Overview
🎧 Podcast: The Diary of a CEO | 👨‍⚕️ Expert: Dr. Roger Seheult
🎯 Topic: Vitamin D, Sunlight, and Dementia Prevention
⏱️ Key Takeaway: Proper vitamin D levels and sunlight exposure are critical for preventing dementia and supporting overall health
Dr. Seheult’s Background and Work
- Expertise: Specializes in lung health, critical care, and sleep disorders; manages ICU patients with life-threatening conditions like strokes, infections, and organ failure; emphasizes lifestyle interventions to prevent chronic diseases and extend life.
- Approach: Views health as a chain of organ systems; modern medicine often treats one “weak link” at the expense of others via medications with side effects; advocates strengthening all links through lifestyle to avoid erosion leading to diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and dementia.
The 8 Pillars of Health (NEW START)
- Framework: Acronym for Nutrition, Exercise, Water, Sunlight, Temperance, Air, Rest, Trust; derived from historical health principles, promoted by Weimar University; focuses on holistic, side-benefit-rich habits to enhance all organ systems.
- Nutrition: Whole foods reduce disease risk; avoid processed items; fasting (e.g., Ramadan) has benefits.
- Exercise: Builds fitness, reduces stroke, depression, and improves well-being; “side benefits” unlike medications.
- Water: External use (saunas, hot/cold therapy) boosts immunity; internal hydration is essential but often overlooked.
- Sunlight: Beyond vitamin D; infrared light enhances mitochondrial function, reduces oxidative stress; key for preventing dementia, diabetes, cardiovascular disease.
- Temperance: Moderation; avoid toxins like smoking, alcohol, amphetamines to prevent organ damage.
- Air: Fresh outdoor air with phytoncides from plants elevates immunity and relaxation; avoid high COâ‚‚ indoors.
- Rest: Includes daily sleep (quality matters), weekly downtime (e.g., unplugging); balances with exercise.
- Trust: Faith in a supportive higher power reduces anxiety, depression; fosters community and unconditional forgiveness.
Sunlight and Brain Health
- Core Philosophy: Sunlight is “lowest hanging fruit” for health; combats mitochondrial dysfunction underlying aging, chronic diseases, and COVID severity; infrared penetrates deeply, upregulates melatonin as an antioxidant.
- Mitochondrial Role: As we age, mitochondrial energy output drops 70%, leading to organ-specific issues (e.g., fatty liver, dementia); infrared light “cools” mitochondria by boosting melatonin, improving efficiency.
- COVID Insights: Low vitamin D (marker of sun exposure) predicted worse outcomes; infrared may mitigate oxidative stress from virus; studies show sunlight reduces mortality independent of vitamin D.
- Story of Henry: 15-year-old with leukemia developed flesh-eating lung fungus; after left lung removal, infection spread; given 2 days to live, his wish was to go outside; after days in sunlight (plus Firefly light device), infection cleared 60-70%; discharged healthy.
- Hospital Benefits: Patients near windows discharge faster; larger windows improve satisfaction; advocate for outdoor access in hospitals, as done historically.
- Risks and Myths: Sun avoidance akin to modern “scurvy”; studies (e.g., Swedish women, UK Biobank) show more sun exposure reduces cancer/cardiovascular mortality; no increased melanoma risk; equivalent to smoking in mortality impact if avoided.
Key Factors Impacting Health via Light
- Infrared Benefits: Penetrates 8 cm; devices (e.g., red light masks at 670 nm) improve skin collagen, glucose metabolism, eyesight; systemic effects from back exposure alone; 15 minutes activates mitochondrial switch.
- Cloudy Climates: Still get infrared outdoors > indoors; supplement with incandescent bulbs (broad spectrum) over LEDs/fluorescents, which lack infrared and may impair vision.
- Circadian Rhythm: Morning light sets rhythm, reduces depression via SAD lamps (10,000 lux, 20-30 min); avoid screens at night to prevent melatonin suppression and rhythm delays.
- Vitamin D: Supplement (2,000 IU daily) reduces autoimmune risks, chest infections; check levels to avoid overdose (high calcium); in foods like mushrooms, fish; deficiency affects 1 billion globally.
- Melatonin: Supplements (≤5 mg) aid sleep, jet lag; high doses cause irritability; not for routine use.
