By Jeffrey Reel

Advertisement for Transitions lenses, polarized sunglasses that darken when worn outdoors: “This dynamic eyewear is designed to be worn indoors and to automatically adapt when outdoors… protecting your eyes from damaging UV light.”

Nothing could be further from the truth, but it is more profitable to frighten people than to enlighten them.

Most everyone is familiar with time-lapse photography, when we watch – within a few moments’ time – a flower unfold and blossom over the period of a day. This method of photography was pioneered by John Ott of the Environmental Health and Light Research Institute. Mr. Ott went on to study the nature of natural and artificial sources of light and their effects on the growth of plants, animals, and eventually,
his own health.

In his book “Health and Light”, Mr. Ott describes his work with domesticated flowers and crops, demonstrating the beneficial effects of natural sunlight on plant growth and resistance to blight. Over the years, his work naturally extended from flora to fauna. He was called upon by the caretakers of zoo animals when it was found that many of the animals imported from the tropics had become infertile and
susceptible to illness. Mr. Ott discovered, time and time again, that the frequency of light illuminating the animals’ cages needed to be adjusted to match the frequency of light found in their native habitats. Once adjusted, fertility returned and health improved.

Mr. Ott eventually centered his activities in Florida. One day, he accidentally broke his eyeglasses. Although he was without a spare set, he sent his glasses off for repair. In addition to being handicapped without the aid of his spectacles, Mr. Ott’s research had become hampered over the years by a painful and crippling form of arthritis, his mobility growing dependent upon a cane.

Even though his vision was now impaired and his movements restricted, it didn’t keep him out from under the bright Florida sun, where he would walk the beaches of Sarasota and relax in the warmth and brilliance of tropical days. As the weeks passed, and he waited for the return of his eyeglasses, Mr. Ott noticed his symptoms of arthritis beginning to diminish. The pain subsided from his joints, he relinquished reliance upon his cane, and he gained back a range of mobility he had not enjoyed in
years. He was at a loss to explain his recovery, and it was not until his eyeglasses were returned when he was able to synthesize his past research with his present condition.

Within a few days after restoring his sight through glass, his symptoms began to return. Putting two and two together, Mr. Ott removed his glasses, and as he suspected, the symptoms of arthritis gradually lessened. His study on the nature of light now shifted to its effects upon his own health. From the well-known effects of light upon the lower species of animals, Mr. Ott speculated that sunlight played a
critical role in the growth and development of people as well, in ways little understood at the time. From his work on the health of domesticated animals, he recalled what was common knowledge among poultry breeders: sunlight received through the eyes of the chicken stimulated the pituitary gland, which increased egg production. It seemed that, in one sense, glands metabolized light in the same way
the body metabolizes more solid food. Light energy was being converted directly into biochemical energy.

The Endocrine System: Endocrine glands secrete hormones directly into the bloodstream to regulate body functions in fundamental ways, affecting a person’s growth and development, including reproductive organs, energy level, metabolic rate and the ability to adapt to stress. The glands of the endocrine system include the pituitary, thyroid, adrenals and pineal, as well as the pancreas. Among them, the pituitary – located at the base of the brain – appears to govern the entire glandular system.

One function of the glands is to lubricate the joints of the body in both humans and the lower species. This was Mr. Ott’s initial clue to a link between the endocrine system and his symptoms of arthritis. He speculated that there is an intimate connection between sunlight and the endocrine system in humans.

Early on in his career, Mr. Ott had learned that the full spectrum of natural light does not penetrate glass; even clear glass. Clear glass and plastics block a portion of the ultraviolet end of the spectrum of natural light and distorts the wavelengths that are allowed through. Clear glass and plastics include the windows commonly found in the workplace and home and – of critical importance – in eyeglasses and contact lenses. To Mr. Ott, this provided strong evidence that his eyeglasses effectively cut off the stream of beneficial light from bathing and nourishing the pituitary gland that, in turn, diminished the gland’s ability to regulate the endocrine system. Clear glass and plastics – including eyeglasses and contacts – prevent ultraviolet light from entering in through the eye, and distorts the quality of light that is able to penetrate it.

When it comes to feeding the body, we must take into account what might be its fundamental source of nourishment – sunlight. People wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses should remove them for a portion of each day in order to expose their eyes to natural light. Perhaps even ambient light is sufficient. People confined to eyeglasses and contact lenses spend days, months, years, even decades without ever directly
seeing sunlight, or, more accurately, without ever being seen, and nourished, by the sun.

Post-script: One year after first printing this piece in an American journal, I received an e-mail from a woman living in Estonia who had read the article while visiting Austria, which had been translated into German. She had searched me out to thank me for reporting on the work of John Ott. She had been diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition that had been declared incurable. She took the advice to
remove her eyeglasses for as long as possible, especially while out of doors, and the condition had since completely cleared up. This, of course, is just one anecdotal story, but I suggest never underestimating the validity, and the value, of one’s personal experience, even in the face of medical odds.

