The sun is no reliable Vitamin D source

Filed in archive Vitamins A-Z on July 2, 2007

After a long winter you rush out into the sun when spring comes. You say to yourself that sitting in the sun is good, you actually get vitamin D from the sun.
But do you?

You might not get as much Vitamin D as you think actually from sitting in the sun.

In a recent study 93 participants were exposed to the sun with and without any protecting sunscreen on. Their bodies were exposed to sun rays for a total of 11,1 hours per week.

Despite this abundant sun exposure, 51% of the subjects had serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations below 30 ng/mL, defined as "low vitamin D status," the researchers found. The highest observed level was 62 ng/mL.

"This implies that the common clinical recommendation to allow sun exposure to the hands and face for 15 minutes may not ensure vitamin D sufficiency," Dr. Binkley and colleagues write.

So from this we learn that we shouldn´t trust that we get our daily quota from the sun. The sun is no reliable Vitamin D source, according to this study.
But if you like to stay in the sun, using a sunscreen of course, then you can always think that it will better your chances of getting vitamin D. Even though you know it won´t.
I´ll continue using that excuse...