With all the talk about calcium and vitamin D I've been doing some searches regarding vitamin D and the best way to get it is from the sun. However I wear sunscreen daily and I avoid the sun at all costs because my skin is extremely fair and I don't want to increase my risk for skin cancer (wrinkles and skin damage are no fun either). I'm confused about how many minutes of sun without sunscreen are enough for me to get the vitamin D that I need. Some doctors recommend about 10-15 mins a couple of days per week. Others say 5-10 minutes daily. I don't like either one (I'm not a big fan of the sun). Does anybody know what is the minimum time that I need to produce enough vitamin D? Isn't it enough to get sun in just some areas only like my arms and legs (which can really use a little bit of color) and avoid the face, neck, chest and back? (sorry don't want any wrinkles or freckles.) I would appreciate some information. Thanks.
Getting Vitamin D from the Sun
- Thread starter Rose11
- Start date
materialsgirl
Cathlete
Wearing sunblock blocks the radiation necessary for your body to convert the Vitamin D precursor to Vitamin D. If you want to get Vit D from the sun, you need to be without sunblock, unfortunately. I don't like spending lots of time in the sun unprotected either, so I take a multivitamin that contains Vit D. And milk, of course, is usually fortified with Vit D. So there are other sources besides the sun.
kathryn
Cathlete
I've read 10-15 minutes, a few times a week (2-3?), in summer, of unprotected sunlight on arms and face (I hate to expose my face, though, as I already have some of those "sun spots"/blotches) is enough. But I drink soy milk supplemented with vitamin D, and take a calcium/D supplement from time to time as well. It's definitely good to get a D supplement in winter, especially if you live in the north. But too much vitamin D can be toxic (I imagine it's like vitamin A: if you take certain forms---like vitamin A palmitate, or supplemental vitamin D---it's riskier to overdo, while other forms---alpha- and beta-carotene for A, and sun exposure for D---your body just makes what it needs and you can't overdo it).
I've also read that our bodies have adapted to clothes wearing, so that our hands and arms are more efficient at absobing the suns rays and converting vitamin D than they would have been in caveman days. (there is also more solar radiation hitting the Earth than in the past, since the thinning of the ozone layer, but I don't know how that effects vitamin D production).
I've also read that our bodies have adapted to clothes wearing, so that our hands and arms are more efficient at absobing the suns rays and converting vitamin D than they would have been in caveman days. (there is also more solar radiation hitting the Earth than in the past, since the thinning of the ozone layer, but I don't know how that effects vitamin D production).
For me since I've already have started with osteoporosis, I was told 30 minutes a day of sunlight, non-protected, but it also counts walking to and from car, sitting in car driving down the road toward the sun, so it's shining in on you. So that 30 minutes gets eaten up pretty quick. I always wear sunscreen on my face, but I'll leave my arms un screened until I get to work to get my 30 minutes in. What I've been doing seems to have worked I went from a step 18 to a step 10 in one year. Which is major improvement, something no one thought was possible in my condition.
Also another note about sunscreen, it takes 20 to 30 minutes to work, so if you put it on and then walk outside, your pretty much getting that 20 minutes of sun unprotected.
If 30 minute works for me, I would think 10-15 minutes would work for others, who are still healthy and have dense bones. Also there is a time limit that you can go by, for good sun exposure without sunscreen. That isn't high risk or that dangerous, whatever you want to call it. Most dermatologist can tell you for your skin type. Mine is about 45 minutes of morning sun, 8 minutes of noon sun, and 12 minutes of evening sun. But always get your sun early in the morning; the rays are nicer to the skin, and less reflective UVA/B rays, something to do with our atmosphere, and how the sun’s rays hit it, and how the particles aren’t bouncing as fast, so you get better ozone protection, due to less heat.
HTH,
Kit
Also another note about sunscreen, it takes 20 to 30 minutes to work, so if you put it on and then walk outside, your pretty much getting that 20 minutes of sun unprotected.
