Along with proper diet and challenging exercise, staying healthy requires our bodies to utilize sunlight. It’s our natural environment, and plays a pivotal role in our health. Unfortunately, due to popular belief many people have a fear of the sun and its relationship to their health. They’ve been taught to stay out of the sun and slather whatever skin is exposed to sunblock. This unfounded, distorted fear has led to a worldwide vitamin D shortage causing worse problems than it set out to solve.
Vitamin D is made by the body through the action of the sun’s UV-B rays on the skin. When the sun’s UV-B rays touch the skin a reaction occurs that enables skin cells to manufacture vitamin D. So sunlight plays a pivotal role and cannot be ignored.
Vitamin D is actually a steroid hormone that the body is designed to obtain from the sun essential for: absorbing calcium, keeping bones healthy and protecting against serious chronic diseases such as osteoporosis, Type II diabetes, multiple sclerosis and many common cancers.
Since the sun is by far our primary source of vitamin D and we get about 90-95% of our vitamin D from the sun, the best way to boost vitamin D levels naturally is to spend between 5-15 minutes in the sun approximately 3 times weekly without any kind of sun block. Using sun-block only negates the body’s ability to produce vitamin D. When finished “sun-bathing” simply move into the shade and cover up with clothing for ongoing protection – always a better choice than sunblock.
Due to the fact that only a few foods contain vitamin D in relatively small amounts, unlike other vitamins, it is impossible to get the required daily amount of vitamin D from the foods we eat.
That leaves us with two choices –
Absorbing ultraviolet U VB rays by exposing bare skin to sunlight in order to produce vitamin D naturally
Taking vitamin D supplements
The body is designed to produce vitamin D when skin is exposed to sunlight and is the natural way to maintain or boost vitamin D levels. However, there may be circumstances that require other measures. Other choices such as supplements are available for those that cannot expose skin to direct sunlight at the right times of day for extended periods of time.
Variables that determine how much vitamin D is produced from the sun:
The time of day – more vitamin D is produced if you expose skin during the middle of the day when the sun is at its highest. In the early morning and later parts of the day along with cooler winter months the atmosphere blocks the important UVB rays. This prevents your skin from producing vitamin D. So, time does matter. The body is capable of making large amounts of vitamin D when the sun is high in the sky and a great deal of skin is exposed.
Where you live – because of the angle of the sun, the closer to the equator you are, the easier it is to produce vitamin D naturally from sunlight year around. Those located in southern states like Florida will produce vitamin D year around while someone located near Canada, because of the angle of the sun’s rays will struggle to produce vitamin D from October through April. Even altitude affects production of vitamin D. The higher up you are the more you make. The cold winter months make it impossible to produce enough vitamin D so stock up in the summer.
The color of your skin – along with location, the color of your skin matters. Melanin, the substance that determines how light or dark your skin color is affects the amount of vitamin D you can produce. The more melanin, the darker your skin and the less vitamin D is produced. Lighter skinned people produce vitamin D quicker than darker skinned individuals and dark skinned people require more sunlight than lighter skinned people to produce the same amount of vitamin D.
The amount of skin exposed – it only makes sense that the more surface area of bare skin you expose, the more vitamin D your body can produce.
Age – Like all systems related to the body, as you grow older, it is more difficult for your skin to produce vitamin D.
Weather – cloudy weather also plays a role because less UVB reaches your skin which results in less vitamin D production.
It’s time to toss your fears about the sun. Don’t deny your body the sunlight it needs, you’ll only be shortchanging yourself and your health. Sunlight is part of your health equation. Just be wise about when and how you enjoy it and don’t ever allow your skin to reach the “burn” stage.
Superior health, the kind that pays off long-term, involves maintaining healthy body weight throughout life, eating a healthy diet, and having sufficient physical activity in our lives.
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