Sunlight Exposure Doesn’t Guarantee Adequate Vitamin D
A vitamin D deficiency can cause many health problems, including many kinds of cancers, osteoporosis, depression, autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular issues and others. Many health issues can be prevented by getting an adequate amount of vitamin D.
As many as 36% of all Americans are deficient in vitamin D.
Healthy individuals are often able to convert adequate sunlight exposure to vitamin D. This may not be the case for everyone, however.
A study was conducted by University of Wisconsin researchers on people who lived in Hawaii. The participants in the study spent an average of 11.1 hours in the sunlight per week. None of the participants in the study used any type of sunscreen.
Even though the people in this study received a great deal of sunlight exposure, 51% of them were deficient in vitamin D. The conclusion is that as the body ages its ability to convert sunlight to vitamin D through the skin is reduced.
Obese people are often vitamin D deficient. This is because these people store vitamin D in large amounts of body fat where it becomes inaccessible.
Whether people get their vitamin D from sunlight, vitamin supplements, foods rich in vitamin D, or some combination of these sources, no one should ignore the body’s need for this vital nutrient.
