Saturday, November 13, 2010

Can I get enough Vitamin D from being in the sun?

CAN I GET ENOUGH VITAMIN D FROM BEING IN THE SUN?
Robert G Carlson, MD, FACS
Spending 15 minutes in the sun each day will allow your body to produce plenty of Vitamin D – that may be true if you are sitting on a beach in Florida at noon wearing nothing but a bikini, but for the vast majority of us that’s just not happening. For a Caucasian wearing no sunscreen, sitting in the summer sun in the mid-afternoon with 40 percent of their body exposed for 20 minutes will produce about 10,000 units of vitamin D. Unfortunately, once sunscreen is applied the Vitamin D production drops to nothing. If you have darker skin, the time required in the sun increases to 45 minutes a day. If you live above 35 degrees latitude, the body is unable to produce adequate amounts of Vitamin D from the winter sun. In fact the only adequate amount of sunshine in Boston occurs, between May and Sept, otherwise there’s just not enough sunlight for Vitamin D metabolism. So, the person working in Chicago during the middle of the winter will get absolutely no Vitamin D from sunlight, and vitamin D fights the common cold better than Vitamin C. So that’s why cold and flu season occurs during the winter season.
So can I get enough Vitamin D by eating a balanced diet? That won’t work, because Vitamin D is present, in small amounts, in only a handful of foods – oily fish, and eggs. Vitamin D fortified foods such as Vitamin D fortified Milk and Orange Juice are a joke containing a measly 50 units of Vitamin D2(the wrong kind of Vitamin D), not Vitamin D3. You will need about 5000 units a day to help your body fight the battle against the cold viruses, and by the way, that dose also reduces breast and colon cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. I don’t recommend Cod Liver Oil since its nasty tasting, and is full of Vitamin A, which blocks all the amazing benefit of Vitamin D. Now Vitamin D in gel cap form, sprays or liquids will provide all the necessary Vitamin D you will need, and will cost you only a few pennies a day.
For more information check-out www.andlos.com