Sunshine - Friend or Foe?
“Dermatologists have looked at the rise in melanoma and panicked. But they aren’t looking at the whole human being” says Dr Robert Heaney of Creighton University in Nebraska. It would seem that health officials, shops and media would have us all slathered in factor 50, donning big-brimmed hats and lurking in the shade. Which is understandable, as Dr Heaney points out, if your objective is to cut the number of cases of skin cancer. But that one avoidance of melanoma is not the end of the story when it comes to the sun and protecting our health.
In the winter, 90% of us in the UK are vitamin D deficient. Even in the summer, some 60% are deficient. “I think this is a major unrecognized epidemic…It affects children and adults of all ages, all races, and both sexes. It’s very significant,” says Michael Holick, M.D., researcher at Boston University Medical Center.
And why is vitamin D important? In short, because it has been shown to positively influence…
- high blood pressure
- tuberculosis
- cancers
- periodontal disease
- multiple sclerosis
- chronic pain
- seasonal affective disorder
- peripheral artery disease
- cognitive impairment which includes dementia, memory loss and foggy brain
- several autoimmune diseases including type 1 diabetes
- osteoporosis and rickets
- joint disease
- birth difficulties
- autism
- Asthma
- Weight control
- influenza
Vitamin D is not “just a vitamin”. It’s the only known substrate for a potent, pleiotropic (producing multiple effects) repair and maintenance hormone that serves multiple gene-regulatory functions in your body. It has been shown to influence more than 2,000 genes. Just one example of an important gene that vitamin D up-regulates is your ability to fight infections: it produces over 200 anti-microbial peptides, including an important broad-spectrum antibiotic.
Researchers from the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, Italy, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, recently reviewed 18 trials of more than 57,000 people and found that Vitamin D supplements may lower your risk of dying from any cause. Researchers from the Moore’s Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) recently concluded that increasing the intake of vitamin D3 throughout the world could easily prevent diseases – including 16 types of cancer – that would otherwise claim close to 1 million lives each year worldwide. Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics doubled its recommendation for a daily dose of vitamin D in children, in the hope of protecting against a wide range of diseases, while promoting other health benefits.
So vitamin D is extremely important for good health. The controversy arises as a result of the fact that at least 90 per cent of the vitamin D in the body comes from direct skin exposure to sunlight. Scientists agree that by far the best way of boosting the nutrient is to expose your body to sunlight, without sunscreen, at times when ultraviolet radiation is at its strongest: noon and early afternoon in spring and summer.
Research has indicated that the skin produces about 10,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D in response to 20-30 minutes of summer sun exposure (time depending upon the pigmentation of the skin, it can be much longer). One portion of oily fish contains 320 IU (8 micrograms). Vitamin D supplements do exist but the recommended daily dose of a vitamin D supplement is 400 IU (10 micrograms); any more of this synthetic (as opposed to skin-manufactured) version is considered a risk by authorities because too much can cause kidney damage. Conversely, there is very little risk of overdose of Vitamin D from the sun because once equilibrium is reached further Vitamin D is downgraded. Supplements also contain the inferior Vitamin D2 rather than the D3 that comes from the sun (this is a good D3 supplement).
Nobody disagrees with the fact that getting sunburn is a bad thing. But when it comes to staying healthy, it’s hard to overstate the case for exposure of skin to direct sunlight. Sunscreens will effectively shield you from the sun’s inherent health benefits, so your body will not synthesize vitamin D properly. It’s also important to note that you can develop sun dam¬age even with sunscreen because it doesn’t stop the damage from occurring at a cellular level, it simply stops the burn (and also usually includes toxins that put your health at risk).
The NutriVital Guide to Safe Sun
If you’re going to be enjoying the sun unprotected, you will need to be very careful. Although only you can determine your requirements and threshold, there are some basic guidelines you can follow to minimise your risk.
- The more antioxidants you take in, the lower your risk of sunburn. Foods containing effective antioxidants to boost your “internal sunscreen” include whole fresh vegetables and fruits such as Goji berries (not the juice), Raspberries, Blackberries, and Blueberries
- Vitamins A and C help your cells regulate both light absorption and protection against overexposure.
- At the beginning of the season, limit your exposure to perhaps as little as 10 minutes a day. Progressively increase your time in the sun so that in a few weeks, you will be able to have normal sun exposure with little risk of skin cancer.
- Time of Day – Early morning is the best time to sunbathe if you have not already built up a base tan, because you’re less likely to burn. In addition, it’s best to sunbathe when the temperature is not too high, so that you don’t over heat.
- Regular sun is extremely important. You can’t cram all of your sun exposure into a two or three week vacation period and expect to experience the benefits… and it’s safer not to try! Frequent, short bursts are best.
- Exposure of the face and hands to sunlight is not sufficient for vitamin D nutrition. For optimal benefit, strive to have at least 40 percent of your skin uncovered.
- Optimal Exposure Time – in Caucasian skin, equilibrium occurs within 20 minutes of ultraviolet exposure. It can take 3 to 6 times longer for darkly pigmented skin to reach the equilibrium concentration of skin vitamin D. Remember that continuing UV exposure beyond the minimal dose required to produce skin redness will not increase your vitamin D production any further.
- Supplement vitamin D. If you are unable to get enough from the sun due to your lifestyle or where you live, a good quality vitamin D3 supplement such as this will help
With any luck, this article will have cleared up some of the confusion around sun exposure, its risks and its benefits. So get out there and start enjoying the sunshine! Deficiencies in any nutrients can lead to serious health challenges. If you wish to speak with one of the consultants at The Centre For Integrated Health about your nutrient intake, don’t hesitate to call on 01730 233 414.