For many, this is true

GM

Most melanomas occur on body parts that rarely see the sun This alone should make you pause. If full spectrum sunlight were the primary culprit, you’d expect the highest melanoma rates on chronically sun exposed areas like the face, neck, and forearms Instead, melanomas overwhelmingly appear on the trunk, thighs, and other typically covered areas That pattern doesn’t scream UV causation, it points to something deeper, like systemic chronic circadian and metabolic dysfunction

Here’s where mechanisms meet the real world results, and I love to see it because my most recent Substack article explains much of the why behind this Most think it’s impossible for Vitamin D levels to rise through a cold, “sun and UV poor” Canadian winter despite no supplementation 1. Mobilization of fat stores during cold exposure. 25(OH)D is fat-soluble and stored in body fat. Frequent cold exposure increases sympathetic tone, brown adipose tissue activation, and lipolysis, which mobilizes stored lipophilic compounds, including Vitamin D metabolites, into circulation In winter, you’re not necessarily producing new Vitamin D through skin UV-B exposure, but your body is liberating what you stored during summer, raising serum levels 2. Enhanced sulfation and circulation dynamics in cold Cold exposure upregulates hepatic sulfotransferase activity and improves peripheral circulation Sulfated Vitamin D metabolites like 25(OH)D₃-3-sulfate) are more water-dispersible and can act as a circulating reserve pool, re-entering active circulation when lipolysis and transport proteins shift Likely making more Vitamin D bioavailable or detectable in standard blood tests depending on the assay 3. Seasonal hormonal and binding protein fluctuations Vitamin D–binding protein and albumin levels are not static, they fluctuate seasonally and under stress. Cold exposure, changes in liver metabolism, and altered circadian photoperiods can shift DBP levels. A lower DBP concentration can increase the proportion of free and bioavailable 25(OH)D, which can raise measured total levels depending on the test 4. Reduced conversion to active metabolites In colder months, metabolic rates and sun exposure patterns shift. If less 25(OH)D is being converted to 1,25(OH)₂D (the active form), the circulating pool of 25(OH)D might actually RISE because less is being drawn downstream Think of it like reduced spending during hibernation, the checking account balance creeps up because withdrawals slow down 5. Circadian and photoperiod adaptations Even without external UV-B, proper light entrainment through getting AM light daily keeps the hepatic-renal axis and hormonal cascades in sync, further supporting efficient recycling and conservation of Vitamin D metabolites Circadian alignment creates more efficient Vitamin D homeostasis ••• All this points to some fascinating overlap that most people do not consider A winter rise in Vitamin D likely reflects a synergy of three processes: 1. Mobilization of stored lipophilic D metabolites through cold-induced lipolysis 2. Enzymatic reconversion of conjugated metabolites into measurable 25(OH)D 3. Endogenous biophoton UV-B photochemistry acting on cholesterol/sulfated precursors, sustaining low level Vitamin D production even in the absence of external UV-B This is why I advocate for sunbathing when the time is right, so you can build that reserve of Vitamin D metabolites In winter, especially with cold exposure and good circadian hygiene, your body liberates and conserves those stores more efficiently, oftentimes enough to increase serum Vitamin D, even without new synthesis The human animal is built for this

Maybe your Vitamin D3 levels aren’t meant to stay sky high all year Maybe, just maybe, life is built on seasonal duality, not perpetual summer Even at the equator, there’s no such thing as true perpetual summer, it’s just a different kind of rhythm. The sun might rise and set at nearly the same time year-round, but rainfall patterns, food availability, humidity, and cloud cover create their own seasonal cues that living systems have adapted to Equatorial populations still experience cycles, they’re just less about temperature and more about rain, light diffusion, and ecological shifts. The body still syncs to these environmental rhythms So the idea of keeping D3 status or any biological marker “locked in” year-round is ahistorical and biologically tone deaf Even nature’s most stable environments pulse Modern thinking treats health like a thermostat. Pick an “optimal” number and lock it in What they fail to understand is that biology is rhythmic. Vitamin D3 levels naturally rise with abundant UV-B in summer and decline through winter, mirroring changes in light, temperature, food availability, and circadian gene expression, so forth Forcing levels to remain elevated year-round through supplements or artificial UV ignores this deeper rhythm and turns you into a neurotic pain in the ass Winter is a different operating mode Just like trees shed their leaves, your physiology shifts gears.. altering hormone cascades, immune tone, and metabolic priorities. Flattening these seasonal waves may feel optimized on paper, but it often clashes with how humans actually evolved to function The point? Health isn’t about constant abundance, it’s about respecting the ebb and flow

