While it is true that some people will be able to get enough vitamin D from sunlight alone, others will need to make lifestyle changes or take supplements.
What is vitamin D?
Vitamin D is a very important nutrient for health. Certain foods contain a small amount, but we get the most vitamin D from sunlight.
Some of the benefits of vitamin D include: helping the body absorb calcium for strong bones, supporting nerves to carry messages to and from the brain; it also plays a key role in muscle movement and supports the immune system to fight infection and disease.
Vitamin D is different from most other vitamins. When the body processes it, vitamin D is converted to a hormone called calcitriol, which causes the bones in the body to absorb calcium.
Can we get enough vitamin D from the sun?
Some people will be able to get enough vitamin D from the sun’s rays, however there are factors that come into play, such as where in the world we live, the time of year, the time of day and the color of our skin. People who live near the equator get more exposure to the sun. In the Northern Hemisphere, we may not be able to get enough vitamin D from sunlight during winter.
The amount of melanin that the skin contains affects the amount of vitamin D that we can produce. Thus, less melanin results in clearer skin, which also does not protect against harmful ultraviolet rays.
People with more melanin in their skin (and therefore darker skin) have better protection from the sun, but take longer to produce vitamin D , so they are more likely to be deficient in vitamin D.
These factors make it difficult to recommend how much sunlight we should take in to make the vitamin D our bodies need.
Some people may not absorb the proper amount of vitamin D from sunlight due to specific lifestyle factors. For example, people who work nights, those who stay indoors during the day, those who always cover their skin or use a high factor sunscreen every day …
The body can only make a certain amount of vitamin D at a time . After this, it is vital to protect the skin from UV rays. UV rays can cause burns, aging skin, and increase the risk of skin cancer.
There is currently no set level for vitamin D deficiency , but some experts classify deficiency as having less than 12 ng / ml of vitamin D in the blood and claim that levels below 20 ng / ml are too low to have healthy bones and general well-being.
Symptoms
Vitamin D deficiency in children can cause rickets. This is a condition that makes the bones soft, causing them to bend. It can also cause sore bones and weak muscles in adults.
Not having enough vitamin D or calcium throughout life can contribute to osteoporosis. This causes brittle bones that can break more easily.
Recommended daily intake
The recommended dietary intake for vitamin D is difficult to judge as it depends on sun exposure. For this reason, the guidelines base their recommended intake on the assumption that a person receives the least amount of sun (the recommended dietary intake is measured in IU, international units):
From 0 to 12 months 400 IU
1 to 70 years 600 IU
70 years and more than 800 IU
For adults with vitamin D levels below 30 ng / ml, the Endocrine Society guidelines recommend a daily intake of 1,500-2,000 IU to restore healthy vitamin D levels.
Natural sources of vitamin D include salmon, tuna, cheese, egg yolk, or beef liver.
