bacteriophage, can be considered as the most metabolically adaptable and rapidly renewable organ of the body which plays a vital role in the normal nutritional, physiological, immunological and protective functions of the host animal.

Now, you shoul also look at this from the bacteria prospective, as they discovered how to get locomoted, fed and protected by helping animals survive. Of course, bacteria might also want to eat their host, or they might want to eat their host;s food. So, animals have found couple of ways to handle that potential conflict.

First, it is the competition model used by carnivores. The animal's immune system keeps the microbes in the digestive tract from eating the animal. Antimicrobial acid is secreted by the animal's stomach, which prevents the bacteria from eating the carnivore's food. The host then uses digestive enzymes to further break down food. This process means quick transit through the stomach, accompanies by a slower rate of passage through the lower digestive tract, where the food now is absorbed. What this means, is a large number of microbes in the hind gut, as opposed to the stomach.

The cooperation model lets animals utilize the abundant cellulose of the plant world. Fifty percent of the carbon on our planet is cellulose. The carbohydrate polymers that make up plant cell walls are indigestible to most animals and all mammals. Cellulose can only be broken down by microbial fermentation.The whole point of the ruminant's digestion is to keep food in the vast fermentative vat of its rumen, so the bacteria have time to digest the cellulose. For instance, a cow, rechews her food about 500 times a day, for estimated 8 hours. What happen is the cow is sacrificing the dietary protein in the grass, letting the microbes eat it instead. In the end, however, she trades in that poor quality plant protein for good quality microbial protein. This is what's happening inside a cow, where she feeds grass to the bacteria and then she eats them.

Next model, is the combined competition coorperation model. This method is mainly used by horse, elephants, rodents, rabbits, etc. The host animal has enzymes that break down what is ingested, and the resulting enzymic products are absorbed before microbial fermentation.

This is very clever, because the host obtains not only the nutrients digested by its own enzymes but also fermentation products from materials its enzymes cannot digest. A disadvantage of the combination model is that, although the host absorbs the fermentation end-products, the microbial cells themselves cannot be used as a nutrient source. Some animals have overcome this deficiency by consuming the faeces content containing the microbes using a strategy termed coprophagy.

All these strategies are elegant ways of recycling the sun's energy, the true power source of life. Can't photosynthesize? Well, eat someone who can. Can't digest their cellulose body? Eat someone who can. Does anyone knows that nineteen billion metric tons of vegetation are produced by plants in savannas and grasslands and we can't eat them? We have to realize that humans and ruminants are not in competition with the same meal, this is where the political vegetarians have gone wrong.

Yes, industrial culture has been stuffing grain into as many animals as it can. But, the logic of industrial capitalism that's dictating that diet, not nature. Let me ask you, what happens when you take a cow, an animal filled with friendly bacteria hungry for cellulose, and feed her grain? Carnivore stomachs like ours are acidic to kill bacteria competing for our food. The cow's rumen, however, is neutral, because she encouraging bacteria, bacteria she depends on. But, grains turn her normally neutral rumen acid, which makes her sick. Bloating for instance, is caused by grain feeding. Rumination slows to a halt, and a layer of 'foam slime' traps  the gas that is natural byproduct of fermentation. The rumen then swells until it suffocates the animal. Not only that, we have also acidosis. Heard of it? It can lead to diarheaa, bloat, ulcers, pneumonitis, liver disease, etc. It is part of a 'feedlot' disease, usually quite common in feedlot commercial animals. Hope you think twice before eating regular commercial meats.

Vegetarianism (Part 3)

I suddenly recalled from weeks back, one of my colleague told me, "vegetarian diet is the healthiest diet of all". Well, I didn't see him being a vegetarian himself. Why is that? I don't know, I didn't bother to ask him as well. In fact, most people think that vegetarian is the healthiest diet of all. Honestly, I don't blame them for what they think. And today, I'm going to continue to write about the actual happenings and facts revolving vegetarian. 

