I am staggered that mushrooms are not named as a dietary source, they provide excellent amounts of vitamin D and zinc, which is a key component of vitamin D synthesis. They also grow in the season where you need it the most, which is no surprise, you could ask yourself which came first, our need for them or them providing... Chicken or egg question...
Pills don't help. Eat food and get sunlight.
1
It is my understanding that the UVB from sunlight exposure causes the skin to create an oil which then must be absorbed through the skin to finally become useful Vitamin D in the body. If this oil is removed by washing with soap, it cannot be absorbed, and thus no Vitamin D is available to the body.
I have read this in at least 2 places, but I am no expert and not sure of its truthfulness. I never use soap on my skin, just shampoo from a bar on my hairy places.
1
@E R The Vitamin D is absorbed through the skin. Therefore you would have to lather continuously with soap while you were outside to prevent it from being absorbed. Using soap indoors would have no effect on Vitamin D absorption.
2
Readers might want to read more from the doctor referenced in the article at his site http://drholick.com/ He has been studying Vit D and sunlight for many years.
It's interesting to note that research shows that during multiple glacial periods, Neanderthals migrated to the south and evolved darker skin and in between they migrated back to the north and evolved lighter skin including red hair and blue eyes. This shows that matching skin tone to available sunlight was an important evolutionarily chosen trait.
So while dermatologists are right about getting too much sun, their information probably should be balanced by experts in other systems like calcium metabolism and immune function to also warn about a lack of sun given your skin tone.
In my opinion it is vital to test your levels and get to a generally accepted level of vit D in your blood.
We are not certain that pills are an adequate substitute for unfiltered UVB on skin but that is what I use in the winter.
5
Miracles within miracles! That Mass of Incandescent Gas, slowly burning itself up, 93M miles away, sending particles (or rays, or something) that warm us, feed us, give us Life - and we rarely even think about it. "All that is asked of us is that we Pay Attention".
4
Nothing brings out the amateur nutrition shamans faster than an article about Vitamin D.
8
Interesting. Do glass makers intentionally make glass to block UVB but to let UVA through? That seems a silly decision. Could they somehow do the opposite?
5
@Steve It's not by design. It's just what ordinary "window glass" does. When industrial equipment needs a clear material which DOES transmit all UV light, they use quartz, which is super expensive.
The sun is good; the sun is bad. Not too much sun, but not too little. Take Vitamin D3, but not too much. Wear sunscreen. Eat a balanced diet, folks. But don't eat too much lest you gain weight. Exercise but not too much.
You see the problem. Over the years that I've been on this earth, the advice changes. There is no perfect way to live. Follow your heart, folks, and do what works best for you. One size does not fit all.
10
Clear, concise information about Vitamin D, sun exposure, & food sources of Vitamin D. No push to use supplements (Vitamin D3?). Hurrah!
5
I worked in a tropical greenhouse maintaining a University collection for years and I felt sunburn a few times. Not nearly as bad as outdoors on a hot sunny summer day..but a bit of blotching.
Typical of something man made to only deliver the bad and not the good of vitamin D.
7
"As little as 10 minutes a day of sun exposure is typically adequate."
10 minutes. 10 minutes. I hear that all over the place. With no other details.
Per day or per year? In a parka? In a bathing suit? With the sun directly overhead, like in the tropics? With the sun low in the sky like in Canada? With Norwegian pink skin? With Nigerian black skin?
The 10 minute rule is the only rule I've heard, without any other information. Just found some useful info from Wikipedia:
"Adequate amounts of vitamin D can be produced with moderate sun exposure to the face, arms and legs (for those with the least melanin), averaging 5–30 minutes twice per week, or approximately 25% of the time for minimal sunburn. The darker the skin, and the weaker the sunlight, the more minutes of exposure are needed. Vitamin-D overdose is impossible from UV exposure: the skin reaches an equilibrium where the vitamin degrades as fast as it is created."
27
@Allan the app Dminder uses many data points to calculate appropriate sun exposure for optimum D levels. You input your skin tone, geographical location and how sunny/overcast the sky is as well as how much of your skin is exposed. It uses that information combined with the time of day indicating current position of sun for your location, to tell you the UV index and how much D you're generating with your skin tone. Even has a reminder when you're close to having enough for the day to get you out of the sun before you burn. Tracks Vitamin D build up over time too.
Why do you post letters from laymen stating what supplements they take and how much, with their testimonials about their improved health? This is only their opinion and not medical fact. A lot of their ills could be improved with a placebo.
12
@S.L.: I did write a post about my experience with supplementation, but I also noted that I did so after having an annual check-up where my doctor recommended a blood test for vitamin d level. I followed my doctor's recommendations, and I strongly suggest others do the same. It's generally not a good idea to experiment with supplements on your own.
1
@pkato — Last year w/o consulting w/my doctor, I started taking vitamin D supplements in almost double the amount recommended, thinking they probably didn’t absorb well to start with, in line with what you had read. When I had my blood work done several months later, my D3 levels were way too high. Of course, my doctor told me to lay off and start taking half of whatever I had been taking. So, I learned my lesson and am a believer that they do absorb at the recommended amount.
8
Little known trivia factoid:
Future Nobel Prize winning physicist Richard Feynman climbed into a jeep on 'Campagna Hill' 20 miles from ground zero to watch the Trinity test through the windshield because he knew ordinary glass filters out a broad spectrum of UV radiation (roughly 140 - 400 nm).
9
I take vitamin D3, I also take vitamin K2. These vitamins work together.
