Vitamin D And Sun Exposure

I constantly hear about Vitamin D nowadays, and it seems like the vitamin du jour to talk about on the news, and in books and magazines. Remember several years ago when Vitamin E was all the rage? In the August 2007 issue of Elle magazine, I was fascinated by an article about Vitamin D, since it’s written by a fellow sun-phobe.

Vitamin D can possibly prevent major diseases
The article talks about the importance of Vitamin D, stating it is essential to calcium absorption, and a lack of Vitamin D in our bodies can lead to all sorts of significant health issues like Osteoporosis, gum disease, muscle weakness, autoimmune disorders, hypertension, Diabetes, Arthritis, and Multiple Sclerosis. Scientists are discovering that sufficient Vitamin D may actually help to prevent certain types of cancer like breast, lung, colon, prostate, and stomach cancer.

Vitamin D mostly comes from the sun
Our bodies create Vitamin D when we are exposed to the UV rays of the sun. Wait a minute – we all know that sun exposure can give us cancer, so now it suddenly can prevent other types of cancer? What a paradox! In the Elle article, a doctor says that the closer to the equator you are, the more Vitamin D you can produce, and the lighter your skin, the more efficiently you can produce it. I can’t find any charts online, but I’ve seen charts that show the United States, and where you need to live in it to produce enough Vitamin D from the sun. Basically if you live in the southern part of the country – from Los Angeles, or farther south, and then straight through the country – Texas to Florida, etc., is where the line is drawn. If you live above that line, the UV rays may not be strong enough for adequate Vitamin D production, especially in the colder months. Food, apparently, does not give us an adequate supply of Vitamin D.

The doctor in Elle magazine suggests getting brief SPF-free sun exposure between 10am and 4pm, when the UVB rays are strongest. So maybe 10-15 minutes of sun exposure 3 times a week. This of course goes against the sun exposure warning I write about in my UV Index post and many Dermatologists highly disagree with this idea, stating that this would put you at a greater risk for skin cancer.

How to get Vitamin D from another source
A lot of people don’t live in warm climates that have a high UV index, so it might not even be possible to make sufficient Vitamin D. You can first go to your doctor if you are concerned, and he or she can do a blood test to check your Vitamin D levels. Then with your doctor’s advice, you can take a Vitamin D supplement of 1000 IE of D3, or cholecalciferol, the most active form of the vitamin. I’ve also seen a lot of Calcium/Vitamin D combo pills, and I would talk to your doctor about specific doses. Taking it with a meal will help with absorption.

Where I stand on the Vitamin D/Sun Exposure debate
I’m not a doctor and haven’t done a huge amount of research on the subject, but from my current knowledge, I’m convinced there is merit in being worried about a lack of Vitamin D. But lucky for me, except when I lived in San Francisco, I’ve always lived in a city that is close enough to the equator (Honolulu, Los Angeles, Las Vegas) for more than enough Vitamin D production. I also have a light skin type, which is ideal for Vitamin D absorption. I’ve never had my levels checked, though. What I personally do is wear sunscreen every day on my face, neck, and hands,  but keep my arms and legs free of sunscreen if I’m not going to actively be outside. Between walking to my car and doing errands in the hot sun, I think I’m getting enough Vitamin D just from being exposed to the direct sun 10 minutes a day every day. If I do go outside for longer than that, then I wear sunscreen on my arms and legs as well. But this way I’m protecting the parts of my body that age the fastest from the sun (face, neck, hands) but still getting a medicinal dose of Vitamin D. If I lived in a colder climate, or had a darker skin type, I would look into taking Vitamin D supplements.

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