Did you know that your skin can produce more vitamin D from 10-15 minutes of direct sunshine than you can ingest by drinking 50 glasses of milk?
Our bodies cannot manufacture it without sun exposure.
But what if you spend little time outdoors, use sunscreen or are older, when our skin becomes less able to manufacture this critical vitamin?
In regions north of 40 degrees latitude (New York City to northern California), the sun is strong enough to trigger D production only from May-September, and sunscreen inhibits much of this beneficial effect.
Why It's Important
This vitamin is important to bone and muscle health, immunity, diabetes and cancer prevention. According to Eric Matteson, M.D. at the Mayo Clinic, vitamin D deficiency is linked to increased chances of developing rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune disorders
According to a recent study of 1,881 women over age 20 published in Obstetrics & Gynecology, low blood concentrations contribute to urinary incontinence in women.
What You Can Do
Get A Little Sun Since our bodies will store this essential vitamin for later use, it makes sense to "make hay while the sun shines," as the old saying goes. Try exposing different body parts, and never those parts you are concerned will look wrinkled later. Or apply a lesser SPF sunscreen to certain areas occasionally.
Fortify Your Diet Fortified cereals, milk and other off-the-shelf fortified foods are available but are in lower concentrations than you need. Read the nutritional facts label to check how much each food offers.
Consider a Supplement Organic varieties are available. If you sun yourself periodically, you should be able to limit supplement use to certain months of the year. Ask your health care provider how to test your levels, once in the winter and then again in summer.
According to the Food and Nutrition Board at the Institute of Medicine at the National Academies (U.S.), the following are recommended International Units (IU) daily intake for healthy people.
