Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
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Spring Fever
If we're feeling lively and even a bit sexy, there's a good reason why, reports The Times, as we get into spring mood. Not only are the daffodils out, but so are the primroses and violets as I discovered yesterday while walking in the Chiltern Hills. And I wasn't the only one. The air is fresh and with the longer days and brighter daylight we get an emotional and physical lift in many ways.
It seems that during the winter months we are starved of vitamin D that is naturally provided by daylight and essential for healthy bones and teeth. But as soon as the sun comes out, we make a dash for the outdoors as our body craves a top-up. Just 30 minutes of exposure to the face and arms each day between April and October (when the sun’s rays are strongest) is enough to ensure adequate levels for the rest of the year. Yet most of us receive too little from the sun and food combined. Ideally we should get several ten minute stints during the mid-day hours when the sun is at it's strongest, while taking care not get sunburn.
Our sex drive can surge when spring arrives, triggered by hormonal changes that occur as the retina, the part of the eye connected to the brain by the optic nerve, transmits the effect of more daylight. Melatonin, a hormone that affects our mood and how we sleep, reduces as a result of light changes, so lifting our mood, reducing the desire to sleep and increasing our sexual appetite. This peak of sexual activity is only beaten by the levels achieved in the late summer and early autumn when conceptions are at their highest resulting in a surge of new spring babies.
“Vitamin D deficiency is extremely common,” says Professor Michael Holick, of Boston University Medical School. Between 80 and 100 per cent of our vitamin D requirement is met by sunlight. A study he carried out in Boston found that 32 per cent of those aged 18 to 29 were deficient at the end of a typical winter.
So if you're feeling like dashing and frolicking outside this month, take care not to overdo the exercise if you're not used to it. Spring is also the period when a lot of heart attacks occur. But let's get outside and enjoy it!
