Is the 'sunshine cure' a real thing? - CrowdScience, BBC World Service podcast

CrowdScience investigates the conflicting scientific evidence around warm weather and wellbeing.

Imagine spending six months of every year living in total shade. That’s what life is like for residents of the Norwegian town of Rjukan, set so low in a valley that they see no direct sunshine at all from October to March. Marnie Chesterton heads there to hear about an ingenious solution: giant mirrors that beam rays down into the town square, where locals gather to feel the reflected heat.

The man behind the project was motivated by a need for winter sun, but how much difference does it really make to our health and happiness? That’s the question posed by this week’s CrowdScience listener Michael, who has noticed living in the rainy Australian city of Melbourne is taking its toll.

Many pensioners claim sunshine relieves aches and pains, as well as conditions like arthritis, but one of the biggest scientific studies found temperature actually has no impact on reported pain levels, while factors like air pressure and humidity may play a role.

When it comes to our mood, it seems that spending time outside is more important than feeling the heat, and the optimum temperature for wellbeing is around cool 19 degrees centigrade, while excessive warm weather has been linked to an increase in violence and crime.

Contributors:
Dr Anna Beukenhorst, University of Manchester
Professor Oscar Ybarra, University of Illinois
Professor Solomon Hsiang, University of California, Berkeley
Martin Andersen, artist

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[WorldNeeds]

Even if I don't go outside just seeing the sunshine through the window makes me personally much more cheerful.

[Puneet]

I live in India. North India. There is no dearth of sunshine throughout the year. The Sun beats down relentlessly on you and saps your energy levels and consequently your mood. I am constantly looking towards the skies for a glimpse of a cloud or shade to improve the feel factor. There is such a thing as too much Sun. That said, every morning when i get up and see the sun rise, its a spiritually uplifting moment. Perhaps it helps in improving overall health but definitely does lift the mood in the morning.

[helenamcginty]

I still recall visiting relatives in Andalucia from the December UK. Once out in the sunshine I realised that my mouth was turning up into a smile automatically. It was a strange sensation. I had not even realised I had had a miserable face on me.

[kgrach]

I once spent over a year in the high desert. Rain and cloudy days was about one week total in a year. A cloudy day was a pleasant surprise. When it rained everybody came outside and danced in the rain. I learned that I liked seasons.

[rioperez]

The sun is everything especially if you've been raised in a country with abundant sunshine. Ever since I've moved to the UK, I've suffered with depression, anxiety, autoimmune issues, skin issues, poor gut health, low testosterone most of which stem from lack of sunshine. When I go on a holiday to a sunny country, these issues just magically go away. I hope to move to a sunnier country but where and how LOL.

[davidbrown]

Everything in moderation and balance. Having lived in Thailand and Paraguay the sun and heat was inescapable. I live in Scotland and I appreciate the sun a lot more but also appreciate the rain which also gives us life. I think there are many many other factors that affect happiness before sun.

[juneyeoh]

Totally agreed with you especially I am originally from Malaysia but now liviing in Finland, we always move to the place with sun during the polar night season.

[Albert-Plays-Roblox]

Sun makes everything better for me. It improves my mood, increases my energy, my motivation, improves my skin. However, I really love a temperate continental climate the best. Not a hot and humid one. Probably hot and dry would be ok as well. In my country, usually we have low humidity, hot summers, temperate autumns and springs and snowy and cold winters. As an Eastern European, it took me many years to get used to the British weather, my arthritis really flared up for a few years from the humidity in UK. Also, I developed allergies which I never had before, which are indirectly related to the weather, because my autoimmune condition put my body to stress and it caused an exacerbated histamine response and certainly the windy UK doesn’t help with polen alergies.

[italianochannel]

For us in a tropical country philippines where sunlight is abundant it's refreshing for us when it's cloudy 😅

[CoCoCat]

Heat 100% alleviates my chronic pain. Much less pain in hot weather, every autumn, pain flares up bad. Also, when the weather shifts quickly (from either hot to cold or cold to hot) I get sick. I really don't think these "studies" apply to everyone here. I live in Canada-very extreme weather fluctuations-sometimes 38c in summer, and -40c in winter. We had a day recently that dropped 20c in 24 hours. That is not healthy for anyone.

[vanessacarballo]

I live in a cold region, a valley. Recently, I travelled to the beach and instantly felt better. No back pain, ho headaches. Was it the sun? The beach? The feeling of freedom? I don’ know, but I wish that well-being feeling lasted a bit more.

[reidgloden]

Sunshine and the warmth sure make me happy and energetic. Clouds and cold make me depressed and tired. I agree totally.

[ybeer]

Interesting! Thank you for this documentary!
I just had this topic with my neighbor in northern Germany. I come from a subtropical country, where it’s most time of the year sunny and warm. At the beginning when I moved to Germany I had really headaches and depression and feeling trapped inside something grey.

[triarb]

As an (Ex Pom) Australian I can 100% assure you you feel better with more sunshine!

[hyyh]

Coming from a country where we have sun in every season, even winter, I'm sometimes tired of sunny days, but I guess I should be grateful for it.

[ivandansigmun]

The reason I left the UK was the awful grey weather. Now I have sunshine everyday!

[jennychurchill]

In summer clouds give me comfort. In winter i don't mind some sunshine. I live in South Africa and our hot summers stress me out. Only cool, cloudy days and our wonderful storms make summer bearable for me.

[a.i.m]

I work at an amazon warehouse on a 10 hour shift, starting at 1:20 am. When I get to see the sun, I get happy and as I'm already halfway until the shift ends. It also lifts up my mood.

[shixuanLiao]

Sunshine is the most important factor for the good mood🤗🤗🤗

[angelwingz]

It makes you feel happy if other things are in place too. Like clean water, food, shade and shelter from the sunshine or is this just about tourists and first world countries.
I moved to a warmer, sunshine climate because Sunshine does make me feel fantastic. BUT only because I have the basics above.