Water and Hydrotherapy
- Innate Immunity: Fever boosts interferon against viruses; saunas induce “artificial fevers,” increasing interferon 10-fold; Finnish studies show 4-7x/week reduces cardiovascular death.
- Hot/Cold Therapy: Heat raises core temperature; brief cold constricts vessels, retains heat, demarginates white blood cells for circulation; combats infections like COVID.
Air and Nature
- Phytoncides: Tree aromas elevate natural killer cells, enzymes; Japanese studies show forest walks boost immunity for 7 days; green spaces reduce diabetes, hypertension, depression.
- Indoor Air: High COâ‚‚ impairs cognition; ventilate (crack windows, no recirculation in cars); use COâ‚‚ monitors; avoid sealed hotel rooms.
Trust and Faith
- Benefits: Supportive faith reduces stress, anxiety, depression; communities provide support; unconditional forgiveness (linked to belief in forgiving God) lowers inadequacy feelings.
- Studies: Faith-integrated therapy more effective; unhealthy/vindictive views increase negative impacts.
Specific Conditions and Insights
- Dementia/Brain Health: Mitochondrial dysfunction from low sun accelerates; sunlight prevents via melatonin.
- Cancer/Substances: Temperance avoids toxins; sun reduces non-skin cancer mortality.
- Sleep/Rest: Quality sleep essential; weekly unplugging; avoid nightlights, screens for darkness.
- Miraculous Recovery: Anecdote of young patient with anoxic brain injury defying prognosis, highlighting humility in medicine.
Practical Tools and Supplements
- Supplements:
- Vitamin D: 2,000 IU daily; monitor levels.
- Melatonin: ≤5 mg for sleep/jet lag.
- Techniques:
- Sun Exposure: 15-20 min morning/evening; outdoors even cloudy.
- Red Light Therapy: Masks/devices for mitochondria (e.g., Bon Charge).
- SAD Lamps: 20-30 min mornings for rhythm/depression.
- Sauna/Hydrotherapy: 20 min hot + 1 min cold, 4-7x/week.
- Forgiveness Practice: Unconditional to reduce anxiety.
- COâ‚‚ Monitoring: Use devices indoors.
- Nature Walks: Weekly for phytoncides.
Daily Habits for Health
- Sunlight: Morning exposure; avoid indoors/windows blocking infrared.
- Exercise: Outdoors for combined benefits.
- Diet: Whole foods, hydration; test deficiencies.
- Air: Ventilate; spend time in green spaces.
- Rest: Dark bedrooms; unplug weekly.
- Temperance: Limit toxins, screens at night.
- Trust: Cultivate supportive faith/community.
- Water: Sauna sessions; stay hydrated.
Action Items
- Get Morning Sunlight: Spend 15-20 min outdoors daily, even cloudy, to boost mitochondria and set circadian rhythm.
- Supplement Vitamin D: Take 2,000 IU daily; get levels checked to avoid deficiency or overdose.
- Use Sauna/Hydrotherapy: Incorporate 4-7 sessions/week with hot (20 min) followed by cold (1 min) for immunity.
- Monitor Indoor Air: Use COâ‚‚ meters; ventilate rooms/offices; weekly nature walks for phytoncides.
- Optimize Sleep Environment: Ensure total darkness; avoid screens/nightlights; use melatonin sparingly if needed.
- Practice Forgiveness: Adopt unconditional forgiveness to reduce anxiety; integrate faith if applicable.
- Switch Bulbs: Use incandescent for broad spectrum light indoors; consider red light devices for therapy.
- Assess Pillars: Evaluate NEW START in your life; prioritize sunlight as low-hanging fruit for longevity.
Conclusion and Recommendations
- Resources: Follow Dr. Seheult on YouTube (@MedCram), X (@MedCram), Instagram (@MedCramVideos); explore MedCram.com for videos on health pillars.
- Mindset Shift: View health as strengthening all “links” via lifestyle, not just treating symptoms; sunlight is essential, not optional.
- Support: Watch MedCram series on vitamin D, mitochondria, and COVID; read studies on infrared light and faith.
This episode reveals sunlight’s profound role in preventing disease and extending life, alongside actionable pillars for holistic health.