19
I have a meter which reads the amount of UVB in sunlight and estimates the amount of D3 produced by my body in response. It needs to be adjusted for age, skintone, and amount of skin exposed. When it's too cold and dark to sunbathe, I supplement.
Sun works better than supplenents, in my opinion.
5
Vitamin D3 supplements are flying off the shelves this winter.
But most people don't know that, for proper metabolism, it's
important to take Vitamin K2 as well (this is different than Vitamin K). For an in-depth explanation of why, try reading
"The Calcium Paradox" which is an informative book written
in layman's terms. There aren't many dietary sources of Vitamin K2, the most reliable source is grass-fed meat and dairy products. (Grass-fed butter, yum !)
Here's a 'sponsored' link (by a provider of K2 supplements), but
it is a quick read and gives good information :
https://www.nutritioninsight.com/news/the-perfect-pair-vitamins-k2-and-d3-synergy-shown-to-amplify-effects-of-both.html
There are NIH journal articles available for interested readers.
In the future, it will probably be commonplace to buy D3 + K2
supplements formulated in the correct ratios. They are available now, but you have to know to look for them.
17
Yet now there are actually dermatologists telling us to wear sunscreen indoors.
Make up your minds, people.
19
A classic example of how sun damages skin, with this truck driver serving as his own control (half of face fully exposed, the other minimally/moderately exposed). It was published in NEJM (paywall, alternative posted below).
https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2012/06/04/nr-truckers-face-sun-damage.cnn
10
There is a high correlation between living in a northern climate (read: Vitamin d deficiency) and autoimmune illnesses.
Make sure to supplement Vitamin D in the north in the winter (probably all year).
12
Take a walk outdoors everyday for an hour, all year round, and you’ll get adequate vitamin D and stay fit.
10
eat mushrooms and take vitamins. an iv will help
3
My GP suspected vitamin D deficiency during my annual exam in December. Daytime sleepiness, higher blood pressure, and hair loss, plus new aches and pains tipped her off, and she was right. Mine level had dipped to near single digits. She explained that indoor isolation and weight gain (sigh) during the pandemic, along with aging (another sigh) had impaired my vitamin D metabolism. Started taking D3 and a multi-vitamin, and I feel like a new person. I was amazed at how fast I improved. The aches and pain have disappeared. I no longer doze off while reading a book in the middle of the afternoon. I've been able to reduce my blood pressure medication. Even my hair has started filling in. Hallelujah!
49
I thought that I read last year, or the year before, that if you are living farther north than say, North Carolina, in the winter the Sun doesn't get high enough to give you any Vitamin D boost. The sunlight passes through too much atmosphere when it is that low in the sky. So even sitting outside won't help, for Vitamin D.
But it may remedy seasonal depression. Sitting outside in the sunlight, in winter.
8
Ditch the sunscreen and get outdoors as close to noon as possible. Expose as much skin as possible for at least 15minutes.
Of course, this goes against the current popular advice to sunscreen up 24/7 but there is increasing evidence that depriving the body of natural sun induced vitamin d does more harm than good
19
i’ve always wondered if our sunscreen obsessed culture has an impact on how well we can absorb vitamin D.
it seems like too much sun=skin cancer
not enough sun = vitamin D deficit and depression
I get nauseous when I take D3. Even 400 IU makes me not feel well. I would tell doctors and they looked at me like I was nuts. Then I told one of my doctors who I had not seen in some time. She said, “Me too.”
A few months later, my dermatologist said, no, do not sit in the sun (after I did 20 minutes a day in 2020, which was the commonly mentioned amount in all articles until this one). Not recommended!
Although, I did enjoy nature every day. Even when it was very cold. I would put on a vest, gloves, hat and just let the sun touch my arms and face.
So the supplement industry and science need to get cracking on how to get vitamin D3 into those like me and my doctor and probably millions of others!
14
@Alphonse Sanchez
Some sun is now recommended.
2
Why vitamin d from sardines canned in oil and no mention of canned in water?
A statement like that deserves explanation and leaves us floundering around in the dark
9
@Blanche White I’m no expert but I believe it’s because vitamins are oil soluble and not water soluble so there will be more Vitamin and found in sardines packed in oil.
11
Vitamins ADEK are fat soluble; the others are water soluble.
1
@lisaztweets If the vitamins are oil soluble wouldn't they end up in the oil and not in the fish? Most people discard the oil.
1
Sunscreen, used by many to prevent skin cancer and to help minimize the suns affect on aging, suppresses dermal vitamin D synthesis.
13
Important to note that impaired kidney function, especially common in the elderly, can result in a low vitamin D level, whether obtained through sun or diet.
11
“As little as 10 minutes a day of sun exposure is typically adequate.”
As far as I know, that's a very misleading statement. That may be true if you are Caucasian, but if you are a person of color, brown or black, that's nonsense. Melanin's protective properties in darker skin gets in the way of Vitamin D synthesis from sunlight exposure - so if you are a person of color, you would need a lot more time in strong sun to generate the same amount of vitamin D as a Caucasian person. This is why most people of color tend to be low or deficient in vitamin D - really, who has the time or freedom to go lounge around in the sun every day for hours?
71
@Ash
It would be great if you were able to provide a source for what is in essence medical advice (or is it simply your own opinion?)
I am categorized as a black male whenever anyone looks at me, but I have more than one white ancestor as well as a native American ancestor. This has produced a variety of skin colors in my family, from darker skin to very light skin (I have medium to light brown skin).