The wise pick up on the details here Sunlight conditions the immune system, tanning beds just tan skin UV-A and blue light in the morning from the sun boost T-cell motility and immune surveillance through nitric oxide release and specific photoreceptor pathways in the skin This effect is spectrally coordinated along with circadian timing UV-A rises after dawn, alongside visible light and IR, priming immune cells to patrol tissues more effectively Tanning beds, on the other hand, blast narrow UV spectra in isolation, nearly always without the proper timing, visible light balance, or infrared context that drives this immune activation So while they may pigment the skin or raise Vitamin D with repeated use, they don’t replicate the immune tuning role of sunlight.. no sunrise gradient, no nitric oxide surge, no circadian signaling The devil is in the details here

Tanning bed salon culture is one of the strangest modern subcultures It’s built entirely around light, yet next to no one involved understands anything about light or circadian biology Instead, the entire experience gets reduced to chemical bronzers, accelerators, collagen “boosters,” and gimmicky lotions with names like “Mermaid,” “Dark 47,” and “Power Up,” all while blasting isolated UV and other wavelengths in artificial indoor environments And to call your most advanced tanning beds “full spectrum” is a joke. It’s marketing garbage They chase a tan, but completely ignore the timing, spectrum, and circadian signaling that make sunlight life giving Talk about a perfect microcosm of modern confusion. Obsessing over the appearance of a tan while completely ignoring the physiological context that makes real sunlight regenerative rather than disruptive

More fireplace sessions

A monster deep dive

The Vitamin D3, Melatonin, & Winter Playbook

A deep dive into the overlooked biochemistry of vitamin D metabolites, circadian seasonality, and why your body is built to thrive through winter, ...

Crashing ocean waves act as a parasympathetic switch to create harmony within the entire system

GM

Love me a sunset

Carrying your phone directly against your body (especially next to sensitive tissues like breasts, ovaries, or testes) means you’re placing the source of non-native electromagnetic emissions millimeters away from cells, not meters Total abuse of the inverse square law Electromagnetic fields obey the inverse square law: Doubling the distance drops the intensity by a factor of four. Keeping the phone on your body = maximum exposure For most of human history, the body experienced only natural (native) electromagnetic fields from the Earth’s Schumann resonances, cosmic background radiation, and sunlight’s broad spectrum Suddenly, we’re placing high frequency, pulsed nnEMFs directly on reproductive glands, mammary tissue, and major nerves for hours a day, often overnight These tissues are highly vascularized (absorbing more energy), hormone sensitive (breast, testes, ovaries), and Undergo constant cellular turnover, making them more vulnerable to chronic stressors Even if we set aside debates about long term carcinogenicity, constantly bombarding sensitive tissue with an artificial signal source is reckless Airplane mode is common sense Turning your phone off or switching to airplane mode when it’s on your body: 1. Eliminates active signal emissions 2. Costs you nothing (you can still use offline apps, camera, notes, etc) 3. Restores a basic buffer between your body and nnEMFs You wouldn’t sleep with your head next to a running microwave or keep a heat lamp pressed against your skin all day So why carry a mini transmitter in your bra or pocket for hours on end? This isn’t fear mongering, it’s the intersection of physics and biology, otherwise known as biophysics Your body is an electromagnetic system. Your phone is a transmitter. Distance matters. Sensitive tissues matter. And airplane mode is the simplest, lowest cost way to reduce unnecessary chronic exposure

Stop carrying your phone in your bra or pocket. Put that shit on airplane mode or turn it off unless you want to dramatically increase your risk of infertility or breast cancer

