Name: Beyond Vitamin D: How to Tap the Sun’s Antiviral Power
Uploaded: 2026-01-26T14:46:59.000Z
Description: Do the sun’s infrared and UV light health benefits outweigh those of sun-wrought and supplemented vitamin D?

Brendon Fallon is the host and executive producer of NTD's "Vital Signs," a health show that zooms in on the important matters of health that come up in everyday life—connecting the dots across the broad canvas of our holistic wellbeing.


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Do the sun’s infrared and UV light health benefits outweigh those of sun-wrought and supplemented vitamin D?

Watch our exclusive episode, only on <a href="https://www.ntd.com/vital-signs" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">NTD</a>.

“I recommend to many of my patients, if not all of them, to get out and get sunlight,” says internal medicine and critical care doctor Roger Seheult.

Seheult shares dramatic results of sun exposure in his own clinic while caring for critically ill COVID-19 patients on the frontlines during the pandemic. “I’ve had patients with COVID almost ready to be intubated, and we were able to get them outside … we were able to take somebody who was almost ready to be intubated to off oxygen completely within five days, which is the fastest that I’ve ever seen somebody get off of oxygen.”

Also an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, Seheult joins “Vital Signs with Brendon Fallon” to reveal the deep healing potential of sunlight.

While sun exposure is understood to boost vitamin D, which has been <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9864223/">linked</a> to better outcomes in COVID-19 patients, Seheult suspected there was more to the benefits of sunlight: “Maybe there was something about the sun that had nothing to do with vitamin D.”

Seheult cites <a href="https://www.melatonin-research.net/index.php/MR/article/view/19">research</a> that shows the ability of sunlight to impact cells in the body and increase the production of melatonin: “So we’ve known now for a while that melatonin is sort of the king of antioxidants.”

Antioxidants help the body combat oxidative stress, which is linked to a variety of serious health conditions, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and dementia.

Although people often supplement melatonin orally, Seheult says this method falls short. He provides guidance on how people can properly use sun exposure to maximize melatonin production and benefit their health.

Seheult is currently an active critical care physician, pulmonologist, and sleep physician in his practice in California.

He is co-founder of MedCramm which has garnered over 1.5 million YouTube followers through demystifying medical concepts.

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Referenced studies:

Melatonin and the Optics of the Human Body
<a href="https://www.melatonin-research.net/index.php/MR/article/view/19" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.melatonin-research.net/index.php/MR/article/view/19</a>

Optically Improved Mitochondrial Function Redeems Aged Human Visual Decline
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glaa155" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glaa155</a>

Light stimulation of mitochondria reduces blood glucose levels
<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jbio.202300521" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jbio.202300521</a>

Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections: systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data
<a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/356/bmj.i6583" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.bmj.com/content/356/bmj.i6583</a>

Sunlight: Time for a Rethink?
<a href="https://www.jidonline.org/article/S0022-202X(24)00280-X/fulltext" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.jidonline.org/article/S0022-202X(24)00280-X/fulltext</a>

Cardiopulmonary and hematological effects of infrared LED photobiomodulation in the treatment of SARS-COV2
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2022.112619" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2022.112619</a>

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Vital Signs’ host, guests, and contributors offer general information on improving health and wellness. This is not intended as diagnosis or medical advice. You should consult your medical doctor or holistic doctor before enacting any suggested strategies for health and wellness improvement, including those in relation to preventing or treating specific diseases featured on this program.

Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guests, and do not necessarily reflect the views of NTD.

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