People of color are often generalized about when it comes to their health. Diagnoses often ignore this variety and individual ancestry in favor of blanket statements.
I have personally encountered this often in medicine. Doctors have, in their initial conversation with me, looked at me and suggested (without evidence or first conducting any tests) that I might be prone to illnesses that I didn't actually have, because I was "black".
There simply is no Vitamin D absorption rate that applies to all persons "of color, brown or black", as opposed to Caucasians. We are individuals, not a classification.
4
“As little as 10 minutes a day of sun exposure is typically adequate.”
How much of the body needs to be exposed and at what solar intensity?
Is that naked at noon in midsummer, or completely rugged up in winter?
25
@Sgt Schulz I have the same questions every time I see a statement like that. I am beginning to suspect it is worth abut as much as the advice to drink 8 glasses of water a day.
23
@Sgt Schulz that was my exact thought
2
I live up north and avoid sunlight as much as possible not to get sun burn.
As a result, I was very low in Vit D, around 11. and was getting funny sensations in my legs like electrical jolts.
My doctor was on the ball and told me to get a vit D test although it is not done on a normal physical.
I found out I had a count of 11. Went on Vit D supplements and now routinely score in the 30s and no electrical jolts in the legs.
26
@Paul Yep, I had something similar happen years ago - those weird sensations in my legs. Doc tested vit D and it was 18. Have been on daily vitamin D supplements since then - I try to keep it close to 50.
12
@Ash Sounds good. Supposedly between 30-40 is good. Too much is also bad ie Vit D poisoning like lifeguards get.
3
Do solar spectrum lamps and bulbs provide the necessary wavelengths of light?
(I think this is an obvious question to have asked in the latter part of the article, and I don't understand how the author missed it or ignored it.)
23
Hard as it is to hear, there is no benefit to the SKIN from sunlight. Ultraviolet light (UVL) is radiation, pure and simple (unfortunate, as nothing lifts ones spirits like bright sunny days, winter or summer). Moreover, as we age, the skin's capacity to transform UVL to Vitamin D decreases up to 50% (Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am. 2013 Jun; 42(2): 319–332). Supplementation to achieve established ranges is recommended if one can't or won't consume foods rich in Vitamin D (fatty fish, egg yolks, beef liver), and even then, levels should be monitored.
24
@Factumpactum
Believe mushrooms also have d and should be mentioned.
3
@Blanche White - Mushrooms are interesting because they can create Vit D from sunlight like we can but not because they have a lot of Vit D in them as you get them from the store.
It is important to be tested once every few years, especially if you are dark skinned or living out of the sun.
Sunshine is still great for mood regulation. I have a very sunny apartment with direct southern and western exposure, and I love it. It makes me very happy. Today is a grey and gloomy day. And my energy, not surprisingly, is low. I love my sunshine!
115
@BL Same! I have a very small townhome, but living room windows face south. I'll go outdoors to process Vitamin D, but the sunshine coming thru those windows during Winter brightens my spirits! I have soooo much more energy on those days.
32
@BL - Same here as well! I have a southern exposure and have light from sunup to sundown. Love sunny days and enjoy a little sunbath on my face (through the window). Will get outdoors for absorption. — DC area
3
@BL Is it weird that I'm the total opposite? Though I enjoy morning and evening sun, I much prefer overcast days -- must be the result of my Irish childhood.
Another reason to take my dog for a walk.
66
I'd assume you could also generate vitamin D by use of a tanning lamp.
4
@Dan Stackhouse Not necessarily, because tanning beds mostly use UVA, and UVB is required for your skin to make vitamin D.
14
I got the following information from an article " "Vitamin D: The 'sunshine vitamin" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3356951
I have listed some of the points from this article:
Vitamin D insufficiency (VDD) affects almost 50% of the population worldwide.
VDD is very common in all age groups.
Children and young- and middle-aged adults are at equally high risk for VDD and insufficiency worldwide.
The major source of vitamin D for children and adults is exposure to natural sunlight. Thus, the major cause of VDD is inadequate exposure to sunlight.
Wearing sunscreen with a sun protection factor of 30 reduces vitamin D synthesis in the skin by more than 95%.
People with a naturally dark skin tone have natural sun protection and require at least three to five times longer exposure to make the same amount of vitamin D as a person with a white skin tone.
Obtaining sufficient vitamin D from natural food sources alone is difficult.
Vitamin D produced in the skin may last at least twice as long in the blood compared with ingested vitamin D
Summary: A variety of factors reduce the skin's production of vitamin D3, including increased skin pigmentation, aging, and the topical application of sunscreen.
An alteration in the zenith angle of the sun caused by a change in latitude, the season of the year, or time of day dramatically influences the skin's production of vitamin D3.
35
@Padman.
Great info on UV and sunburns.
I never understood the '10 minutes of sunlight' thing - about how, if you get that much sunlight in a day, that's enough. Always ten minutes. It seems like it was written in a book somewhere and everybody repeats it.
How much of your body needs to be exposed to get all you need? If I go out wearing a jacket and long pants, only my hands and face are exposed; shorts and no shirt, and I've got my legs and torso and arms exposed - much more. What if i'm Lapland white, verses Nigeria black? There's a big difference, but I never hear any details past the 10 minutes.
69
@Padman.
An article is not a scientific paper let alone a scientific concensus.
2
Vitamin D pills, 600 IU (international units) up to 2000 IU per day, cost less than 10 cents each purchased in bulk. No extra calories (cereals), no extra saturated fat (egg yolks). Taken daily or even most days, it will be enough.
