Sun exposure triggers a natural opiate release in the brain, lowers blood pressure, calms allergies, and may even make you sexier — and 10 minutes a day in a sunny climate is all you need.
Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast
Sun exposure triggers a natural opiate release in the brain, lowers blood pressure, calms allergies, and may even make you sexier — and 10 minutes a day in a sunny climate is all you need.
TL;DR
Matt McCusker sits down with author and journalist Rowan Jacobsen to dig into the science behind his book *In Defense of Sunlight*, making the case that regular sun exposure is one of the most powerful — and free — health interventions available [1] — Rowan Jacobsen "Sunlight hitting skin triggers a release of natural opiates in the brain. Dermatologists saw this as proof of a dangerous addiction; Rowan …" 10:55 . They cover how sunlight triggers endorphin release, lowers blood pressure via nitric oxide, calms the immune system, and even boosts libido [2] — Rowan Jacobsen "Sunlight triggers nitric oxide production in skin, which dilates blood vessels and lowers blood pressure — the same mechanism as Viagra. A …" 22:10 , while pushing back on dermatology's blanket "avoid the sun" messaging. The conversation ranges from oyster biology to the philosophy of light, quantum energy, and groupthink in academia. Key takeaway: 10 minutes of direct UV per day in a sunny climate is enough — the rest of the time, just go outside [3] — Rowan Jacobsen "10 min UV daily in Texas is enough: In a high-UV environment like Texas, just 10 minutes of direct sunlight per day provides sufficient UV …" 38:10 .
Matt McCusker is joined by author and journalist Rowan Jacobsen to discuss Rowan's book 'In Defense of Sunlight,' exploring the science of sunlight as medicine, the history of heliotherapy, and the physics of light. Also features oyster facts, quantum biology, and a meditation on groupthink.
The episode opens with Matt McCusker's familiar welcome, immediately establishing the conversational register: enthusiastic, self-deprecating, and personal. He introduces Rowan Jacobsen, explains he specifically sought him out after seeing the sunlight book, and bonds instantly over a shared hatred of grey northern winters. Before a single scientific claim has been made, Matt has already positioned this as a personal journey rather than a dry health lecture — his sunburned face is the proof of concept.
The first sponsor segment is animated by the crew's genuine enthusiasm for soccer, with Christian Pulisic — Team USA player and Hershey, Pennsylvania native — unanimously nominated as the podcast's official player pick. The ad covers PrizePicks' offer of $50 in lineups with a $5 first play using code DRENCHED and promotes stacking game winners across soccer, basketball, and baseball for bigger payouts. The energy is loose and playful, more sports bar than ad break.
Rowan Jacobsen describes a writing career that began in book publishing, shifted to ghostwriting — which he found ego-free and useful as a craft exercise — and then landed in food writing after editing a 'persnickety' gourmet magazine in Vermont in the early 2000s. His oyster book accidentally made him the go-to expert on the topic, and he accepts the food writer label with good humor ('better than being the proctology writer'). The throughline, he explains, was always folding science into food writing — curiosity about where things come from and what makes them taste the way they do.
Rowan Jacobsen describes a writing career that began in book publishing, shifted to ghostwriting — which he found ego-free and useful as a craft exercise — and then landed in food writing after editing a 'persnickety' gourmet magazine in Vermont in the early 2000s. His oyster book accidentally made him the go-to expert on the topic, and he accepts the food writer label with good humor ('better than being the proctology writer'). The throughline, he explains, was always folding science into food writing — curiosity about where things come from and what makes them taste the way they do.
Rowan Jacobsen describes a writing career that began in book publishing, shifted to ghostwriting — which he found ego-free and useful as a craft exercise — and then landed in food writing after editing a 'persnickety' gourmet magazine in Vermont in the early 2000s. His oyster book accidentally made him the go-to expert on the topic, and he accepts the food writer label with good humor ('better than being the proctology writer'). The throughline, he explains, was always folding science into food writing — curiosity about where things come from and what makes them taste the way they do.