Agriculture, has wiped out everything in its path, including the humans. None of us can live without grasslands and rivers, oceans and forests. Money, especially money accumulated into wealth, may buffer us for a while. We are out of topsoil, out of water, out of species, and out of space in the atmosphere for the carbon we can't seem to stop burning.

What grows where you live? Means what can grow, what should grow, who should grow it? And for all of us, it means who is destroying the place you live? Corrupt or even totalitarian governments? A political dictator? A sociopathic economic system that turns corporate boards into legal persons with no responsibility to anything except shareholder profits?

Over one hundred countries depend on grain from Canada to USA, and that grains constitutes 60 percent of all exports. Listen guys, 60 freakin percent! And guess what? The food pyramid guide recommend all of us to eat 6-10 servings of grains daily? Is that a coincidence? Does any of u know which food industry plays a big role for the food pyramid chart?

Now, in this post, I would like to enlighten all of you, about plants, and what they can do, to 'protect' themselves from predators. For some readers, you may have already known what I'm about to reveal soon about plants, but for whoever think that plants are 'lifeless' and it is alright to eat them without commiting religious sin, please keep reading.

Plants, breathe in CO2, and during photosynthesis, they break apart the carbon and the oxygen, keeping the carbon to build and fuel their bodies and releasing the oxygen. Plants defend themselves and they protect each other. They communicate. They call out to other plant species, asking them to join in forming a resilient community. They respond, they talk, They  have meaning and they make meaning. They are capable of courage and self awareness. Very hard to believe? Do your own research! Plants can't scream when you ripped them apart during farming, doesn't mean that it is lifeless. Keep reading folks. I'm not done revealing about plants yet.

Where we use locomotion. plants use chemicals. Thats the difference between humans and plants, and they produce hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of complex secondary compounds. Through complex feedback loops, plants constantly sense what is happening in the world around them, and in response, vary the numbers, combinations and amounts of the phytochemicals they make.

These chemicals are used for fighting off insects, fungi or bacteria. Bear in mind, plants cannot flee from predators, so they became experts in 'chemical warfare' instead. Each of the world's seven hundred plus species of figs, has its own specific fig wasp, wasps who hand pollinate that fig's seeds. And its not just insects who respond to these chemicals cues, most of these chemicals have no scent but are instead received by receptors called VNOs, which all vetebrates have. The only functions of VNOs is to attach to the minutes amounts of aromatic chemicals that plants and animals give off and transport them to the brain. VNOs are how bees are able to locate and then remember the exact location of all the flowering plants within approximately 60 miles radius!

Plants are in constant communication with each other. Each plant, plant neighbourhood, plant community, and ecosystem, has message flowing through it constantly, trillions and trillions of messages at the same time. Any place that roots touch other roots, or their shared mycelial network, they can also exchange chemistries and medicines. One plant will send out a chemical distress call, the others respond with precise antibiotics, antifungals, antimicrobials or even pesticides to help. Plant, will give out an alarm call when predator is near. For instance, lima beans will release chemicals that warn other lima beans that they are being attacked by spider mites. When something brushes part a plant in the woods, not only does the affected plant respond by stiffening as best it can, it also sends out a chemical warning that allows all the plants nearby to stiffen their branches in preparation.

Plants always produce more chemistries then they need for their own health. These chemicals are released into plant communities and ecosystems to maintain them. They literally control life on earth. Bear in mind, plants can grow thousands of years.

The question is, at what point are you, vegetarian or carnivore, willing to acknowledge that plants are sentient? When you find out that a tree will die on its own, but will survive many years if surrounded by its chosen community. Do you know that other plants will send an injured one carbon, phosphorus, sugar and more? How is this different from a whale carrying their sick loved ones to the surface? Why don't we want to include plants in the same circle with us?