Want to read about the new vitamin D-deprivation study in minority American children, the Tuskegee study of 2021?
Published last month in Science: https://www.science.org/content/article/critics-say-childhood-asthma-study-unethically-withheld-care-and-see-troubling-trend
9
@BD - I think I will pass on any minority study from Tuskegee regardless of what year its published.
2
I saw a PBS television program within the last year or so, where the show host was in a northern country, which I can not at this time recall. The people there harvested mushrooms from their land and dried them in the sun, and used the dried mushrooms in their cooking during the cold, harsh winter months. Drying the mushrooms in the sun substantially increased the Vit D content of the mushrooms, which then provided the people with an excellent, natural source of Vit D.
81
Our vitamin D source is getting out in the sun. Alas, 20 below zero is not conducive to shorts and a t shirt. However, supplements work for us in the winter. Anecdotally, my wife's dose is higher than mine for the past 2 decades, it keeps her Seasonal Affective Disorder at a minimum. It may not work for everybody who lives in high latitudes but it does for her.
14
I remember trying to work this out last year. To get enough vitamin D from diet alone, with foods that are not artificially fortified, one has to eat unrealistically huge portions of truly weird, oily, largely unhealthy or gross things. We evolved to be baking in the sun all day hunting and gathering. Nothing can change that. So, either dash out and get skin cancer, or eat sardines all day.
Or, settle for taking a vitamin D supplement and/or eat vitamin D fortified foods.
20
@Joe "We evolved to be baking in the sun all day hunting and gathering."
And, living in borderline famine conditions. So Pleistocene people could eat fish and animal fat, and not get overweight.
Zoom forward a million years, and we're all couch potatoes stuffing french fries and oreos into our mouths. No wonder there's an obesity problem.
11
I LOVE sardines and eat a lot of them. There are many different species of fish that the English word Sardines describe. Lots of packaging options. From different countries. Different flavorings, etc.
Try a variety. Who knows, uh might actually like some of them.
I eat them alone. With noodles. In egg salad. With steamed veggies. Yummmm
34
@Julien
Yes, I do the same with sardines.
I'd like to mention something healthy you may not have considered that I started doing just this year.
I am not, unfortunately, a lover of sweet potatoes but I do admire their stores of nutrition and fiber contained in a robust packaging and I eat them once a week and apologize to them for my errant taste buds.
....but last summer when I needed an afternoon snack and I thought a can of gourmet sardines in curry pineapple sauce was the answer, I decided to exchange crackers for a sweet potato and found the perfect combination.
Now, I always have the two together and eliminate the carbs I would have had with those tasty addicting crackers and I feel satisfied for much longer.
5
Well the dogs and cats sit in the sun and chase it around the house. I know at cetain latitudes UVB is not available in the winter.
And you said Commerical glass, is that the same as I have in my old house with a big sun room.
I'll believe the animals.
12
@Hector from wikipedia:
Common soda–lime glass, such as window glass, is partially transparent to UVA (400nm to 315nm), but is opaque to shorter wavelengths, passing about 90% of the light above 350 nm, but blocking over 90% of the light below 300 nm.[29][30][31] A study found that car windows allow 3-4% of ambient UV to pass through, especially if the UV was greater than 380 nm.[32] Other types of car windows can reduce transmission of UV that is greater than 335 nm.[32]
9
@Hector Your pets like how the warm sun feels, just like a lot of people...it's not like they're chasing UVB for health reasons. At certain latitudes there's less UVB in the winter, but unless you're completely in the dark, if there's sunlight (and no glass) there's UVB.
11
Cats have fur that causes less sunlight to get through to their skin. Also, they lounge in the sun because it a heat source and they prefer to stay warm, not because they are chasing sunlight to generate Vitamin D. Cats typically get their Vitamin D from their diet, which is quite different from most humans.
8
Is that right?
Years ago, I was told I couldn't make cyannotypes (a photographic process of blue & white) under a glass plate or through a glass window.
Yes, you can.
4
"Other dietary sources include sardines canned in oil"
Yeah but what kind of oil is it packed in? Low grade olive oil? Soybean, sunflower, rapeseed?
And do these oils ever go rancid?
Other than that, I find a lot of labeling of canned sardines (& canned fish in general) to be lacking in specificity. When I open a can (which is every day) I hold the open can under cold running water for some moments to drain whatever liquids within because who knows what's really in it?
Food is frankly mysterious in this industrial era... idly checking my iodized salt the other day, I noticed it contains sugar (dextrose) and silicoaluminate (what's that, sand and aluminum?)!
I mean come on: who's watching the danged store?!?
You need a Sherlock Holmes AND be a PhD, in order to eat without slowly killing yourself these days, seems like...
36
@L.Braverman
"That" is an additive that keeps the salt from reacting with moisture in the air. Just buy real salt.
6
@Moehoward
Yo Moe; and dextrose? Sugar in salt?
That's unnatural and should be illegal as it upsets the natural order of things:
Birds gotta swim, fish gotta fly...
The natural order of things will not be denied.
5
@Moehoward
Just buy real salt?
Nope, as in no sirree bob (or Moe), cuz I think I've just found that 30 years of migraines may now have been caused directly by salt, and nary a hint of this revelation was ever voiced by any of that member of that clay-footed battalion of doctors to whom I actually paid hard-earned dollars for their "learned" opinions... nary a one and by the way: I've never had a high BP reading.