Asked to deliver some oyster razzle-dazzle, Rowan Jacobsen does not disappoint. A raw oyster's closed shell is the oyster actively holding itself shut, gripping with muscular force — the shucker is literally overcoming its resistance and cutting through its muscle. Good shuckers open the shell so gently you can still see the oyster's heart beating as it's served. Rowan also explains that oysters taste different from every body of water because they concentrate that water — and speculates that the excitement people feel at a pile of oysters on the table is partly because they're consuming live energy, a kind of 'poor man's adrenochrome.' Matt resolves to test the heartbeat theory on his tongue at the next opportunity.
Asked to deliver some oyster razzle-dazzle, Rowan Jacobsen does not disappoint. A raw oyster's closed shell is the oyster actively holding itself shut, gripping with muscular force — the shucker is literally overcoming its resistance and cutting through its muscle. Good shuckers open the shell so gently you can still see the oyster's heart beating as it's served. Rowan also explains that oysters taste different from every body of water because they concentrate that water — and speculates that the excitement people feel at a pile of oysters on the table is partly because they're consuming live energy, a kind of 'poor man's adrenochrome.' Matt resolves to test the heartbeat theory on his tongue at the next opportunity.
The Mint Mobile ad highlights the $15/month first three-month plan on the nation's largest 5G network with no catch. The Rocket Money segment features a more personal framing about realizing after having a kid how much money was being wasted on impulsive coffee runs, positioning the app as a savings tool for new parents and budgeters. A brief BlueChew Gold ad also runs in this window, promoting the combination libido-and-performance supplement with promo code DRENCHED — an inadvertently apt placement given the sunlight-testosterone discussion that precedes it.
The Mint Mobile ad highlights the $15/month first three-month plan on the nation's largest 5G network with no catch. The Rocket Money segment features a more personal framing about realizing after having a kid how much money was being wasted on impulsive coffee runs, positioning the app as a savings tool for new parents and budgeters. A brief BlueChew Gold ad also runs in this window, promoting the combination libido-and-performance supplement with promo code DRENCHED — an inadvertently apt placement given the sunlight-testosterone discussion that precedes it.
Matt sets the scene with a fact that already blew his mind: photons are trapped in the sun's core for up to 100,000 years before escaping to Earth in 8 minutes. From there, Rowan walks through what makes light cosmically strange: it is pure energy without mass, and for a photon time does not exist — it is everywhere it has ever been simultaneously, falling into time only when absorbed by matter. Earth, in this framing, is an experiment in what light does when it hits stuff. Every calorie humans have ever consumed was originally solar energy captured by a plant and passed up the food chain. Both Matt and Rowan find this vision more spiritually resonant than reductive materialism — Rowan notes that light has been religion's metaphor for the divine across cultures, and maybe it's not actually a metaphor.
The BetterHelp segment is framed around summer stress and the importance of not saying yes to everything, with a nod to Lemaire Lee's character as someone who has 'too much going on upstairs.' The tour announcements hit multiple cities across the South and West, with a Creek in the Cave Austin show highlighted. The segment briefly breaks into ad-lib banter before returning to the conversation with Rowan.
This is one of the episode's most candid stretches. Matt describes the exhausting recursive loop of checking what the internet thinks of you, feeling pulled between a digital persona and physical reality, and finding that the less he engages online, the better he genuinely feels. He coins the phrase 'human veal' for the state of being an indoor creature for 90% of the day — pasty, stagnant, cut off from what the world actually is. Rowan adds a broader observation: the internet and AI make it harder than ever to be a true outlier thinker, because the group will find and pressure you in ways that weren't possible before social media. The antidote, both agree, is simple and free: go outside.
On the exact night his book launched and interview requests poured in, Rowan's website was accidentally broken by a friend doing a favor. The recovery link went to an unknown administrator email. The website is still down. Rather than spiraling, Rowan treats it as a Zen test, and shares the line that becomes the episode's best quote: a New York Times photographer friend who defuses every crisis by reminding himself 'we are animals and we made this all up.' Matt immediately adopts it as his new mantra and tests its likely effect on his wife (potentially backfiring). The absurdity — and acceptance — is contagious.