Back in heaven

The undeniable evidence that your mitochondria are light-sensing organelles which use the sun’s full spectrum for energy production Here’s what will put those who speak ill of the sun to shame Let’s start with the basics Your body evolved to be under the sun’s full light spectrum, which is why every aspect of it is designed to sense and use light How can I prove this? Because we have chromophores all over the exterior and interior of our bodies Chromophores are molecules or parts of molecules responsible for the color of compounds They are typically the parts of a molecule that absorb visible light or ultraviolet light, leading to electronic transitions When a chromophore absorbs light, it moves to an excited state, and the energy associated with this transition often falls within the visible spectrum, which is why we perceive color So, how does this tie into the mitochondria? Well, each mitochondrion in your body contains a series of complexes which are designed to transfer electrons through redox reactions to produce energy (ATP) This chain of complexes is what we call the electron transport chain, and it’s found within the inner mitochondrial membrane Mitochondria are the lifeblood of each cell, hence they make all the difference between health and disease, life and death It ties in perfectly because of this fact: The entire electron transport chain is LOADED with chromophores which are critical to the function of these complexes Now here’s where it gets fun I told you that your mitochondria are light-sensing organelles Now here’s why ⚡️ Complex I (NADH:Ubiquinone Oxidoreductase) • Flavin Mononucleotide (FMN): Absorbs light at around 370 nm (UV) and 450 nm (blue light) • Iron-Sulfur Clusters: These clusters have broad absorption, typically in the 400-600 nm range, but they don’t have distinct peaks like other chromophores ⚡️ Complex II (Succinate:Ubiquinone Oxidoreductase) • Flavin Adenine Dinucleotide (FAD): Absorbs at around 370 nm (UV) and 450 nm (blue light) • Iron-Sulfur Clusters: Similar to Complex I, absorption is broad and typically in the 400-600 nm range ⚡️ Complex III (Cytochrome bc1 Complex) • Cytochrome b: - bL (low potential form): Absorbs at around 563 nm (yellow-green) - bH (high potential form): Absorbs at around 566 nm (yellow-green) • Cytochrome c1: Absorbs at around 552 nm • Rieske Iron-Sulfur Protein (2Fe-2S cluster): Absorption is broad, typically between 400-500 nm ⚡️ Complex IV (Cytochrome c Oxidase) • Cytochrome a: Absorbs at ~ 605 nm • Cytochrome a3: Absorbs at ~ 655 nm Both orange and red light absorbed here • Copper Centers (CuA and CuB): These centers absorb broadly in the visible region, but their exact absorption properties are less defined than the heme chromophores ⚡️ Additional Chromophores in the ETC Ubiquinone (Coenzyme Q): Ubiquinone itself is not strongly absorbing in the visible spectrum but does have weak absorption peaks in the UV range, around 275-290 nm Biophoton emission right there ⚡️ Cytochrome c (Mobile Carrier) Cytochrome c has an absorption wavelength of ~ 550 nm (in reduced form) Now here’s the million dollar question Why does the entire electron transport chain sense various wavelengths of light from the sun at extreme precision? I want to see the look on every physician, dermatologist, and ophthalmologist’s face when they’re shown this information The overall absorption range of the chromophores within the electron transport chain is between ~ 200 nm to ~ 900 nm From extremely low-frequency UV light (biophotons) to NIR light Any argument against sunlight exposure or the use of sunglasses, sunscreen, sun-avoidance is hereby deemed as retarded knowing this information This is especially the case because mitochondria control the health of every cell and are found everywhere in the body I rest my case

Mitochondria gives cells a tan You read that correctly Let’s put this reductionist notion that mitochondria are simply the powerhouse of the cell to rest They surpass that simplistic label, as they play a far more complex role, including a significant influence on skin pigmentation and melanin development ••• Mitochondria are involved in various cellular processes that affect skin pigmentation: They are the energy supply for melanin production through their ability to provide ATP, essential for the biosynthesis of melanin Mitochondria produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can influence melanin production. An increase in ROS can stimulate melanogenesis, leading to darker pigmentation They control apoptosis (programmed cell death), affecting the turnover of melanocytes, which are the cells that make melanin (PMID: 19659442) Mitochondria regulate calcium within the cell. Proper calcium uptake by mitochondria is essential for melanin production in melanosomes (PMID: 39527653) Mitochondria sit at the heart of redox balance. They regulate the redox environment, which in turn influences the stability of tyrosinase, a key enzyme in melanin synthesis, and affects melanosomes ••• What more proof do you need that melanin production is a cornerstone of human health? Stop listening to centralized dermatologists who view biology and skin through a reductionist lens It’s time to cultivate your tan through wise full spectrum sun exposure, aligned with a circadian appropriate framework

Here we go The latest episode featuring the most based physician, Dr. Abud Bakri. Our best one with him yet We discuss: • How to thrive in your 30s • NAD and mitochondrial function • Somatopause & andropause • Solar metabolic strength And so much more Sit back, grab a cup of coffee or some nicotine (or both), and press play with the full video below

The 80/20 Course Your shortcut to mastering circadian biology, all in one place A clear, practical, and evolving course that blends science, philosophy, and actionable steps to transform your health You’ll learn a lot from this 🌞 Module 1: Circadian Biology, Light Environment, & Sleep Circadian mechanisms, the full solar spectrum, the lost wisdom of heliotherapy, sunbathing baby, melatonin, mitochondria, eye regeneration, skin health, sleep mastery, and so much more ⚡️ Module 2: Grounding & Electromagnetism The truth about native vs. non-native EMFs, biological semiconduction, grounding for resilience, and more 🌊 Module 3: Water & Hydration Structured water, Schauberger, the exclusion zone, hydration fundamentals, and optimizing water quality, and more Bonus 🧪 Making Sense of Science: A Simple Guide to Trusting Research This course is unique for a few reasons It has everything in one place, endless rabbit holes, where you have to search for stuff on PubMed It’s highly actionable, real steps you can use today and will use for a lifetime It’s designed to improve metabolic health, energy, sleep, and fat loss It’s constantly updated as the science evolves, along with my own understanding. That applies indefinitely as well I’ve priced it reasonably for a win-win and have received incredible feedback so far from those who have joined DM me SUN to get the course BTC friendly, of course!