Why Sunlight and Melanin Can Help Low Back Pain

I was generally pleased with how my physical therapist treated my low back pain. However, my biggest issue was, and remains, moving from a seated position to standing. When I asked my PT for a precision solution, he said, “Have you considered not sitting down?”

While ridiculous, my PT may have been on to something. Sitting destroys backs. One guy from my gym told me that despite years of college rugby, he started feeling symptoms from his permanent pars fracture (low back) only after several years at a job where he sat for long hours. My wife, although not a rugby player, started complaining of low back pain only after taking a full-time desk job. She never mentioned low back pain while working as a pre-school teacher, even though little kids were hanging off her all day.

While sedentary behavior — sitting many hours per day — can create serious health issues, I have a novel theory about the risks from sitting and low back pain. What if the problem is not the sitting per se, but rather that the extended sitting almost always takes place inside?

The Melanin Connection

When skin is exposed to sunlight, UV rays trigger specialized skin cells called melanocytes to produce more melanin.

Master chelator

Melanin is the body’s master chelator, with a special chemical structure that acts like a magnet for heavy metals such as lead, aluminum, and mercury.

Dr. Kruse explains: “It binds metals strongly, and through the constant turnover of epidermal cells (via desquamation), it facilitates the excretion of metals. This mechanism was crucial in early human evolution as dietary shifts introduced higher levels of heavy metals.”

Some scientists believe that melanin’s electrostatic and hydrophobic properties also enable it to adhere to microplastics and phthalates, similar to the way it binds heavy metals.  

5G light

Melanin is one of the body’s defenses against UV light, absorbing UV energy and dissipating it as heat. The process that enables melanin to neutralize UV also works with other types of electromagnetic energy, including radio frequencies from cell towers, cellphones, and radar. According to a recent article in Nature, aerospace engineers covered an F-35 jet in melanin-like nanofibers to test the molecule’s energy-dissipating qualities. The electromagnetic shielding was so effective it rendered the plane completely invisible to radar waves.

Can heavy metals, microplastics, and radio frequencies contribute to chronic low back pain?

You bet.

Heavy metals can cause systemic inflammation and muscle pain. In fact, a functional medicine doctor I visited a few years ago put me on a heavy metal detox program for my chronic shoulder pain, reasoning that eliminating heavy metals from my system would make my body’s healing mechanisms would work better. Likewise, recent studies show microplastics can accumulate in tissues and cause inflammation and disrupt cellular function. Moreover, RF radiation from 5G towers and cellphones creates electromagnetic stress that leads to oxidative damage and inflammation.

The miracle of melanin helps the body cope with all these environmental toxins, although the people tasked with looking after our health are keeping it a secret. Sitting is indeed the new smoking (and a terrific way to aggravate low back pain) … but only if you’re sitting inside.