But I am through with the white stuff.
PS- Moe you're not by any chance a Stooge for the Salt Trust? Just kidding (he appended... these days no one knows when you're kidding... sad).
3
While in grade school I once heard a classmate ask the teacher, "Well, if vitamin D won't go thru glass, couldn't we just scrape some off the outside?"
87
@operadog ~
Many thanks for sharing this most precious question from the most precious of us all, children (including infants :).
If only schools (i.e., their teachers) weren't so threatened by the lively, challenging, and always energetic minds & spirits of children.
But once a child's spirit has been crushed and s/he has been brought to heel by adults (and parents) in the names of "love," "proper childrearing," "religion," and "a good education," this child will invariably grow up into an adult with an uncontrollable compulsion to do exactly what was done to her/him when s/he was that child.
Thanks, too, for prompting my above thoughts with your comment. :)
6
Sunshine also lowers blood pressure by stimulating the release of nitric oxide from the skin into blood vessels, as well as improving sleep by stimulating the release of melatonin. Man did not evolve under artificial light, which is why every cell in the human body has Vitamin D receptors.
Get some sun. It's good for you.
27
@Bill I was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2010. Do you suggest that I still get some sun?
9
@Bill
Humans did not evolve with a hole in the ozone and most of them didn't live to be 80.
Wear sunscreen or sun or SPF clothing.
13
I have celiac & red hair....actually when I had hair it was red. Anyway I discussed my vitamin D levels with my gastroenterologist . I asked about the sun. Oh yes you can get vitamin D from the sun. He then looked at my skin....Uhmmmm....
Fish has mercury as pointed out below. Egg yolks?? Yikes cholesterols. Cod Liver Oil?? I remember that as a punishment in the Little Rascals films from the 1930's. And sardines were meant for larger FISH to eat.
I take a pill and all is well.
20
It’s a myth that eating egg yolks will give you high cholesterol in your blood. Cholesterol only accumulates to a harmful degree in your blood in response to inflammation, not from eating eggs. For example, my husband’s cholesterol was high when he ate wheat, and went down ti normal after stopping. Did wheat give him high cholesterol? No, his body’s inflammatory response to the wheat he was eating gave him high cholesterol. So eat your eggs, you will be fine.
24
Be careful with fish oil supplements and mercury content. Also apex predatory fish like swordfish can have quite a bit of mercury in them and you would have no idea looking at the entree in front of you how much mercury is in that entree.
9
@K Henderson Apparently, fish absorb mercury in proportion to how long they're in the ocean. Maybe it's the fish they eat, like you said. So tuna lives twice as long as salmon, so salmon has half the mercury; something like that.
6
I'm surprised this article is touting Vitamin D supplements. Lots of meta-analyses have been finding the supplements aren't metabolized in the body. You have to be out in the sun to get Vitamin D. Also, really good research conducted in Sweden has found that people with active sunlight exposure habits have lower mortality rates than those who avoid sun exposure. And even though they have increased risk of skin cancer, mortality from skin cancer is lower than mortality from avoiding being out in the sun. Look up research with Pelle Lindqvist (Karolinska Institute) as co-author on Google Scholar. It's fascinating work!
27
Please cite a specific study that says that "you have to be out in the sun to get vitamin D." Anyone. If that were true, Eskimos and a lot of other people who certainly don't get enough sun for part of the year would not survive. Nor is there any shortage of scientific evidence for the fact that one can get Vitamin D through diet. See https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/
43
@Pkato My entire family works in medicine and said Vitamin D supplements do work. My doctor is the chair of medicine at a huge hospital and constantly reads medical research and articles. He put me on a Vit D supplement when my numbers were low. I changed nothing else. (I can't sit in the sun, I often break out in hives in direct sunlight.) The next time I had my bloodwork done my levels were normal. The supplements clearly worked for me.
129
@KJo thanks for sharing that info. and evidence of the effectiveness of supplements.
20
When I have a chance to sit in the sun in a protected area in the winter, I roll my pants up to my knees. I do this at my bus stop and noone looks twice. I figure the 10 minutes or so isn't going to give me cancer and my legs don't get much sun compared to my face.
31
@Kay Sieverding
As long as you realize there is zero UVB in winter.
6
@C Wolf The article said you can’t get enough UVB in winter from sun. It didn’t say there’s zero in winter. How could the suns basic output change seasonally. Isn’t it a constant and only our exposure and angle to rays changes ?
18
@Ann
It is the increased angle toward the sun that reduces the potency of the sun exposure. When the sun appears to be closer to 90 degrees, at midday in the summer, for instance, the shorter angle of the sunlight through the atmosphere increase the apparent intensity of the suns rays. When the sun appears to be lower on the horizon even at noon in winter, for instance, the sunlight is coming at us on a longer angle through more atmosphere and the sunlight energy on our skin is less intense.
21
I take a Vitamin D supplement. Avoid windows like my life depends on it. Wear European Sunscreen which is 35 years ahead of any sunscreen in the U.S.
UVB=Vitamin D + SUNBURNS
UVA=AGING, CANCER, DEATH
UVB is strongest midday, pretty minimal at the ends of the day. UVA is constant, from sun up to sun down all year long. So if you want the sun for your Vitamin D, strip off your clothes + go out + stand there at 12 noon for 7 minutes. Then get back inside, put on sunscreen, and stay in the shade.
If there was a sunscreen that ONLY protected against UVA, that would be MY sunscreen. I'm never out there long enough to burn.