Most trees produce terpenes that kill the budworms, but a few tress don't. These tress are not sick or defective. I can go on and on with all these facts about plants, but the thing is, vegetarian ethic is still ultimately a variation on the mechanistic model. These plants, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, it doesn't matter, they make life, and they are life. But the vegetarian ethic declares them, and thus the world entire, DEAD matter.

Vegetarianism (Part 2)

A vegetarian, or a vegan, especially a low fat diet, is not sufficient nutrition for a long term maintenance and repair of the human body. To put it bluntly, it will damage you. Honestly, most people who are strict vegetarians, usually would not go more then 5 years without experiencing some sorts of health related symptoms or conditions. Fatigue, low thyroid, joints pain, tooth decay, depression, anxiety, dry skin, etc.

Okay. Now, let's take a fruit for example. How about an apple. A fruit, so non-violent, that anyone can eat it and people who can live by eating fruits alone. So, eating fruits is fine with vegetarians since no death is involved. Well, so the story goes. The problem is that no human plant those seeds. We discard them, and consciously remove the core and throw away the seeds, "Away", in industrial countries, means sealed in a plastic bag that get entombed in the landfill.   Or, if we are eco-righteous, we throw the seeds on the compose heap, where time, heat and bacteria will kill them. None of this, is what the tree had in mind. 

Why are humans allowed to take without giving away? Isn't that called exploitation? The reason why the tree expands tremendous resources accumulating fibers and sugar, is to secure the best possible future for its offspring. And we take that offspring in its sweetness, and kill it. This is not what moral vegetarians want to hear, and nutritional vegetarians who believe that animal products are the root of all dietary evil. 

Moving on, the origin of an apple, is suppose to taste bitter long time ago. Apples are domesticated. Fruit trees are grafted, not sprouted. An apple falls from the tree, we eat the sweetness out of it, and despite  claims to the contrary, we kill the seeds. Does any of us ever thought about this when we are all eating fruits? I would say almost none of us even really care about the food available to us in this modern environment. 

Then, there was the soil. Was the soil actually eating? What is soil? Was it too alive? Well, one table spoon of typical soil, contains more then one million microorganisms. A gram of healthy soil, could easily contains up to six million living microorganisms. Soil isn't just dirt. We basically have a city of tiny creatures living in a single gram of health soil. Soil is not a thing, it is a million things and they are alive. In organic farming, one of the most important commandment, is to feed the soil, and not the plant.

In industrial nations, synthetic fertilizers destroyed the soil. It is the synthetic fertilizers that created the green revolution, with its 250% increase in crops. Besides the fact that anything made out of fossil fuel is not sustainable, we cannot grow fossil fuel and it doesn't reproduce itself. Nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, are the elements that rule plant growth. The irony is that, either source of nitrogen, synthetic or organic, comes from animals. Most people doesn't know that. All we know is eating tons of junk food and fast food and we all fall sick and grow fatter. Has anyone ever read the labels of the fertilizer? Blood meal,  bone meal, dead animals, dried and ground. Yes, those are the ingredients of various fertilizers used to grow plant. Guess what? Great number of vegetarians DON'T know that! Honestly, I've never met any vegetarians or vegans who is aware of this fact.

Globally. phosphorus is available in extremely limited quantities. It will be one of the most inexorable limits to human occupancy on this planet. Without vast amounts of fossil fuel, would that even be possible? What will happen when we used it all up?

Next, we have potassium. It's available in ash, bones, manure, urine and probably some crops. And without calcium, the growth of plants stops. There is a give-and-take,or what I would call it reciprocal relationship between animals and plants. It is only our attempts to remove ourselves from that cycle that destroy it. Majority of the vegans and vegetarians are ignorance. Well, same goes to most people when it comes to health related concerns. Since killing is a sacrilege in this moral 'vegetarian' system, he or she, can't acknowledge that the actuality of eating something alive.

What about non-tillage systems? They are effective at slowing topsoil losses. But, in order to clear the land, the plow is replaced by herbicides. Do any of us need to argue that spraying poison over the continents is a bad idea? Countries such as US and Brazil, are two biggest producers of soy. Yes, it increases the rural income, by does is it really a sustainable production practices?