Having established himself as a contrarian with sunlight, Rowan is weighing his next move. Option one: 'Quantum Me,' a mainstream book about the cutting-edge science that treats the human body as a flow of energy rather than a pile of molecules — building on the physics insights from the sunlight research. Option two: 'When You Are Right and Everyone Else Is Wrong,' a tongue-in-cheek field guide to unrecognized genius. The second idea sparks an extended discussion of history's great ostracized geniuses — germ theory pioneers, Kurt Gödel starving himself to death after proving mathematics' internal contradictions — and the question of whether there's an algorithm for spotting genuinely ahead-of-their-time thinkers faster. Matt's verdict: probably not, because the search itself creates groupthink and fake geniuses.
This chapter crystallizes the episode's underlying intellectual theme. Rowan calls groupthink his most hated phenomenon and names scientific institutions as among the worst offenders. Matt backs him up with a candid account of going back to school in his 30s for a master's in social work and watching classrooms full of adults go completely silent rather than say anything that might upset the group dynamic — an 85-90% passivity rate, he estimates. The more useful takeaway: seeing that even master's-level academics aren't the intellectual titans he'd imagined them to be. This demystification, Rowan agrees, is the core experience of adult maturity — arriving at each new level and realizing everyone there is just as human and fallible as you. The internet and AI, Rowan adds, make it even harder to escape the group than in previous eras.
As the conversation winds down, Rowan leaves the audience with an unexpected data point: several studies show citrus raises skin cancer risk. The culprit isn't vitamin C but psoralens — naturally occurring compounds in citrus that sensitize skin to UV radiation. The phenomenon is well-documented enough to have its own name: 'margarita burn,' the intensified sunburn experienced after pounding tropical cocktails on vacation. Matt, who has recently planted a lime, lemon, and kumquat tree, takes the news philosophically. Both agree that skin cancer — particularly the common non-melanoma types — is something they're not enormously worried about, especially given the offsetting benefits of sun exposure on all the other major killers.
The conversation closes on an upbeat note. Matt recommends 'In Defense of Sunlight' alongside Chris Ballard's ice swimming book as a two-book wellness stack, expresses genuine excitement about knowing that shade under a tree is now a photon bath, and thanks Rowan for his time. Rowan thanks Matt and the audience for having him. Matt signs off with a brief plug for new episodes on Spotify.
The episode closes with a network pharmaceutical advertisement for Tremfya (guselkumab), a biologic administered via injection or infusion for moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The ad includes the required safety information: risks of serious allergic reactions, infections, and liver problems, and a recommendation to get tested for tuberculosis before starting treatment. Listeners are directed to tremfyaradio.com or a toll-free number.
Chapter 2 · 00:45
The first sponsor segment is animated by the crew's genuine enthusiasm for soccer, with Christian Pulisic — Team USA player and Hershey, Pennsylvania native — unanimously nominated as the podcast's official player pick. The ad covers PrizePicks' offer of $50 in lineups with a $5 first play using code DRENCHED and promotes stacking game winners across soccer, basketball, and baseball for bigger payouts. The energy is loose and playful, more sports bar than ad break.
A raw oyster on your plate is alive — its closed shell is the oyster actively holding on. Expert shuckers can open them without too much damage, and if you look closely enough, you can see the oyster's heart still beating before it goes down the tunnel.
Chapter 4 · 10:20
Rowan Jacobsen describes a writing career that began in book publishing, shifted to ghostwriting — which he found ego-free and useful as a craft exercise — and then landed in food writing after editing a 'persnickety' gourmet magazine in Vermont in the early 2000s. His oyster book accidentally made him the go-to expert on the topic, and he accepts the food writer label with good humor ('better than being the proctology writer'). The throughline, he explains, was always folding science into food writing — curiosity about where things come from and what makes them taste the way they do.
