Many of you know Dr. Marc Sorenson as one of our most referred to vitamin D advocates. As the founder of The Sunlight Institute, co-founder of the Breast Cancer Natural Prevention Foundation and the author of several sunshine-related books, he is a trusted source in our community. He has also been an integral part of scientific presentations for the Smart Tan Downtown conference in past years.

What you might not know is that he and his wife, Vicki Sorenson, were the founders of the National Institute of Fitness in St. George, Utah. Hailed as one of the best destination health resorts in the world, they helped visitors reclaim their health through a change in lifestyle. Combined, their guests lost over 100 tons of fat and two-thirds of their diabetic participants were able to come off medication in about two weeks.

Almost 14 years after leaving the NIF, the Sorensons are back in the health resort game. But this time, they’ve got a new perspective that’s helping their guests more than ever.

In 2012, they opened the National Institute of Health and Fitness. One might wonder what’s so different this time around, and the answer can be summarized in one word: sunshine.

“We originally opened to help people lose weight. People following our nutrition program were getting off diabetic medication like crazy. We didn’t realize originally that our success was due to sunlight. I knew that exercise and vegetation helped, but after doing my research on sunlight, I realized I didn’t give it or vitamin D any credit,” says Sorenson.

The new program is located in Midway, Utah and shares membership between two lovely resorts: Zermatt and Homestead. Of course, the National Institute of Health and Fitness hinges on the ability to bring people into a healthy lifestyle they can maintain outside the facilities, but it’s also opening the door to discuss sunlight and vitamin D.

“We call ourselves the Sunshine Resort,” says Sorenson. “This will be a catalyst outside the tanning industry, which is great. When someone in the industry says something about sunlight, people think it’s selfish. But we help people get well, even when they come in skeptical about sunlight.”

Click here to read more in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.