VITAMIN D-FICIENCY

Hi,

How are you all doing? I'm sitting here in the sun in Galway, Ireland while Dolly is attending the conference. It's the first day today, and she's presenting at 5. We're really enjoying our stay so far! We'll update the blogs with pictures soon. We've also been working hard to finish our kitchen at home, and don't want to show any photos or videos before we've done some finishing. We want the extreme makeover to be as accentuated as possible!

If you're interested to learn more about vitamin D and why it's ill-advised to shun the sun, you have the opportunity to read the following text:

http://www.hormonalfitness.com/vitamin-d-cancer-sunlight.htm

The text argues that vitamin D deficiency is generally far more risky than the possible dangers of excess sunlight exposure: "Dr.Willet estimates that vitamin D deficiency in the U.S. population causes 85,550 unnecessary deaths by cancer each year."

In general, sunscreens, even low factor ones, block formation of vitamin D in the skin by at least 96%. Sunscreens are useful to allow us to stay in the sun for a longer period of time without hurting our skin. Sunscreen should be applied AFTER we've exposed our skin to sunlight for a suitable length of time, the suitable length depending on the latitude, altitude, time of day and year, reflection from surroundings (snow, water), as well as on skin type. In his book The UV Advantage, world renowned vitamin D researcher Dr. Hollick presents tables with recommendations that take these variables into account. Around equator at noon in mid-summer, only a few minutes of unprotected sun exposure in clear weather is plenty sufficient for daily vitamin D formation in a white individual with tender skin. Larger skin areas should be exposed for a good effect, such as arms and/or legs or as much as you find appropriate. In Indiana a few more minutes is sufficient at the same point of time for the same skin type, and in Norway significantly more minutes.

By waiting until the skin is well warmed up before applying suncreen we allow rather than prevent vitamin D to improve our health. In the case of more prolonged sun exposure, a large amount of sunscreen 15 should be used, and should be reapplied if staying in the sun for several hours. The amount of sunscreen used is more important than the protection factor. Using factor above 15 is not necessary, according to Dr. Hollick, and may confer "false protection". Active contents in the sunscreen are also of importance for optimal protection, such as zinc oxide, titaniumdioxide or avobenzone (thanks to Lee, Dolly's grandmother for this information). The sunscreen must protect against the full spectrum of potentially harmful UV radiation. The wavelengths of light that are potentially skin cancerous are not necessarily the same that induce sunburn.

With love,
Simon