So, here is an agriculture without animals, the plant based diet, which supposed to be life affirming and ethically righteous. First, take a piece of land from somebody else, because the history of agriculture is the history of imperialism. Next, burn or bulldoze every life out of it, trees, grass, wetlands. That includes all animals great and small, including wolves, mice, locusts, etc. Now, plant your own annual monocrops. Your grains and beans will survive at first, living off the organic matter created by the now-dead forest. But like any other starving beast, the soil will eats up its reserves, until nothing left, no organic matter, no biological activity left. As your yield begins to dwindle, you now got two options. Take another piece of land and starts over again, or apply some fertilizer. Since 'moral vegetarian' ethical way of farming are not suppose to use any animal product, we have to rule out manure which contains bone or blood meal. So, you supply nitrogen from fossil fuel. As we can't produce fossil fuel ourselves, this production is an ecological nightmare. When oil and gas run out, what will happen then? How about phosphorus from the rocks and potassium from the wood ashes?

Too Late? I Should Have Listened....

Today, I mourned for someone I've met, the son of my colleague, who passed away from cancer. It is a sad day, this little boy ended his suffering from this disease, after fighting his life with cancer, going through multiple rounds of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, etc. Yesterday, was this little boy's last day of his life. The suffering ends, leaving all his loved ones behind, and I believe he is less then 4 years old. 

I remembered back in December 2010, I visited this boy, I donated blood for him, I felt his pain, his eye bags were dark, finger nails were severely brittle and black, lost almost all of his hair, an awful painful experience for a small boy who had to suffer this treatment. Was it all worth it? The question is, does the conventional cancer treatment proven effective for cancer patients? The answer is far from yes, and what's really disturbing is most people doesn't know that chemotherapy treatment, only responds to three type of cancers. The word responds in medical term, does not mean that it will cure the cancer condition, but it will respond to that specific chemo drugs during that 'specific' time frame during the treatment. So, let's say if the respond period is 8 weeks, and if the chemo treatment does respond and partially improve the condition within that 8 weeks period, it is considered as 'respond' and even if you die after few months or half year later, it is considered that your chemo drugs did 'respond' to the treatment.

I've met so far, 5 people, in my life, who ignored the advise I gave to them, they were cancer patients. They all died from conventional cancer treatment, all 5 of them. The question is why this happened? Simple, everyone is programmed to trust only conventional doctors to heal and cure them, but not knowing what did these doctors studied during the doctorate degree. Are you willing to put faith on a doctor, yr life, your health,as a life threatening disease is in the process of killing you? How sure are you that this doctor is not lack of knowledge and knows what he is doing?

Like I told some of my friends before, an obese person is not marathon deficient, nor a depressed person is anti-depressant drug deficient. People ask me if running marathon will make them lose weight? What a question. The question i ask them back, do you think you gain weight because you didn't run marathon? Or you became depressed because you didn't take anti depressant drugs? Sometimes we have to use our brains and think! But what's even better, after I told them the facts about certain health related topic, they either refuse to listen, or too stubborn headed to make changes in their diet or lifestyle. Well, the thing is, majority of people is not ready to make changes in their life, because they get to comfortable with it, until when the day comes, knowing they are going to die or dying from a disease killing them, then they realized it's too late. This is human beings typical mindset, the modern homo sapiens of the industrialized world.