13
@Susan. Just be careful of the supplement. Over the counter products are not regulated by FDA and be produced in other countries that do not guarantee purity and/or strength of product.
9
Eat egg yolks? But for years we have been told egg yolks are bad for cholesterol levels. What is wrong with an inexpensive vitamin D supplement pill?
1
@Richard Winchester
You are absolutely right that a cheap vit D capsule is best. Egg yolk advice is presumably for patients who are completely opposed to using anything but dietary maneuvers . Just if of interest to you--a balanced diet provides all routine vitamin needs except D--that's created in skin--see the many studies showing supplements are useless or harmful for the average non pregnant adult.
Vitamin D needs to be supplemented because of immigration ( dark skinned individuals living in Boston), and , more importantly, due to life with central heat, a/c, and electric lights, which lets us stay indoors most of the day.
8
@Richard Winchester
The amount of D in an egg or milk is tiny. The richest food source of D is wild caught salmon.
CLO D content varies by latitude the fish are caught at, so even some CLO is now supplemented.
Dr Heaney (a D researcher) suggested a maintenance dose of 35IU/pound of body weight. You can buy D tests online.
Bio-Tech makes the prescription D3 so I consider them a reliable manufacturer.
2
@mary donovan
There is zero UVB in Boston in winter for all races.
The methodological problem with assertions that all folks don't need a multi is that various subgroups do have vitamin-mineral deficiencies. CDC NHANES shows that. And the USDA documents significant declines in nutrients in food due to farming practices. Many folks eat a diet that is 60% processed food.
The recent AF study showed 20% of women and 9+% of men arriving with iron anemia. The Westphal & McAdam studies show Soldiers malnourished on the military diet. The Lappe study showed 20% of women entering the Army with osteopenia/osteoporosis.
So, blanket assertions are too broad. The ideal is to do a comp blood chemistry to actually measure where you are. You can buy online.
10
If this is the case, then why did my dermatologist tell me to tint my car windows and house windows to block both UVA & UVB from causing more skin cancer?
8
@Brenda Your windows are already blocking UVB. UVA causes cancer, so I'm guessing that tinting might help block UVA. I don't know why you'd want to block UVB other than to not get a sunburn, but the windows will block it already anyhow.
1
Dear Brenda,
That's easy, it's because your dermatologist was wrong. The tint wouldn't reduce UVA penetration, and UVB doesn't penetrate glass at all.
8
@Brenda
UVB is always more damaging than UVA, so everything that's bad about UVA is also bad about UVB, plus more. And UVC would exterminate life above ground, but none of it gets through the atmosphere, so we're OK there.
And, it's a continuum, it's not like UVA can't burn but UVB always burns. UVA is 400nm to 315nm, UVB is 315nm to 280nm. So 316nm is UVA and 314nm is UVB, even though they're almost the same. It all depends on that wavelength, how much damage it does.
5
I have SAD and use a lightbox just about every morning from early fall until spring. I'm surprised this wasn't mentioned in the article.
10
@B Babbitt
Lightboxes do not have UV rays- read the instructions on it.
5
@B Babbitt
The article is about Vitamin D not SAD.
4
You can sure get sun damage from ‘windshield time’. My age spots correspond exactly with where the sun hit my hands and face when employed in a driving job in Florida. And nothing new developed since subsequently working indoors.
22
@K Yeah, none of these are absolute, either/or. I think a car window probably filters out 90% of the UV, but you still get the 10% that gets through. Be thankful that the windshield was there.
1
@A Bonadio
Any older woman who has driven many road trips without sunscreen will show you that the left side of her face has more wrinkling than the right. I discovered this one day in an ophthamologist's office with a room full of 60-70 somethings discussing this very topic.
5
I get my vitamin D as soon as the temps get to 55 - 60 by dropping the top of my Miata, and avoiding my Chevy which while great for Chicago winters, provides no exposure to the sun.
3
@dwavrek but watch out for skin cancer, as there is a direct link between convertible ownership and increased skin cancer.
3
@dwavrek The problem is that in the winter, at northern latitudes such as that of Chicago, no amount of sun exposure (however much you can take in the winter!) will give you adequate vitamin D due to the angle of the sun. However, your body does store it, so adequate stores from the summer + eating things like salmon and sardines in the winter could be enough. I usually start supplementing in January or February anyhow, when I feel my body start aching for the sun.
2
Fun facts from Healthline:
Roughly 42% of people in the US have a vitamin D deficiency. This number rises to a staggering 82.1% of black people and 69.2% of Hispanic people.There are several other groups of people that have higher vitamin D needs because of their age, where they live and certain medical conditions. In addition, older people, people with darker skin, those who live farther away from the equator and people who can’t absorb fat properly have higher dietary vitamin D needs.There are two main forms of vitamin D in the diet:D2 and D3. If you’re choosing a vitamin D supplement, find one that contains D3 (cholecalciferol). It is better at raising your blood levels of vitamin D. And despite prior pronouncements that touted the benefits of massive doses of vitamin D, it now seems that consuming 1,000–4,000 IU (25–100 mcg) of vitamin D daily should be a safe ideal for most people to reach healthy vitamin D blood levels, ideally with your blood values being monitored.
16
Healthline is not always a reliable site.
7
@Stan Chaz
Yep, CDC NHANES shows similar data.
Realizing re organic chemistry 101, vit D needs several co-factors, so if your serum levels aren't going up, explore them.
