In this episode, my guest is Dr. Roger Seheult, MD, is a physician quadruple board-certified in internal medicine, pulmonary disease, critical care medicine, and sleep medicine, an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine, an Assistant Clinical Professor at Loma Linda University, and the co-founder of MedCram.
Today, he explains why vitamin D levels strongly predicted COVID-19 outcomes while vitamin D supplementation largely failed to reproduce the benefit, and makes the case that vitamin D is a marker for sunlight exposure rather than the primary mechanism behind it. He describes the near-infrared portion of sunlight which penetrates through the human body, and the hypothesis that it stimulates melatonin produced inside mitochondria, where it acts as a local antioxidant. We discuss randomized trials of infrared light in hospitalized and ICU patients, why greenery reflects infrared while concrete absorbs it, the Green Heart Louisville tree-planting trial, evidence that bright light at night predicts higher mortality, the NEWSTART framework, the Adventist Health Study, and published research on faith, forgiveness, and health.
FULL SHOW NOTES: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uJxnUa3ifCtHbE11v3iQwgTD1-nQD90-PttuS5NN640/edit?usp=sharing
Sponsor: Solius
https://shop.solius.com/JONATHANJ
Code: JONATHANJ
About this guest:
Med Cram: https://www.medcram.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG-iSMVtWbbwDDXgXXypARQ
X: https://x.com/rogerseheult?lang=en
Academic Profile: https://llu.edu/academics/faculty/seheult-roger/education
Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://jonathanjarecki.substack.com/
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
02:29 Dr. Roger Seheult
02:59 Dr. Seheult's Love for Science and Medicine
10:41 Pillars of Health, "NEWSTART"
13:11 Sunlight, COVID, Vitamin-D Paradox, Dr. Seheult's Clinical Experience
17:08 Extra-pineal Melatonin, Antioxidant, COVID, ACE2 Receptor, Red Light
18:50 Bringing Patients Outside in Sunlight
20:05 Sponsor: Solius
25:14 Melatonin, Infrared Light
27:13 Heliotherapy, Sunlight in Modern Hospitals, Dr. Rollier, John Harvey Kellogg
33:18 Mitochondria, Long-Wavelength Light, Metabolism, Light Penetration Depth
36:03 Greenery, Infrared Light Bath, Longevity, New Data, MiEye
42:29 Audience Questions
42:41 Sunlight on Psychological Health
43:47 Artificial Light at Night, Longevity, Mortality
47:32 Cloud Coverage, Light Exposure
49:40 New Paper Being Published with Dr. Seheult, Dr. Jeffery, Dr. Fosbury, & Zimmerman
50:37 Nutrition
53:28 Adventist Health Study, Plant-Based Nutrition, Mechanisms of Action, High Protein
01:01:15 Trust: The Science-Backed Health Benefits of Faith
01:19:28 Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow, Reviews & Feedback, Social Media, Substack Newsletter
