Sunshine!

I went to the beach on my lunch break, took of my shoes and shirt and just walked around for a bit (it's February for anyone keeping score). I did a few sprints here and there, but mostly just soaked in the sun and moseyed around. It's insane how easily these simple pleasures get lost while living our modern lives. For the record my actual lunch consisted of banana chips (which were awesome), and a nut/dried fruit mix (also quite satiating).

As with most things involving primal living, I was quite pleased to find that sunlight exposure is highly suggested. There's a lot of science telling us to avoid sunlight, and to lather on the sunscreen when we are exposed to it. I've always been skeptical of this, and I'm fairly pale. Obviously the sun, or sun exposure is hurting and even killing people. Here's my question: If the sun is so detrimental to our being, how did humans exist and thrive in an outdoor setting for several millenia?

Seems to me that we'd have been wiped out a long time ago if being outside for prolonged amounts of time is really that bad for us. After all, to be nomadic, and we were, you kind of have to be outside for a while. So, the real question is: What were paleolithic era humans doing that we aren't doing, and vice versa?

The quick answer is food. Maybe something in his diet protected him from anything harmful the sun threw at him. We know he ate foods high in saturated fats, and we aren't. We are eating foods high in carbohydrates, and low in saturated fats. The fats we are eating, are hydrogenated and not natural. I'll be the first to admit that this is new territory for me, and I very well may have no idea what I'm talking about. But from a common sense standpoint, perhaps if we adopt the habits and diets of our ancestors, who lived outside and did just fine, perhaps the sun can be more of an ally than an adversary.