Claims made here
When sunlight hits skin, it triggers a release of endorphins (natural opiates) in the brain, which is why people become addicted to sun exposure.
Sunlight hitting skin triggers a release of natural opiates in the brain. Dermatologists saw this as proof of a dangerous addiction; Rowan Jacobsen saw it as evolutionary proof that sun-seeking behavior was rewarded because it was good for us.
When sunlight hits skin it triggers a release of endorphins — natural opiates — in the brain, which is why people feel addicted to sun exposure.
Chapter 6 · 12:00
Asked to deliver some oyster razzle-dazzle, Rowan Jacobsen does not disappoint. A raw oyster's closed shell is the oyster actively holding itself shut, gripping with muscular force — the shucker is literally overcoming its resistance and cutting through its muscle. Good shuckers open the shell so gently you can still see the oyster's heart beating as it's served. Rowan also explains that oysters taste different from every body of water because they concentrate that water — and speculates that the excitement people feel at a pile of oysters on the table is partly because they're consuming live energy, a kind of 'poor man's adrenochrome.' Matt resolves to test the heartbeat theory on his tongue at the next opportunity.
Sunlight tells the immune system to 'relax,' reducing the overreaction that causes conditions like allergies and other inflammatory diseases.
Chapter 7 · 13:00
Asked to deliver some oyster razzle-dazzle, Rowan Jacobsen does not disappoint. A raw oyster's closed shell is the oyster actively holding itself shut, gripping with muscular force — the shucker is literally overcoming its resistance and cutting through its muscle. Good shuckers open the shell so gently you can still see the oyster's heart beating as it's served. Rowan also explains that oysters taste different from every body of water because they concentrate that water — and speculates that the excitement people feel at a pile of oysters on the table is partly because they're consuming live energy, a kind of 'poor man's adrenochrome.' Matt resolves to test the heartbeat theory on his tongue at the next opportunity.
Claims made here
Approximately 98% of skin cancers are basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma, which are cut off and rarely cause long-term health effects.
About 98% of skin cancers are basal cell or squamous cell carcinomas, which are cut off and typically have no long-term health effects.
Chapter 8 · 14:00
The Mint Mobile ad highlights the $15/month first three-month plan on the nation's largest 5G network with no catch. The Rocket Money segment features a more personal framing about realizing after having a kid how much money was being wasted on impulsive coffee runs, positioning the app as a savings tool for new parents and budgeters. A brief BlueChew Gold ad also runs in this window, promoting the combination libido-and-performance supplement with promo code DRENCHED — an inadvertently apt placement given the sunlight-testosterone discussion that precedes it.
Claims made here
Melanoma is associated with sunburns — especially those experienced in childhood — not with regular moderate sun exposure.
People with dark skin have skin cancer rates approximately 100 times lower than people with lighter skin.
Tanning injections that artificially darken skin increase the chances of getting skin cancer.
People who get more natural sunlight have lower rates of heart attacks, strokes, and non-skin cancers, and longer lifespans.
Sunlight causes the skin to produce nitric oxide, which dilates blood vessels and lowers blood pressure.
A study exposing mice to sunlight found that sun-exposed mice developed larger testicles and were rated as more sexually attractive by other mice.
Rickets was rare on farms but surged in the Industrial Revolution when children moved into factories and city tenements and lost access to sunlight.
Melanoma, the dangerous skin cancer, is associated with burns — especially childhood burns — not regular daily doses of sunlight.
People with darker skin have skin cancer rates approximately 100 times lower than lighter-skinned individuals.
Brian Johnson's radical anti-aging protocol includes carrying umbrellas and aggressively avoiding sunlight — but according to sun researchers, he's simply getting the wrong information. AI like ChatGPT, not yet captured by industry interests, would give him the straight answer from the science literature.
People who get more natural sunlight have longer lifespans and lower rates of heart attacks, strokes, and non-skin cancers. The mechanisms fall into three buckets: compounds produced with sun energy (vitamin D, nitric oxide), anti-inflammatory responses, and direct immune system modulation.