Tons of people asked me, can I eat ice-cream or cakes weekly if I want to lose weight? Or can I eat regular fast foods and maintain a healthy BMI at the same time? You seriously don't need a degree in medicine or becomes a nutritionist to know these stuff! It's like you have your quarterly one on one review with your manager, to determine how you perform and what needs to be improved for your work. You asked your manager, "How did I perform during my last few months?" The manager says "You did okay in few areas, but there are a lot of other improvement needed in few other areas, and this is how you can improve on your job".  Well, this applies the same scenario with your health. You want to know the current status of your health, and you want to know how could you improve on your health condition, diet, fitness level, etc. Now, you could have an open mind, and take it positively, have the readiness to change and improve, or you could be offended and get mad, and not willing to change your lifestyle. It is all down to your mindset and attitude. How much you want to be healthy? How much do you want to redesign or transform into a healthier toned leaner body? Do you want to feel good all the time? Do you want to be energetic, strong and confidence? To be honest, most people do not like to be told what to eat, what to do, how to exercise, how to sleep, etc. This is just the way most people how they live their lives. Like what I always tell my friends, "Ignorance can kill you".

It is your life, your health, your body, your decision. No one can force you what you should do, it all depends on how much you respect your body, how much you want to continue living a quality life. We have only one chance to live our lives, why not take advantage of it and outlive your friends and relatives? You are what you eat. You can't exercise your way out of a poor diet.

To my colleague's son, rest in peace. May god be with you.

Vegetarianism (Part 1)

Today, I would want to debunk the myth of vegan diet or being a vegetarian as one of the healthiest diet. Many people including some of my friends, colleagues and relatives, are vegetarians. Reasons are, religious concerns, avoid killing animals, leading them to paradise of abundant health. Well, there will surely be debates and arguments about this topic, but, there are many people whose health had suffered from being a vegan(for years), and they wonder how could that happen if Vegan Diet is suppose to be one of the healthiest? 

I'm sure you have heard of Angelina Jolie? She is one of the well known celebrities who has suffered from being a Vegan. Vegan diet almost killed her. My relative who had been on vegetarian diet for more then 15 years, suffers multiple diseases and she is clueless to why this had happened to her. My colleague, vegetarian due to religious concern, weighing more then 110kg, and he thought he could lose weight and be healthy with that diet? 

Tons of people think that eating animal meats, usually which contain saturated fats and cholesterol were the cause of heart disease. You see people, this is what happen when you guys are too busy playing video games at home, surfing the net, thinking of where to get intoxicated for the weekend, shopping at the malls, cinemas, cracking your heads on how to save up for a BMW and LV bag, and the list goes on. Guess what. Heart disease is one of the leading cause of death in Malaysia and most of the countries in the world. 

Honestly, most people whom I spoke to, tells me that by being vegetarian, they will stay healthy for a long life. But, some who are in their 40's, complain to me that they are having symptoms such as mood swings, fatigue, etc. I just give them a smirk on my face, but I do not expect them to understand what I meant. Some people who tried on first couple years of being a vegan, their health declined. From tooth decay to thyroid dysfunction, feeling lethargic to anxiety, the list goes on. 

For instance, if you analyse The China Study, it has got so many holes that a train can run through it. It emphasis on a one-sided study, which is not comprehensive and intensive, including plant vs animal subject, and it was criticized aggressively from reputable nutritionists, doctors and health practitioners. This study concludes that Vegan diet paves the road to vibrant health. With people or so called 'authors' writing books and articles about vegetarians or vegan diet, promoting the society on how healthy the diet is, no wonder why so many vegetarians are falling sick and suffering from various symptoms.

The China Study also pointed out that animal protein causes cancer. The China Study looked at cancer in two ways, official cancer mortality statistics and a questionnaire that asked each household whether or not there were cancer patients in the family. Just because the China Study research shows that isolated casein protein may cause cancer, it doesn't mean that animal protein causes cancer! This is only one of the many 'holes' in the research of The China Study.

During this 'vegetarianism' posts, I will discuss details about agriculture, soil science and factory farming as well. Let's divert our discussion of The China Study to something which I would like to call it 'Carnivore'. We humans, are carnivore. I would like to rewind back to the time humans are born, and originally what do humans, carnivores, ruminants eat and how they survive. A lot of people have forgotten about the origin of human, our original diet, the food we suppose to eat, and how we actually survive. 

