Aug. 10, 2025

The Sunshine Paradox & Mold — Healing Light and Hidden Toxins

Show Notes
Transcript

Today, we’re talking about two invisible forces that shape our health — one that gives life, and one that slowly steals it. We’ve been told to fear the sun, to hide from it… But what if the shade is where the real danger lurks? And what if, in our escape from light, we’ve trapped ourselves in environments that can make us sick?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Welcome to Chasing Eden. I'm Carolyn Thompson, and today we're

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talking about two invisible forces that shape our health, one

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that gives life and one that slowly steals it. We've

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been told to fear the sun, to hide from it,

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But what if the shade is where the real danger lurks.

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And what if in our escape from light, we've trapped

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ourselves in environments that can actually make us sick. This

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episode is called the Sunshine Paradox and Mold, Healing, Light

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and Hidden Toxins. It's about remembering sunlight as medicine, uncovering

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the science that backs it up, and understanding how our

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modern indoor lives create both vitamin D deficiency and fertile

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ground for toxins like mold. Let's start with the fear campaign.

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In the mid twentieth century, public health messaging shifted dramatically.

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The rise of sunscreen advertising coupled with skyrocketing skin cancer

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awareness left us with a single narrative. Sun equals danger,

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and yes, excessive UV exposure damages skin DNA. We know that,

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but in focusing so much on one danger, we've overlooked another,

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the risk of too little sun. Today, around forty percent

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of Americans are deficient in vitamin D, and some estimates

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place that number above eighty percent in winter months at

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northern latitudes, and vitamin D deficiency is linked to increased

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risk of cardiovascular disease, depression, autoimmune disorders, and even certain

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cant contrast that with life just one hundred years ago.

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In sanatoriums across Europe, doctors would wheel patients onto open

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air balconies for daily heliotherapy. Children with rickets, which is

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a bone softening disease from vitamin D deficiency, would be

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sent to the countryside for sun cures. Vitamin D is

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just the beginning. Sunlight triggers a cascade of beneficial processes.

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Nitric oxide release, which improves blood vessel function and lowers

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your blood pressure. Serotonin production boosts your mood and mental clarity,

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and endorphins for natural pain relief and well being. Modern

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studies show moderate sun exposure correlates with lower all cause

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mortality than complete avoidance. That means, statistically speaking, people who

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get some sun live longer than those who avoid it entirely,

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even after adjusting for skin cancer risk. Historically, sunlight's mental

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health benefits were recognized long before serotonin was discovered in

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the nineteenth century. Melancholia, what we'd now call depression, was

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sometimes treated by simply prescribing time in the morning sun.

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Florence Nightingale famously wrote, it is the unqualified result of

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all my experience with the sick that second only to

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their need of fresh air is their need of light.

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And it's not only light, but direct sunlight they want.

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She understood that hospitals weren't just places for medicine, they

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were environments for recovery. And recovery, she insisted, demanded sunlight.

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Let's time travel to the early nineteen hundreds. Imagine the

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Swiss Alps, white blankets of snow reflecting sunlight from every direction.

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Physicians brought tuberculosis patients here, not for a miracle drug

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none existed yet, but for high altitude sun exposure. They

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called it heliotherapy. Patients would lie bundled in chairs, faces uncovered,

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breathing crisp air, soaking up UV rays. Why, because they

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noticed something extraordinary. These patients lived longer, gained weight, coughed less,

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and had fewer infections. Then there was Niels Ryberg Finsen,

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a Danish physician who developed a special lamp to deliver

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concentrated light to the skin. He treated lupus vulgaris a

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disfiguring form of tuberculosis, with such success that in nineteen

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o three he won the Noble Well Prize in Medicine.

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During World War II, even in resource starved military hospitals,

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sunlight therapy was used for wound healing. Soldiers were placed

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in sunlit courtyards because wounds healed faster in natural light.

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The trick isn't baking in the midday sun until your

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lobster red. It's finding the Goldilocks zone enough to make

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vitamin D trigger those healing biochemical pathways and reset your

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circadian clock, but not enough to burn. For fair skinned individuals,

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that might be ten to twenty minutes of midday sun.

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For darker skin, it could be thirty to sixty minutes,

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and that's without sunscreen because sunscreen blocks about ninety five

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percent of vitamin D synthesis. Morning light is especially important

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for mental health. It helps set your circadian risp them,

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improves your sleep quality, and can reduce symptoms of seasonal

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effective disorder. We even know that sunlight exposure may protect

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against certain cancers. Yes, you heard that right. While Excessive

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UV can increase skin cancer risk. Adequate sun exposure appears

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to reduce risks for colon, breast and prostate cancer. Now

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let's step indoors into the darker side of modern living mold.

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Mold poisoning isn't just a musty smell in the basement.

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It's a hidden inflammatory trigger. Mycotoxins can cause brain fog, fatigue,

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immune suppression, and hormonal imbalance. Dave Asby's journey with mold

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nearly ended his career before it began. In some cases,

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treatments like sporanox, which is an anti fungal prescription, are

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used under medical supervision, But the real step is removing

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the source and improving your environment. Here's the connection. Mold

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thrives in damp, dark spaces. Sunlight, on the other hand,

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is nature's disinfectant. UV rays kill many bacteria and mold spores. Historically,

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windows were large rooms, airy, not just for beauty but

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for health. By shutting ourselves indoors, we not only miss

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the benefits of light, but we create stagnant environments where

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mold flourishes. Light filled, well ventilated spaces are the antidote.

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The sun has been our companion since before we had

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names for disease. It fuels every leaf, every cell, every heartbeat.

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Maybe the real paradox is that in trying to protect

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ourselves from the sun, we've hidden from one of life's

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oldest healers. So today step outside, Let your eyes see

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the morning light, Let your skin feel that gentle warmth,

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and notice not just how it feels, but how it

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changes you. Thank you for joining me today, for chasing Eden.

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Until next time, may your days be bright, your night's RESTful,

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and your life bathed in the healing light.