Vitamin D deficiency is a hot topic. I had my Vitamin D levels taken with my last doctor check up and mine was low. So yup, I am on Vitamin D.
How do we do this? How can we get Vitamin D in an age where we are trying to protect our skin from the sun and skin cancer?
This is a tough one, and even doctors don’t agree. I have a good friend who is an ER doctor who won’t let her kids (who are blonde and light skinned) wear sunscreen. I was mortified. No sunscreen?! I respect her opinion. She is not crazy- she went to Harvard undergrad, Stanford medical school, and is an accomplished doctor. When I probed her on how she could do this, she quoted multiple studies which state Vitamin D deficiency is a cause of scores of medical problems. She thinks the video/tv generation we are raising-who when they do venture outside are covered in SPF clothing and sunscreen- need more plain old sunshine and Vitamin D.
I, on the other hand, see the ravages of sun damage. It leads to moles, age spots, skin cancer, and wrinkles. We know the affects of sun damage seem to be increasing, as we see skin cancer rates increasing and occurring at younger ages. Is the hole in the ozone? Another issue?
So what to do?
- Get Vitamin D from other sources. I raised my Vitamin D to a normal level with supplements. They were easy and worked well.
- Vitamin D is in many of our foods: Fatty fish (cod liver oil, trout, salmon, swordfish), portabello mushrooms, fortified cereals,tofu, pork, eggs, dairy. There are Vitamin D supplements in most milk and many orange juice products.
- Expose skin to the sun in non peak times: before 10 am and after 4 pm
- The highest risk areas for skin cancer are on the head and neck. So expose skin in other areas of the body (legs) which tend not to see as much of the sun.
- More research is needed.
This is an area of interest and conflicting opinions.