Magnesium
Vitamin K
Zinc
Boron
Vitamin A
4
@Brenda Not true. Healthline is very reliable compared to many websites.
2
No Vitamin D in Sweden even outdoors from 1 December to ! March. Pitiful place, I understand the Vikings, whose conquests
were ever more to the south.
8
@ken lockridge -- There's more vitamin D in a Scandinavian smorgasbord than is dreamt of in your philosophy. Fish grow fatter in frigid waters. Norwegian salmon and trout are big blubbery beasts, the better to feed us.
50
@ken lockridge
In December the sun never gets very high in Visby. I missed the sunshine but between diet and supplements I never had low levels of Vit.D. Gotland is a wonderful place in all seasons.
7
Vikings had to go south, there was no one to invade in the north
6
When we were children, my parents gave us a tablespoon of cod liver oil & a slice of fresh lemon to clear the taste.
They seem to have been right long before scientific studies.
This practice has fallen out of favor.
I’m told the cod fish population crashed in the 1970’s due to overfishing. Thus, cod liver oil is fairly pricey. But it’s possibly less expensive than prescription medication.
Hmmm.
Food for thought?
28
@M...yes,...my grandmother made us take a spoon of cod liver oil when ever she came over to visit...wish she had known about lemons...Today could not take spoon of cod liver oil even on penalty of whipping.
5
@M Cod liver oil is full of bad chemicals like lead, and especially mercury. As over the counter drugs are not monitored by the FDA, their purity is not guaranteed.
6
@M Your parents were doing a good thing. However, best to use etc single vitamin D supplement--cod liver oil also has high levels of Vitamin A, and the amount needed to correct Vit D deficiency could was over due the A Plus cod-liver oil tastes bad ( even encapsulated, since my patients tell me it tends to " repeat". Over the counter vitamin D is inexpensive and doesn't put pressure on cod populations. However, as another commentator noted, health food supplements aren't regulated at all by outside agencies. Get the cheapest you can find that's shelved with over the counter vitamins--over the counter meds are regulated, and CVS or Warner Lambert, ( etc) aren't going to bring down their multimillion dollar corporations by marketing a vitamin with a dosing error of 10 fold.
don't worry about D2 vs D3-- all the otc vitamin D is D3
9
What this article does not explain is that during the winter months the sun is too low in the horizon in most of northern USA to have enough UVB rays to help us produce any vitamin B. That's right - our bodies are not producing any vitamin D during the winter months. There is enough UVA to damage our skin though, so if you want to prevent sun damage, you have to use sunscreen throughout the year (even indoor, since UVA penetrates glass). I know, not fair!
40
@SS. A good balanced diet will provide all the Vit. D one needs.
4
@Brenda
Great. Run the numbers. Show me any reasonable diet that sustains a serum level of 40-60 ng/ml.
15
@SS The article should also have explained that UVB is really only available to us during a few hours of the day, around noon, even in the summer. At other times, sunlight is filtered through too much atmosphere for the UVB rays to reach us.
You can't go out at 5 in the afternoon and expect to get any UVB.
3
But you can definitely get sunburned through a car window.
Why then not the Vitamin D?
http://www.thecriticalmom.blogspot.com
2
@Melpub, you get burned by UVA. UVB causes the production of Vit. D, and it's blocked by automobile glass.
24
@Melpub
You absolutely cannot get sunburned through glass.
I guess I better eat some salmon today.
17
@davidr - At least till we gobble all of them up too. Oh well, there are always those uber-polluting fish farms.
1
Thanks to Quantum Biophysical Semeiotic, today's physicians are able to bedside assess both osteoporotic Constituion-Dependent Inherited Real Risk, and the tissue level of Vit D. As a matter of facts, Comel's intersitium in physiological bones is very smal, showing Calcium absorption. On the contrary, in osteoporotic patient, the interstitium of bones is pathologically large, due to calcium loss, diluted to protect local cells against toxicity. As a conseguence, we are now able to evaluate with a common stethoscope if sunlight the right amount of Vit D to to a well-defined individual, namely in a personalized manner.
2
@Sergio Stagnaro
Bones are a living, adaptive protein-mineral-fat matrix that needs 20 nutrients and osteogenic loading to be resilient and strong...... basically stiff muscles. And bones make RBCs.
In a sense, single factor research tends to over simplify the human organic chemistry stew....... so we see these various articles that say "just take X and you'll be healthy."
The best comprehensive research is being done by NASA..... because the space station is a world class medical Skinner box.
7
@ C Wolf - I like what you are saying.
1. What are RBCs?
2. When you get a stiff muscle means your bones are strong?
3. Would you mind naming the 20 nutrients?
Thanks in advance for the info.
Please remember that vitamin D, as important as it is, is not the only photoproduct produced by the body after sun exposure. Sun exposure also stimulates the production of other photoproducts beyond vitamin D--photoproducts such as serotonin, endorphins, dopamine, nitric oxide and brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF). These photoproducts go beyond vitamin D in enhancing mood reducing blood pressure and heart disease and generally promoting health.
And, sunbeds are the best choice in the winter or when the weather is cloudy. With the exception of serotonin production, sunbeds have the same attributes as sun exposure. Both sun exposure and sunbed use have been shown to extend life span.
For more information and references: sunlightinstitute.org. And, read Dr. Marc Sorenson’s new book, Embrace the Sun, available at Amazon.
11
@Marc, tanning can lead to skin cancer. Show us the evidence that it leads to longer life.
