Saturday, October 22, 2011

Winter, sunshine and Vitamin D...

We need ten to 15 minutes of direct sunlight on unprotected skin several times a week from May to September to make enough Vitamin D to see us through the winter. Darker skins may need longer as the pigmentation doesn’t allow such efficient production, and fairer skin less time.

Outside these months, the sun is at the wrong angle to produce the right wavelength of ultraviolet light, and no Vitamin D is produced.

‘People are so aware of the dangers of UV damage that they often avoid it and we’re especially careful of children, because of the link between early sunburn and skin cancer. In October, our levels of Vitamin D should still be acceptable, assuming we have gone out in the sun during the summer,’ says Dr Elina Hypponen of the Medical Research Council’s Centre of Epidemiology for Child Health.

‘But Vitamin D is stored for only between one and two months in the body. From now on, levels start to drop and by January almost everyone will have below optimum levels. We’re starting at a disadvantage this year after an appalling summer. I recommend taking supplements now.’ Full story...

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