Since when did the sun become the enemy? We live in a world now where so many things are feared. Sunshine is the best medicine (right next to laughter). We as humans need water and sunshine, we are basically a houseplant with emotions. Nature knows best, safe sun exposure is essential for our body’s health.
Your body needs vitamin D. Its main job is to help the body absorb calcium from the intestines. This calcium is necessary to help “mineralize the skeleton” over the course of your lifetime and is a critical mineral for forming the hardened bone that keeps you strong and healthy.
Vitamin D and the Sun
Sunlight contains two forms of radiant energy, ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB). UVB provides the energy your skin needs to make vitamin D, but that energy can burn the skin and increase the cell damage that leads to cancer. UVA also contributes to skin damage and premature aging (*more on this later)
Sunlight is the main natural source for vitamin D which has been consistently shown to have cardio-protective effects, lower blood pressure, and help to reduce risk of heart attacks, stroke, and many forms of cancer such as breast cancer.
It has been suggested that a few minutes of sunlight each day to the face, neck, hands, and arms are all that is necessary to restore vitamin D sufficiency, but the amount of sunlight required for photoconversion of 7-dehydrocholesterol to pre–vitamin D varies considerably depending on a person's age, Fitzpatrick sun-reactive skin type, geographic location, and season. (The six Fitzpatrick skin types classify sensitivity to ultraviolet light; skin type I is fair skin that always burns, never tans; type III is darker white skin that burns and tans; type V is brown skin that rarely burns, tans easily.) Investigators employed the FastRT computational tool to predict the length of daily exposure required to obtain the sunlight equivalent of 400 and 1000 IU oral vitamin D supplementation.
At noon in Miami, someone with Fitzpatrick skin type III would require 6 minutes to synthesize 1000 IU of vitamin D in the summer and 15 minutes in the winter. Someone with skin type V would need 15 and 29 minutes, respectively. At noon in the summer in Boston, necessary exposure times approximate those in Miami, but in winter, it would take about 1 hour for type III skin and 2 hours for type V skin to synthesize 1000 IU of D. After 2 PM in the winter in Boston, it is impossible for even someone with Fitzpatrick type I skin to receive enough sun to equal even 400 IU of vitamin D.
Vitamin D gets stored in fat in our bodies, each person will require different amounts as each person will have different fat storage capabilities.
Babies (0–12 months): 400 IU
Children (1–13): 600 IU
Teenagers: 600 IU
Adults 70 and under: 600 IU
Adults over 70: 800 IU
Vitamin D Supplements
If you live in a place where it can tough to get natural sunlight, Fortified foods, mushrooms and algaes are a great way to supplement for your needs, however don’t overdo it with synthetic fortifications. Since the 1930s milks, cereals, and juices have been fortified with Vitamin D. It is very hard to isolate what form of Vitamin D it is being fortified with, also, if you are on a plant based diet, it is almost impossible to know if the Vit D is vegan or not.
Synthetic vitamin D3 is stated by multiple sources to be made from lanolin extracted from sheep’s wool, they are not derived from natural sources such as mother’s milk or traditional sources such as cod liver oil.
Vitamin D Deficiencies
Low levels of vitamin D lead to low bone calcium stores, increasing the risk of fractures. If vitamin D did nothing more than protect bones, it would still be essential. But researchers have begun to accumulate evidence that it may do much more. In fact, many of the body's tissues contain vitamin D receptors, proteins that bind to vitamin D. In the intestines, the receptors capture vitamin D, enabling efficient calcium absorption. But similar receptors are also present in many other organs, from the prostate to the heart, blood vessels, muscles, and endocrine glands. And work in progress suggests that good things happen when vitamin D binds to these receptors. The main requirement is to have enough vitamin D, but many Americans don't.
American researchers have reported deficiencies in 42% of African American women aged 15 to 49, in 41% of non-hospitalized patients aged 49 to 83, and in up to 57% of hospitalized patients. And low levels of vitamin D are common even in apparently healthy young adults; in one study, more than a third of people between the ages of 18 and 29 were deficient.
According to Dr Steven Lin, our lungs are the keystone of our immune system. A quick look reveals that behind every chronic lung disease researchers are finding Vitamin D deficiencies. The lungs are armed with Vitamin D receptors that stimulate antibacterial peptides that resist infections. It’s a real life, living, breathing, high tech security system. Vitamin D is the immune system. Furthermore, lack of sunlight destroys the gut lining. Low Vitamin D linked to IBD (Inflammatory bowel disease) and Crohn’s disease.
Eat your SPF
Having a diet high in omegas and antioxidants has shown to protect your skin from the harmful effects of UVA + UVB. Having a diet high in processed sugars, oils and processed foods can literally “fry” your skin when exposed to sunlight. So avoid processed foods high in oil and sugar and instead consume more greens, berries and seeds!
Vitamin D and Sunscreen
Estheticians and Dermatologists say you MUST wear sunscreen every minute of every day to prevent skin cancers and premature aging. Sunscreen is an important product to help protect our skin from over exposure of sunlight as too much can be harmful. Sun rays do have a double edge sword, they are beneficial for our Vitamin D production, but can also be harmful in excess quantities. So remember when you put on sunscreen you are also blocking the formation of Vitamin D. Let’s also talk about different types of sunscreen. PHYSICAL vs CHEMICAL. Physical sunscreens that are zinc based block out UVB and UVA from coming into your body. Chemical sunscreens that usually end in “one” like oxybenzone take in the UVB and UVA rays create a chemical reaction in your skin to destroy the rays.
Sun vs sunscreen and skin cancers
Sun exposure will cause skin cancer, therefore I must wear SPF all the time to protect myself from skin cancer. False. International Agency for Research on Cancer reviewed 15 case-control studies examining sunscreen use and melanoma and concluded there was “insufficient evidence” that sunscreen formulations protected against melanoma and basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and “limited evidence” for protection against cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC).
SPF 15 lets in one in 15 harmful UV rays (93% protection), while SPF 30 lets in one in 30 (97% protection), and SPF 50 lets in one in 50 UV rays (98% protection). NO AMOUNT OF SUNSCREEN WILL PROTECT YOU FROM THE UVB AND UVA.
We have all heard that we must reapply every 2 hours…if you need to reapply sunscreen, means you have been out in the sun for TOO LONG.
All this is mind please use common sense. Don’t be afraid of the sun but also please don’t be a sun worshiper. Excess in either direction has negative side effects. Get your essential Vitamin D during safe hours. Stay out of the sun during peak hours (look this up for your location as it is different at different parts of the world). Only apply sunscreen (zinc is the best choice) when you cannot avoid long hours outside but in our preference wear sheltering clothing instead.
*Side note about Vit D for the current climate, The Possible Role of Vitamin D in Suppressing Cytokine Storm and Associated Mortality in COVID-19 Patients
References: Yale Medicine, Harvard Health, HealthLine, World Health, NEJM Journal Watch, US National Library of Medicine
Kristina Vystartaite
Spa Director | Radiance Wellness Spa
Brand Executive | Diana Ralys Skin Health
Co-Author Cheers to Health
Certified in Sports Nutrition, Raw Foods Nutrition, Vegan Food Nutrition, Herbalism, Health Effects of Climate Change