First of all, does anyone know that carnivore cannot survive on cellulose? They may on occasion eat grass, but they use it medicinally, usually as a purgative to clear their digestive tract, especially parasites. Ruminants, on the other hand, have evolved to eat grass. Some of them are cows, deers, goats, buffalos, etc. They have rumen, the first of the series of multiple stomachs, that act as fermentative vat. What's actually happening inside a cow, is that the bacteria eat the grass, and the cow eats the bacteria.

Lions, hyenas and humans don't have a ruminant's digestive tract. Literally, from our teeth to our rectum, we are designed for meat. We have no digestive system for cellulose. So, on the carnivore side of the fence, starvation will take every animal. Without grazers to eat the grass, the land will eventually become dessert. Why? Because without the grazers to level the playing field, the plant mature, and shade out the basal growth point at the plant's base. In fact, the ruminants take over most of the biological functions of the soil, by digesting the cellulose, and returning the nutrients, in the form of urine and feces. And without ruminants, the plant matter will pile up, reducing growth and begin killing the plants. The bare earth is now exposed to the sun, wind and rain, the minerals leached away, and the soil structure is destroyed. In our attempts to save the animals, we killed everything!

The lesson here is obvious, though is it profound enough to kill to inspire a religion, we need to be eaten as much as we need to eat. The grazers need their daily cellulose, but the grass also needs the animals. It needs the manure, its nitrogen, bacteria and minerals. The grass and grazers need each other as much as predators and prey. These are not one-way relationships, and we are not exploiting each other by eating, by only taking turns.

Vegetarian isn't about what you eat or what you believe. It's about WHO YOU ARE and it's a totalizing identity. Most of you especially the vegetarians, who read this post will react with anger and defensiveness, but until you finish reading the whole series of this posts, I would say, get ready to be blown away with the truth about being a Vegan or vegetarian. Stay tuned folks.

Sunshine exposure: The truth about Vitamin D and skin cancer

This would be my 2nd post about Vitamin D. In this post, I would like to clear all confusion about sunshine exposure especially when it regards to skin cancer. Some of my colleagues, friends and relatives said, sunlight or sun exposure can gives us skin cancer. Yeah right. Everyone especially ladies are all avoiding the sun, but why breast cancer rates are increasing tremendously? 

As you no doubt know, exposure to sunlight causes vitamin D to be produced in your skin. But only a portion of the solar spectrum, known as ultraviolet B  or UVB,  that has this effect. Other parts of the solar spectrum can have very different  and even harmful effects .

First, there’s an important distinction that must be made. There are two primary forms of ultraviolet radiation from the sun, UVA, and UVB, and they have different wave lengths and impact your body in different ways.

Because the UVA has a longer wavelength, it penetrates materials more easily, such as the earth’s atmosphere and window glass. Most of us living in contemporary culture are modern day cavemen. We work inside and don’t spend much time outdoors. It really wasn’t until the industrial revolution that we had the development of mass produced windows. 

The key point here is that window glass will effectively filter out the majority of UVB radiation, but it minimally filters out UVAs. You may ask, what are the significance? It’s important to realize that vitamin D3 is formed from exposure to UVB rays, whereas UVA radiation actually DESTROYS vitamin D! Yes, you read it right folks. 

But, this helps keep your body in balance, it’s one of the protective mechanisms your body has to avoid overdosing on vitamin D when you’re outside. However, when you’re exposed to sunlight through windows in your office, your home or your car, you get the UVA but virtually none of the beneficial UVB. This can lead to significant health problems, because in addition to destroying vitamin D3, UVA’s also increase oxidative stress. UVA is one of the primary culprits behind skin cancer, and it increases photo aging of your skin.

Normally, of course, when you get tanned from outdoor sun exposure you’re getting both UVA and UVB at the same time, so it’s not a problem. But when you are indoors and expose yourself to sunlight filtered through window glass, you are increasing your risk of a variety of conditions, primarily skin cancer, because the UVA’s are effectively destroying your vitamin D3 levels while you’re getting none of the benefits from UVB.