Sunlight hitting skin triggers nitric oxide production, which dilates blood vessels and lowers blood pressure — a major global health benefit.
Sunlight triggers nitric oxide production in skin, which dilates blood vessels and lowers blood pressure — the same mechanism as Viagra. A study on mice found sun-exposed mice developed larger testicles and were rated as sexier by other mice, suggesting sunlight may genuinely boost sexual health.
A study that shone light on mice found that sun-exposed mice had larger testicles and were rated as more attractive by other mice, suggesting a link between sunlight and sexual health.
Rickets was nearly nonexistent when children worked on farms. It exploded in the Industrial Revolution when kids were shoved into factories and dark city tenements, losing all sunlight and vitamin D. It was the first proof of sunlight as medicine — doctors sent tubercular patients to ski in the Alps in their underwear.
Rickets surged in the Industrial Revolution when children moved from farms into factories and tenements, losing access to sunlight and consequently vitamin D.
Chapter 9 · 25:55
The Mint Mobile ad highlights the $15/month first three-month plan on the nation's largest 5G network with no catch. The Rocket Money segment features a more personal framing about realizing after having a kid how much money was being wasted on impulsive coffee runs, positioning the app as a savings tool for new parents and budgeters. A brief BlueChew Gold ad also runs in this window, promoting the combination libido-and-performance supplement with promo code DRENCHED — an inadvertently apt placement given the sunlight-testosterone discussion that precedes it.
Claims made here
Approximately 50% of sunlight is infrared radiation, which passes through clothing and tissue and helps mitochondria produce energy more efficiently.
Harvard University and the University of Arizona are conducting research showing green light relieves migraines and anxiety, and green light therapy devices are now commercially available.
About 50% of sunlight is infrared — invisible but powerful. It passes right through clothing and tissue, bouncing around inside your body like billiard balls until absorbed by mitochondria. When you sit under a tree, the plants bounce both infrared and green light back at you, giving you a double dose.
About half of all sunlight is infrared, which passes through clothing and tissue, helping mitochondria produce energy more efficiently.
Research at Harvard and the University of Arizona found that green light relieves migraines and anxiety; green light devices are now commercially available.
Chapter 10 · 28:50
Matt sets the scene with a fact that already blew his mind: photons are trapped in the sun's core for up to 100,000 years before escaping to Earth in 8 minutes. From there, Rowan walks through what makes light cosmically strange: it is pure energy without mass, and for a photon time does not exist — it is everywhere it has ever been simultaneously, falling into time only when absorbed by matter. Earth, in this framing, is an experiment in what light does when it hits stuff. Every calorie humans have ever consumed was originally solar energy captured by a plant and passed up the food chain. Both Matt and Rowan find this vision more spiritually resonant than reductive materialism — Rowan notes that light has been religion's metaphor for the divine across cultures, and maybe it's not actually a metaphor.
Light generated by nuclear fusion in the sun's core takes roughly 15,000 to 100,000 years to escape to the surface before traveling to Earth in about 8 minutes.
Light is pure energy without mass, and for a photon, time literally does not exist. It is everywhere it has ever been simultaneously — only falling into time when it hits matter and gets absorbed. Earth is basically an experiment in what happens when light meets stuff.
For a photon traveling at the speed of light, time does not exist — it is everywhere it has ever been simultaneously, and only 'falls into time' when it hits matter.
In a high-UV environment like Texas, just 10 minutes of direct sunlight per day provides sufficient UV exposure for health benefits.
A new generation of FDA-cleared UV light devices is coming, designed to safely deliver a daily sun dose in minutes. In the near future, people will think about their 'light diet' the way they think about food — being intentional about the quality and quantity of photons they absorb each day.
Any manageable physical challenge — sunlight, cold water, exercise — triggers the body's repair systems and may be more important for healthy aging than any specific supplement.
