Digestion and Daylight Part I 
Recently I read an article by Paul Nison about the benefits of sunlight for proper digestion. Here is what he said and I agree with his thinking.
By: Paul Nison, from Healthkeepers Magazine
Let The Sun Shine
It’s sunlight that really gets digestion moving. Obtaining and maintaining good health is actually pretty simple: abide by the laws of nature that manage your body; straying from these principles will result in damage to your body. Think of it this way: Take the law of gravity. There is no altering that law and denying it can have disastrous and even tragic results. Therefore, no one questions the law of gravity. We don’t have to justify it, because we can witness how it works.
The correlation between the sun and digestion is another example of one of the laws of nature. Exposure to sunlight promotes easier digestion. Digestion and assimilation become weak and imperfect if we are not exposed to the direct rays of the sun on a daily basis. Defying this natural law will not result in the same immediate damage as breaking the law of gravity, but over time, serious damage will take place.
How Does It Work?
There is a direct connection between the optic nerve and digestion. When sunlight hits the optic nerve, electrical impulses are transmitted, activating many processes of the body, including digestion. Nerve impulses send messages that tell the body to produce certain enzymes, gastric juices and other processes of digestion. Similar to the act of chewing, when the optic nerve is stimulated by sunlight, the digestive organs prepare for food. When the sun goes down, there is less light stimulating the optic nerve, the digestion slows down. This declaration does not sit well with people who take pleasure in eating late at night. As I acknowledged in the introduction, people will continue to look for excuses to indulge in their addictions, but ignorance of divine and natural law is why numerous people encounter disease. This is not a mystical, New Age idea. Just as God breathed air into man and gave him life, He designed our organs with capabilities no man-made machine can fully reproduce. Please do not misunderstand: I am not claiming that digestion grinds to a halt once the sun goes down. What I am saying is that eating after the digestive system slows down in the evening goes against laws of nature and will result in a decline in health.
In his book Talks about People’s Stomachs, Dr. Dio Lewis tells a story about one of his patients, a Mr. P., who complained about stomach problems. According to Dr. Lewis, dyspepsia (the medical term for stomach upsets) was written all over his face, shown in his movements and heard in his voice. The patient, a local merchant, told Dr. Lewis he could no longer work because of his troubled digestive system. The first question Dr. Lewis asked was about his diet. Mr. P. explained that he was very educated about the subject and his diet was all right. The next question Dr. Lewis asked was if he exercised. Mr. P. revealed he spent several hours a day exercising. Dr. Lewis followed with a question about his sleep, and Mr. P. said he was in bed every night at 9 p.m. and was awake every morning at 6 a.m. Dr. Lewis was a brilliant man, asking Mr. P. essential questions about diet, exercise and sleep, three issues that always need to be addressed when a person is dealing with illness. Mr. P. could not understand why he was having digestive issues since he seemed to be doing everything right; his wife was worried he may even have cancer, because nothing seemed to help him, and the problem kept getting worse.
Finally Dr. Lewis asked him if he worked in a sunny office. His work place was pleasant; Mr. P. said but it did lack sunlight. Dr. Lewis replied: “Mr. P., that is the cause of your cancer! Your workplace needs more sunlight. No plant or animal can digest in the dark. Try it. Plant a potato in your cellar. Now watch it carefully. If there is a little light, that potato will sprout and try to grow. But surround it with the best manure, water it, do the best for it, only you shall keep it in the dark, it cannot digest and grow. See how slender and pale it is. Now open a window in another part of the cellar and notice how the poor hungry thing will stretch that way. Or give the stalk a little twist and see how it will lie down. It has no strength to raise itself again. No matter how much of the best food and drink you give it, it can’t digest. The process of digestion, the great function of assimilation can’t go on without the sunshine.”
Dr. Lewis told Mr. P. that he already had excellent habits, but that if his workplace had a flood of sunlight he would be better within one week and completely well in a month. He suggested Mr. P. move his desk in front of a sunny window, even if it’s sunny for only three or four hours a day. He assured Mr. P. that, within three days, his digestion would improve. He gave Mr. P. this excellent example: “Mr. P., did you ever go into the country late in the summer? Of course you have been. Well, did you ever notice where grain is growing in an orchard, that the part under the trees is smaller than that outside and away from the trees? The land is actually richer there. For years, the leaves have fallen and decayed under the trees, but, notwithstanding this, the wheat is only half size and never fills well. Now what is the difficulty? The sun shines upon it more or less. Yes, that is true but that under the trees does not receive as much sunshine as that away from them. That which is thus partly in the shade can’t digest as well. Have you never noticed that the only grapes that become perfectly ripe and sweet, that the only peaches that take on those beautiful red cheeks, and offer that luscious sweetness, are those that are on the outside, entirely uncovered by the leaves and perfectly exposed to the sun?
God’s laws are the same in the animal world. We all need to baptize ourselves freely in God’s glorious sunshine. People who don’t get good sunshine are usually very pale. These examples by Dr. Lewis are excellent ways to show how we need the natural light of the sun to help us digest our food.
In part II we will learn more about how the sun can aid in our digestive processes. If digestion issues are wreaking havoc in your life, consider my ten day digestive cleanse to assist you in jump starting this process on the road to health. Learn more.