The Signal with Jonathan Jarecki

Why Sunlight Beats Vitamin D | Dr. Roger Seheult

August 22, 2026·1h 21m
Episode Description from the Publisher

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 Intro02:29 Dr. Roger Seheult02:59 Dr. Seheult's Love for Science and Medicine10:41 Pillars of Health, "NEWSTART"13:11 Sunlight, COVID, Vitamin-D Paradox, Dr. Seheult's Clinical Experience17:08 Extra-pineal Melatonin, Antioxidant, COVID, ACE2 Receptor, Red Light18:50 Bringing Patients Outside in Sunlight20:05 Sponsor: Solius25:14 Melatonin, Infrared Light27:13 Heliotherapy, Sunlight in Modern Hospitals,  Dr. Rollier, John Harvey Kellogg33:18 Mitochondria, Long-Wavelength Light, Metabolism, Light Penetration Depth36:03 Greenery, Infrared Light Bath, Longevity, New Data, MiEye42:29 Audience Questions42:41 Sunlight on Psychological Health43:47 Artificial Light at Night, Longevity, Mortality47:32 Cloud Coverage, Light Exposure49:40 New Paper Being Published with Dr. Seheult, Dr. Jeffery, Dr. Fosbury, & Zimmerman 50:37 Nutrition53:28 Adventist Health Study, Plant-Based Nutrition, Mechanisms of Action, High Protein01:01:15 Trust: The Science-Backed Health Benefits of Faith01:19:28 Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow, Reviews & Feedback, Social Media, Substack Newsletter

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