40
@Marc. I read the book and there is no mention that neurotransmitters must be synthesized from amino acids which is dependent on diet (complete and incomplete). There is no way that vitamin D (or Sunlight) can synthesize neurotransmitters without proper nutrition. Vitamin D may be involved in the synthesis by acting on the enzymes that make neurotransmitters. When you are active (exercise or move) the neurotransmitters are released and REM sleep is when you make more serotonin and norepinephrine which is why sleep is important.
4
For a wealth of evidence based information on vitamin D, visit the excellent Vitamin D Council website: vitamindcouncil.org Given how little time most people spend outdoors these days, vitamin D levels are deficient in many--especially those with darker skin tones. Get yourself tested so you know your level.
9
“As little as 10 minutes a day of sun exposure is typically adequate”
10 minutes @ 8am or midday..........small detail?
3
@Peter
I've read more than one source that says 15-20 minutes twice a day - 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. best times, with as much skin exposure as possible.
3
@Ellen, I've read that all it takes is one bare arm.
1
@Peter only in the summer months - none in winter if you are in northern USA (although I see you live in Australia).
4
This was a very helpful article for me. The sun can be so strong through glass that I thought it was a good chance to make vitamin D without going out. I can still do it in my car when the sun is directly overhead because I open the sunroof. Of course, in the summer all the windows are open anyway. (I don't use the A/C.)
From what I gather here, if one has gotten a little pink from an unblocked sun then they likely have made enough vitamin D. I hope so because that's just what I did last Tuesday when it was 67 degrees. I went around the park for two hours without a shirt mainly just to get the sun.
3
@Ron A, getting pink means you've damaged your skin. Don't overdo it.
24
@Ron A, unfortunately you did not produce any vitamin D. The sun is too low in the horizon during the winter months in most of Northern USA (I live in NJ too) to help our bodies produce any vitamin D (not enough UVB rays). UVA rays are present throughout the year, and that's why you got pink (a sunburn).
8
@SS
The article says "But sunlight consists of both ultraviolet A, or UVA, which penetrates deep within the skin layers and can cause premature aging; and ultraviolet B, or UVB, which causes the redness of sunburn. It’s the UVB rays that trigger the synthesis of vitamin D.... Virtually all commercial and automobile glass blocks UVB rays."
So, yes, if he got a little pink he absorbed UVB and made vitamin D. Through a window you won't get sunburned but you'll still get skin aging.
4
The link to the NIH page on Vitamin D says that the FNB concluded that serum 25(OH)D levels above approximately 125–150 nmol/L (50–60 ng/mL) should be avoided, as even lower serum levels (approximately 75–120 nmol/L or 30–48 ng/mL) are associated with increases in all-cause mortality, greater risk of cancer at some sites like the pancreas, greater risk of cardiovascular events, and more falls and fractures among the elderly.
Of course, the NIH page provides no evidence that 48 ng/mL of 25(OH) D is associated with these adverse effects. They seem more likely to be from alcohol abuse, not 48 ng/mL of 25(OH) D.
4
@F. St. Louis
Look at the research data on the Grassrootshealth.net
Much of the earlier D research was based on dosing, not serum levels, which is an unreliable variable due to individual responses.
The natural D levels in Africa in community dwelling natives are 40-60 ng/ml.
3
I seriously doubt skin cancer is coming from the sun. Maybe from excessive sun exposure, which is where skin tone plays a large part. White skin needs less sun to make vitamin D while darker skin tone needs more.
Dr. Holick even said we are likely to get cancer due to little exposure from the sun. Vitamin D is known to prevent 19 different types of cancer. The UVA does more damage to skin due to deeper penetration, causing premature wrinkles. UVB causes skin burns but that is because it is igniting the biological taning system, setting place for the synthesis of vitamin D.
8
@Woodley Lamousnery
It depends on the cancer. Some cancers are solely environmental, others like certain types of melanoma have a genetic component.
11
Both cancers cause by environmental and genetic can be intervene through dietary and lifestyle. Some may need more of a certain component like, altering their diet and lifestyle for intervention.
2
@Woodley Lamousnery
Vitamin D is known to prevent 19 different types of cancer.
When is the NYT going to stop approving comments like this that spread pseudoscience and misinformation?
Ugh!
1
The article mentions commercial and automobile glass. What about forty year old double pane glass in an old house? On very cold winter days in Vermont I enjoy a kitchen bathed in sunlight. No benefit?
10
@ Bennett
No benefit. the rays are supposed to be unable to go through glass, any glass...at least that's what they taught us in school...They also taught us that you needed as little as 10 minutes exposure a day on about 4 square inches of your skin to get the benefit, making the death from soft bones during childbirth in strictly sex segregated societies where women aren't let out of the house AT ALL all the more awful...
19
Forget about the windows in the winter.
What I’ve learned from the comments here, is that in the winter in Vermont, your skin might still not produce enough Vitamin D, even if you go outside and uncover your skin.
The sun is too low in the sky for this, since the UVB rays are blocked while the UVA rays are present.
Commentators are recommending Vitamin D3 supplements in the winter in the north.
3
My next door has stage 3 melanoma likely from sitting outside poolside, in the sun. Me and my dog, we choose to sit indoors with light filtered through the glass door...
7
Cold winter days in the Midwest will find me sitting by the window to warm up. Didn't know it would not provide vit. D.
11
Sunlight through car windows can cause skin cancer. Although many cars have adequate protection in the front window, they often do not in side windows. Precautions are in order, especially for long-term or frequent exposure.
53