Jeffrey Reel is a writer and lecturer living in Hartland, Vermont, and serves as the General Manager of the Rutland Area Food Coop. He is the author of Uncommon Sense: The War on Hunger and Other Myths.

In 2020, about 315,000 pharmacists in 88,000 retail drug stores dispensed almost 4.5 billion outpatient prescriptions to more than 260 million Americans. These prescriptions covered 50 billion pills, at a cost to the public of more than $350 billion. This represented about 8.5% of total U.S. health care costs that year, which came to a whopping $4.1 trillion. 

Fifty years ago, television ads about medicine were limited to cough syrup and aspirin (the iconic Speedy Alka Seltzer character was an advertising coup.). Today, the airwaves are dominated by commercials for prescription medications, most with potentially serious, including deadly, side effects.

Conventional medical theory posits that there are “main” effects and “side” effects of medications. In truth, “side effects” are to be found nowhere in Nature. All effects are main effects, and all effects of a drug should be considered its main effects as well – exerting major influences on the body and impacting our health. Pulling the Physicians Desk Reference from the shelf and randomly picking one drug listed among the thousands listed in that book discloses the following side effects: pulmonary embolism, liver dysfunction, partial or complete loss of vision, migraines, depression, edema, rash, jaundice, nausea, thrombophlebitis, changes in appetite, nervousness, fatigue, lower back pain, loss of scalp hair, itching, dizziness and a warning not to use the drug during pregnancy. In addition, there are those symptoms that arise when this one medication interacts with others. These are all commonly described as “side effects.” The side effects are almost always treated with drugs, which exerts side effects of their own. In short order, a host of symptoms appear as drugs interact. Physical problems multiply and spiral out of control. Eventually people lose the ability to clearly recognize the causes behind their original symptoms, relegating themselves to passive participants in their own recovery. And, sadly too often, it’s not about “recovery” at all but simply disease management.

Most of us have been raised in a culture that encourages the worst eating and lifestyle habits. From the earliest years onward, our immune systems are compromised through the accumulation of antibiotics and hormones that we have taken in through the consumption of chicken, beef and dairy products; in general, our symptoms are suppressed rather than addressed; we eat poor-quality food; we eat too much food; we consume chlorinated water, air and ground pollutants, artificial colors and preservatives, herbicides, fungicides, pesticides and ingest numerous carcinogens that are spun off as “side effects” of our food and industrial manufacturing processes… the list is familiar and uncommonly long.

From the moment of conception onward, the body does its best to walk through life under these gale-force winds of adversity. And as the body begins to falter, as it eventually must, it then becomes subject to still further chemical and medical interventions:  from routine x-rays and antibiotics, progressing to invasive surgeries, radiation, chemotherapy, organ removal and the artificial replacements for living tissue.

This isn’t to say that we should not avail ourselves to antibiotics and other medications and surgical procedures. Most of us have been beneficiaries of their use.  And there is that aspect of technology that performs miracles re-attaching limbs and reestablishing sight and sound, and the pace of technological changes quickens and delights. But for the first time in history, lifestyle diseases like diabetes, heart disease, obesity and some cancers kill more people than communicable ones, and the cost in managing them (as opposed to curing them) is crippling – financially, physically and emotionally.

People often begin practicing a holistic diet and lifestyle after having been diagnosed with one specific, often serious, illness. But rarely are they experiencing just that one physical difficulty. They might also be suffering with such symptoms as low back pain (quite often indicating kidneys), skin rashes, fitful sleep, poor appetite, inflammation, depression… . Most people then adapt themselves to living with these symptoms, believing them to be either simply part of the aging process or of minor consequence compared to their more serious diagnosis. The beauty of holistic lifestyle practices is that, as we change our diet and lifestyle, many symptoms can begin to diminish across the board, simultaneously. The whole body responds favorably to the same corrective measures: rashes diminish, sleep deepens, appetite returns, back pain subsides, energy levels increase. Such are the “side effects” of a holistic lifestyle and dietary practices. 

No one size fits all when it comes to dietary needs, but we do share a common heritage. We have evolved over millions of years under conditions of natural light, pure water, and whole, unadulterated foods. Environmental influences that range over such a vast span of time have fashioned the human body like the hands of a sculptor, and we can safely assume that the very essence of who we are has been defined by that relationship. Any deviation at all from this natural order will invite a measure of stress and, eventually, disease. 

Many of us, by necessity, have set for ourselves the goal of regaining our health. But a healthy body should not be an end in itself. After all, health is our birthright, and we are meant to use our health to pursue our goals.

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Jeffrey Reel is a writer and lecturer living in Hartland, Vermont, and serves as the General Manager of the Rutland Area Food Coop. He is the author of Uncommon Sense: The War on Hunger and Other Myths.