We’ve always heard that going outside in the sun can be dangerous. The sun’s rays can cause sunburn, hurt our eyes, and even result in skin cancer if we get too much sun. This leads to parents putting hats on their children and slathering them with sun block whenever they head out to the beach. But are these harmful effects really as bad as they say? Are there any benefits to being out in the sun?

Sunlight isn’t made up of one type of light. The type of sunlight that affects our skin is called ultra-violet light, and there are three types of it: UVA, UVB, and UVC. Each affects us differently, although UVC rays are generally filtered out by the atmosphere and do not reach us.

When it comes to benefits, yes, there are some reasons why you should be out in the sun. Exposure to the sun’s rays in moderation is very beneficial to our bodies. It helps combat things like seasonal depression. Ever feel like you have no energy on a cloudy day or feel sad when it rains? This is due to a lack of sunlight, and in some people, it can be very serious.

The ultra-violet UVA rays also help our skin create vitamin D, a vitamin we need for growing and repairing bone tissue. If we don’t get enough of this vitamin, our bones can become quite brittle and weak. Some people don’t get enough vitamin D in their diet, so exposure to the sun is vital. Some studies have also shown that exposure to sunlight helps our bodies fight off various types of cancer, including skin cancer. Again, exposure must be kept to moderate amounts.

Finally, many people tan when exposed to moderate amounts of sunlight. This is actually a good thing. When the UVA rays stimulate the melanocytes in our skin, they produce more melanin, or brown pigment. This pigment protects our skin from the more harmful effects of the sun, allowing you to stay outside longer before you burn. Exposure to sunlight also makes the top skin layer thicken, which can help prevent scrapes and other damage.

However, there are dangers to being out in the sun. UVB rays can cause our skin to burn and peel. This peeling is actually the upper layer of skin dying, which is not healthy at all. It can also result in making you look older by aggravating wrinkles and thickening the skin.

Prolonged exposure to the sun can also result in permanent brown spots, called liver-spots, on our skin. However, these spots are not always harmless—some are not liver-spots but rather basal cell carcinoma, a type of cancer. Long-term exposure to UVA and UVB rays can also result in malignant melanoma, another type of cancer that can rapidly spread throughout your body and become very serious with little warning.