Researchers have claimed that sunlight could help to reduce high blood pressure.

According to British researchers, exposure to sunlight changes the levels of nitric oxide in the skin, dilating blood vessels and thus easing hypertension.

Martin Feelisch, a professor of experimental medicine at the University of Southampton in southern England, said that small amounts of NO (nitric oxide) are transferred from the skin to the circulation, lowering blood vessel tone, asserting that as blood pressure drops, so does the risk of heart attack and stroke.

For their study, the research team analyzed 24 volunteers who were exposed to ultraviolet (UVA) light from tanning lamps for two 20-minute sessions.

In one session, the volunteers were exposed to both the UVA rays and the heat of the lamps but in the second the UV was blocked so that only the heat of the lamps affected the skin.