First, it’s important to understand that vitamin D3 is an oil soluble steroid hormone. It’s formed when your skin is exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation from the sun (or a safe tanning bed). When UVB strikes the surface of your skin, your skin converts a cholesterol derivative in your skin into vitamin D3. However, the vitamin D3 that is formed is on the surface of your skin does not immediately penetrate into your bloodstream. It actually needs to be absorbed from the surface of your skin into your bloodstream.

The critical question then is, how long does it take the vitamin D3 to penetrate your skin and reach your bloodstream? If you’re thinking about an hour or two, you’re wrong! The truth is, it takes up to 48hrs before you absorb the majority of the Vitamin D that was generated by exposing your skin to the sun!

Therefore, if you shower with soap or bath lotion, you will simply wash away much of the vitamin D3 your skin generated, and decrease the benefits of your sun exposure. So, to optimize your vitamin D level, you need to delay washing your body with soap for about two full days after sun exposure.

Now, not many people are not going to bath for two full days. I know what you must be thinking right now. Not properly shower for 2 days? It sounded insane right? Well, of course you have to shower within these two days, but try to avoid using bath foam, bath lotion or soaps to thoroughly wash away this potent antioxidant on the surface of your skin. However, you really only need to use soap underneath your arms and your groin area, so this is not a major hygiene issue. You’ll just want to avoid soaping up the larger areas of your body that were exposed to the sun.  

Additionally, you can rub vitamin D3 on your skin and it easily penetrates into your bloodstream, assuming you don't wash it off for 48 hours. This is also likely the reason why surfers in Hawaii or Australia who are in the sun and water continuously don't have vitamin D levels comparable to lifeguards that don't go in the water. The surfers typically have levels in the 70s while the lifeguards and other who are in the sun as much without going into the water will have vitamin D levels around 100.

Malignant melanoma has been increasing at an exponential rate in indoor workers since more then 50 years ago. The reason may be indoor exposure to UVA radiation. Unlike UVB, which is blocked by glass, UVA can pass through windows.

UVA can cause cancerous mutations, and can also break down the vitamin D formed in your skin after outdoor UVB exposure. And vitamin D is a potent defense against melanoma, as new research shows that increased UVA exposures and inadequately maintained cutaneous levels of vitamin D promote melanoma.

Avoiding the shower can also benefit your health in a number of other ways, because unless you have well water, you’re showering in water from a municipal water supply that is loaded with chlorine, fluoride, disinfection by products, and pharmaceutical drugs that have made their way into the sewer system.

Chlorine, it’s best avoided as much as possible, as the biggest danger comes from the byproducts created when chlorine combines with organic material in the water. These disinfection byproducts, or know as DBPs, are EXTREMELY toxic. Some experts believe them to be over 10000 times more toxic than chlorine. They’re so dangerous, in fact, that the U.S Environmental Protection Agency sets the goal limit for some of them at zero. 

DBPs have been linked to reproductive problems in both animals and humans, and human studies suggest that lifetime consumption of chlorine-treated water can more than double the risk of bladder and rectal cancers in certain individuals. So people, ensure you have a good filtration water system at home. 

The bottom line is that washing the sebum off of your skin is NOT good and should be avoided. You were NOT designed to use soap. It is fine to wash areas that are prone to bacterial overgrowth such as your  armpits and groin area, but it is in your best interest to leave the sebum that was designed to be on your skin, to stay on your skin. 

Before I sign off, I got a message for you readers out there. Ladies holding umbrellas while walking under the sun along the road, this is a very important piece of information for your health, as breast cancer is the highest cancer rates for women, globally and in Malaysia as well. Ladies who put on sunblock lotion which usually contains cancer causing agents, estrogen mimickers, and other harmful chemicals in the product, are further preventing the absorption of Vitamin D from sun exposure. Vitamin D is a very potent anti-cancer steroidal vitamin. Enjoy the sun folks.