Yin And Yang Of Melanin

We've had some mild weather this winter. This past weekend saw temperatures much higher than is normal for this time of the year. We've also had a little bit of sunshine here and there, which is always much appreciated.

One thing I like to do on weekends when I have some spare time, especially on Sundays, is step away from my computer and spend some time outdoors. Yes I may still have a look at, and respond to, messages on Twitter and other such places, but I generally switch off the MacBook for the day.

Depending on how much time I have, I usually like to visit a park that I've never been before, preferably not in my neighbourhood. London is full of little squares, parks and nature reserves. Most of them are public, so anyone can go enjoy them.

This time of the year, the parks are not so busy, since it's Winter time - except for dog walkers. Dog walkers are out everyday of the year :)

I also noticed that some of the Cherry blossoms are starting to, well, blossom! In late January-early February! Isn't that a little early? I know this winter has been very mild (so far) with absolutely no snow in London. Having said that, I remember one of the coldest winters we had kicked off a little late with a mild December and heavy snow downpours in March.

PHYSICAL & MENTAL HEALTH ☀️

Did you know that dark skinned people that live in northern Europe, like myself, are more susceptible to mental health issues than the indigenous people of these lands? It's to do with Vitamin D, and our inability to synthesise it efficiently enough due to two factors.

One is melanin - the pigment that gives our skin, eyes and hair the colour. The darker you are, the more melanin you have. This pigment helps to protect the skin and eyes from the harmful rays of the sun, but unfortunately, it also inhibits the production of Vitamin D due to not being able to absorb enough sun juice - which is required to synthesise Vitamin D. This is great if you live in India or Nigeria where there's ample sunlight all year round. In fact, it is exactly designed for that climate.

An interesting side-note is that the inverse is also an issue - light skinned people that live in the sun. The body's "rush" to constantly produce enough melanin to protect itself from the "sudden" increase in sunshine usually contributes to the malfunctioning of that mechanism leading to melanoma. I am speaking in evolutionary/adaptationary terms when I say "suddenly" and "rush". This is why countries like Australia have some of the highest incidents of melanoma.

The second one is culture. Most dark skinned people living in northern Europe are religions; including muslims, christians (and catholics) or hindus. Religious culture usually prohibits them from "showing too much skin", even in summer. They are more likely to cover up, even their limbs and many times, faces, more often.

Dark skinned people are also much less likely to sunbathe, or go on "beach holidays" where people lie in the sun for hours a day, for many days. I for one am more likely to stay indoors, or under a shade even when I visit these sunny seaside places.

This compounds the already problematic lack of Vitamin D issue. In theory, the beach should be full of mainly dark skinned people desperately trying to get some sunshine. Isn't that ironic?

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It's almost as though we haven't earned the genetic right to live in each other's ancestral lands. Our ancestors spent tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years adapting to their portion of the planet - the climate, the biodiversity, the germs. It's no surprise then that we see consequences when we dislocate in the we we do in the modern world.

People with mixed heritage may be the only ones that survive in the end, or people that remained in their ancestral lands. There might not be enough time for us to re-adapt before the consequences get us haha. Perhaps science and medicine will step in to save the day, but for now it's not looking good for either group.

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QUESTION:
Are you dislocated from your "ancestral" land? What are some of the adaptationary issues you have, if any?

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Peace and Love ✌🏿
Adé

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