# Exposure to sunlight make you grow faster?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exposure-to-sunlight-make-you-grow-faster/3810
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 7, 1999, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exposure-to-sunlight-make-you-grow-faster/3810 "1999-10-07T04:44:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [October 7, 1999, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exposure-to-sunlight-make-you-grow-faster/3810/1 "1999-10-07T04:44:00Z")
Does exposure to sunlight make your hair or nails grow faster?
I ask this because normally I can go a certain length of time before needing my fingernails cut, maybe 3 to 4 weeks. But now that I’m in tropically sunny Australia, and the heat is rising here a lot sooner than it ever did back home in NZ (the temperature here today (mid spring) is about the same as the hottest it gets in mid-summer back home) I have had to cut my nails apparently more frequently, and it looks like my hair is growing visibly faster too.
Am I just making this up, or is it possible that the sunlight affects hair and nail growth?
* * *
“Waheeey! ‘Duck!’ Get it?”
“Errr… No…”
“Duck! Sounds almost exactly like fu-”
---
### Author:  [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [October 7, 1999, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exposure-to-sunlight-make-you-grow-faster/3810/2 "1999-10-07T13:22:00Z")
Maybe the fact that you are in a warm nice climate,you can laze around and not do too much,which will definitely make them not break at least.
* * *
Nobody said things would be easy,and nobody was right-George Bush.
---
### Author:  [@Jebediah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jebediah)
#### Post date: [October 7, 1999, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exposure-to-sunlight-make-you-grow-faster/3810/3 "1999-10-07T16:22:00Z")
You get vitamin D from sunlight, which helps you process Calcium (that’s why they add it to milk.) I don’t know for sure what effect vitamin D has on hair and nails.
---
### Author:  [@neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neuro-trash_grrrl)
#### Post date: [October 7, 1999, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exposure-to-sunlight-make-you-grow-faster/3810/4 "1999-10-07T19:03:00Z")
I know that nails do grow faster in the summer than in the winter.
I also know that I drink a lot of milk, get a fair amount of sun, and have nails that are the envy of just about everyone I know.
These two bits of data don’t really prove anything in and of themselves, but they may just be relevant.
* * *
Modest? You bet I’m modest! I am the queen of modesty!
---
### Author:  [@Nickrz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nickrz)
#### Post date: [October 8, 1999, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exposure-to-sunlight-make-you-grow-faster/3810/5 "1999-10-08T00:01:00Z")
Sunlight does not affect nail growth, nor do the seasons.
---
### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [October 8, 1999, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exposure-to-sunlight-make-you-grow-faster/3810/6 "1999-10-08T00:31:00Z")
How do you know, Nickrz? What are the stats on this?
* * *
“Waheeey! ‘Duck!’ Get it?”
“Errr… No…”
“Duck! Sounds almost exactly like fu-”
---
### Author:  [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)
#### Post date: [October 8, 1999, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exposure-to-sunlight-make-you-grow-faster/3810/7 "1999-10-08T12:03:00Z")
It’s not the sunlight.
When you’re hot, there is more blood flow to the skin, especially in the extremities. More blood flow allows more oxygen & nutrients to get to the hair & nail growth cells which translates to faster growth.
You’ll get the same benefit from exercise.
---
### Author:  [@Nickrz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nickrz)
#### Post date: [October 11, 1999, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exposure-to-sunlight-make-you-grow-faster/3810/8 "1999-10-11T05:16:00Z")
I don’t have any facts or stats, but that was my point. Neither does anyone else.
Hair and nails are dead tissue with no blood supply. I don’t believe sunlight, ambient temperature or seasonal differences have any effect on their growth rate. I may be wrong, but nobody has offered any data supporting the contrary view.