Chapter 12 · 45:20
This is one of the episode's most candid stretches. Matt describes the exhausting recursive loop of checking what the internet thinks of you, feeling pulled between a digital persona and physical reality, and finding that the less he engages online, the better he genuinely feels. He coins the phrase 'human veal' for the state of being an indoor creature for 90% of the day — pasty, stagnant, cut off from what the world actually is. Rowan adds a broader observation: the internet and AI make it harder than ever to be a true outlier thinker, because the group will find and pressure you in ways that weren't possible before social media. The antidote, both agree, is simple and free: go outside.
Matt McCusker described the psychological trap of managing an online identity on top of real life — constantly checking what people think, feeling anxiety about the gap. The solution is simple and free: go outside, get sunlight, be in the physical world. The less he engages with the internet, the better he genuinely feels.
Chapter 13 · 49:25
On the exact night his book launched and interview requests poured in, Rowan's website was accidentally broken by a friend doing a favor. The recovery link went to an unknown administrator email. The website is still down. Rather than spiraling, Rowan treats it as a Zen test, and shares the line that becomes the episode's best quote: a New York Times photographer friend who defuses every crisis by reminding himself 'we are animals and we made this all up.' Matt immediately adopts it as his new mantra and tests its likely effect on his wife (potentially backfiring). The absurdity — and acceptance — is contagious.
Chapter 14 · 51:40
Having established himself as a contrarian with sunlight, Rowan is weighing his next move. Option one: 'Quantum Me,' a mainstream book about the cutting-edge science that treats the human body as a flow of energy rather than a pile of molecules — building on the physics insights from the sunlight research. Option two: 'When You Are Right and Everyone Else Is Wrong,' a tongue-in-cheek field guide to unrecognized genius. The second idea sparks an extended discussion of history's great ostracized geniuses — germ theory pioneers, Kurt Gödel starving himself to death after proving mathematics' internal contradictions — and the question of whether there's an algorithm for spotting genuinely ahead-of-their-time thinkers faster. Matt's verdict: probably not, because the search itself creates groupthink and fake geniuses.
Claims made here
Biologists are only recently beginning to apply the physics insight — established 100 years ago — that energy and matter are two sides of the same coin to understanding biological systems.
Physicists figured out 100 years ago that energy and matter are two sides of the same coin. Biologists are only now catching up, starting to think about how magnetism, energy, and photons change what we are at a cellular level. Rowan Jacobsen is working on a book to translate this for a mainstream audience.
Many of history's greatest scientific insights were greeted with ridicule, and their authors ended up dying discredited or broke. Rowan Jacobsen wants to write a book identifying the pattern of genuine ahead-of-their-time thinkers versus crackpots — so we can spot the real ones faster.
Chapter 15 · 59:20
This chapter crystallizes the episode's underlying intellectual theme. Rowan calls groupthink his most hated phenomenon and names scientific institutions as among the worst offenders. Matt backs him up with a candid account of going back to school in his 30s for a master's in social work and watching classrooms full of adults go completely silent rather than say anything that might upset the group dynamic — an 85-90% passivity rate, he estimates. The more useful takeaway: seeing that even master's-level academics aren't the intellectual titans he'd imagined them to be. This demystification, Rowan agrees, is the core experience of adult maturity — arriving at each new level and realizing everyone there is just as human and fallible as you. The internet and AI, Rowan adds, make it even harder to escape the group than in previous eras.
Chapter 16 · 1:03:40
As the conversation winds down, Rowan leaves the audience with an unexpected data point: several studies show citrus raises skin cancer risk. The culprit isn't vitamin C but psoralens — naturally occurring compounds in citrus that sensitize skin to UV radiation. The phenomenon is well-documented enough to have its own name: 'margarita burn,' the intensified sunburn experienced after pounding tropical cocktails on vacation. Matt, who has recently planted a lime, lemon, and kumquat tree, takes the news philosophically. Both agree that skin cancer — particularly the common non-melanoma types — is something they're not enormously worried about, especially given the offsetting benefits of sun exposure on all the other major killers.
Claims made here
Citrus consumption is linked to elevated skin cancer risk by multiple studies, due to compounds called psoralens rather than vitamin C.
Multiple studies have linked citrus consumption to elevated skin cancer risk — not because of vitamin C, but because of compounds called psoralens. The effect is so well documented that 'margarita burn,' where people get badly sunburned the day after pounding tropical cocktails, is a recognized phenomenon.
Multiple studies show citrus consumption raises the risk of skin cancer, possibly due to psoralens in the fruit, which is why 'margarita burn' is a known phenomenon.
No indexed bits in this chapter.
Sunlight hitting skin triggers a release of natural opiates in the brain. Dermatologists saw this as proof of a dangerous addiction; Rowan Jacobsen saw it as evolutionary proof that sun-seeking behavior was rewarded because it was good for us.
This episode
Author and journalist, expert on oysters and sunlight science; guest on this episode promoting his book 'In Defense of Sunlight'.
Health and anti-aging entrepreneur known for his aggressive longevity protocols, including avoidance of sunlight; cited as a prominent but misguided sun-avoider.
Mathematician discussed as an example of a genius ostracized for proving the incompleteness of mathematical axioms; died by self-starvation.
Referenced in connection with the theory of relativity and the insight that time slows as speed approaches that of light.
Author of a book on ice swimming mentioned by Matt McCusker as a previous podcast guest discussing cold water immersion benefits.
Sports picks app and episode sponsor; promoted in relation to the summer soccer season.
Online therapy platform and episode sponsor; offers 10% off at betterhelp.com/MSSP.
One of two institutions conducting research on green light therapy for migraine and anxiety relief.
Rowan Jacobsen was doing a science fellowship at MIT in 2017-2018 when he came across the pivotal endorphin-sunlight study.
Conducting research alongside Harvard on the therapeutic effects of green light for migraines and pain.
Rowan Jacobsen's book arguing the scientific and evolutionary case for regular sun exposure and pushing back on blanket avoidance messaging.
Key compound produced in skin via sunlight; essential for calcium absorption, bone health, and testosterone production.
Personal finance app and episode sponsor that helps users cancel subscriptions and track spending.
Supplement brand and episode sponsor; promoted BlueChew Gold for sexual health with promo code DRENCHED.
Prescription biologic medication for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis; featured in a post-episode ad read.
Where Rowan Jacobsen lives; used throughout as an example of a sun-deprived northern climate with long, dark winters.
Where Matt McCusker lives; cited as an ideal high-UV environment where 10 minutes of daily sun exposure is sufficient.
Stats
This episode
Factual claims made this episode, and whether a source was named.
When sunlight hits skin, it triggers a release of endorphins (natural opiates) in the brain, which is why people become addicted to sun exposure.
Approximately 98% of skin cancers are basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma, which are cut off and rarely cause long-term health effects.
Melanoma is associated with sunburns — especially those experienced in childhood — not with regular moderate sun exposure.
People with dark skin have skin cancer rates approximately 100 times lower than people with lighter skin.
Sunlight causes the skin to produce nitric oxide, which dilates blood vessels and lowers blood pressure.
A study exposing mice to sunlight found that sun-exposed mice developed larger testicles and were rated as more sexually attractive by other mice.
Approximately 50% of sunlight is infrared radiation, which passes through clothing and tissue and helps mitochondria produce energy more efficiently.
Harvard University and the University of Arizona are conducting research showing green light relieves migraines and anxiety, and green light therapy devices are now commercially available.
Rickets was rare on farms but surged in the Industrial Revolution when children moved into factories and city tenements and lost access to sunlight.
People who get more natural sunlight have lower rates of heart attacks, strokes, and non-skin cancers, and longer lifespans.
Citrus consumption is linked to elevated skin cancer risk by multiple studies, due to compounds called psoralens rather than vitamin C.
Tanning injections that artificially darken skin increase the chances of getting skin cancer.
Biologists are only recently beginning to apply the physics insight — established 100 years ago — that energy and matter are two sides of the same coin to understanding biological systems.
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