If 30 minute works for me, I would think 10-15 minutes would work for others, who are still healthy and have dense bones. Also there is a time limit that you can go by, for good sun exposure without sunscreen. That isn't high risk or that dangerous, whatever you want to call it. Most dermatologist can tell you for your skin type. Mine is about 45 minutes of morning sun, 8 minutes of noon sun, and 12 minutes of evening sun. But always get your sun early in the morning; the rays are nicer to the skin, and less reflective UVA/B rays, something to do with our atmosphere, and how the sun’s rays hit it, and how the particles aren’t bouncing as fast, so you get better ozone protection, due to less heat.
HTH,
Kit
Wow guys! Thank you very much for all your replies. Every day I learn something new just from these forums. I take a multivitamin daily that has vitamin D, but I read that the best way to get it is directly from the sun. They say supplements should be used as that, supplements, and not substitutes for a good diet and a healthy lifestyle so I figured I just have to add a little bit of sun to my healthy regimen(even if it is in my arms and legs only) a couple of days a week for 10 minutes or so (the minimum!!! like I said I'm not a big fan of the sun).
Kit, congratulations on your improvement and thank you for sharing. I hope you keep getting better.
Kit, congratulations on your improvement and thank you for sharing. I hope you keep getting better.
kathryn
Cathlete
Most dermatologist
>can tell you for your skin type. Mine is about 45 minutes of
>morning sun, 8 minutes of noon sun, and 12 minutes of evening
>sun.
Wow, I knew that sun from 10 to 2 is the most dangerous, but I didn't realize how much difference there was between morning and noon exposure. But does the morning sun have as much effect on vitamin D as noon sun? Or does it not matter? Guess I'll have to become a morning gardener (I've been waiting until after 3, but looks like morning sun is better!).
>can tell you for your skin type. Mine is about 45 minutes of
>morning sun, 8 minutes of noon sun, and 12 minutes of evening
>sun.
Wow, I knew that sun from 10 to 2 is the most dangerous, but I didn't realize how much difference there was between morning and noon exposure. But does the morning sun have as much effect on vitamin D as noon sun? Or does it not matter? Guess I'll have to become a morning gardener (I've been waiting until after 3, but looks like morning sun is better!).
I have been told countless time to get my sun before 9 am. So I guess morning sun is just as good for you, or at least it's the most recommended time, as it's less dangerous, so you at least can spend more time without high risk, so maybe the extra time, makes it just as good.
I was really surprised when I was given the minutes of low risk sun exposure, and how it dropped in the afternoon, so much. I can stay in the morning sun 3 times longer then the afternoon sun. I knew afternoon sun was really bad but I didn't realize how bad until I got that little print out.
Kit
I was really surprised when I was given the minutes of low risk sun exposure, and how it dropped in the afternoon, so much. I can stay in the morning sun 3 times longer then the afternoon sun. I knew afternoon sun was really bad but I didn't realize how bad until I got that little print out.
Kit
kathryn
Cathlete
>Also another note about sunscreen, it takes 20 to 30 minutes
>to work, so if you put it on and then walk outside, your
>pretty much getting that 20 minutes of sun unprotected.
That's true with chemical sunscreens, like PABA and such, but not with physical sunscreens, like zinc oxide, which provide immediate protection. Zinc oxide used to be a thick white goop that lifeguards used on their noses (later, it came in colors for kids!), which is not to practcal for a sunscreen, but now, due to nanotechnology, zinc oxide sunscreens can be made with particles so small they don't show white. Physical sunscreens are actually better than many chemical sunscreens, as they block BOTH UVA and UVB.
I forget which one does what, but I think it's UVA that is responsible for burning, and UVB that doesn't show burning on your skin, but causes more dangerous changes below the surface of the skin, and contributes more to photoaging and cancer. Many chemical sunscreens only block UVA--the burning rays---but not UVB--the more dangerous rays, so everyone should make sure their sunscreen blocks both.
>to work, so if you put it on and then walk outside, your
>pretty much getting that 20 minutes of sun unprotected.
That's true with chemical sunscreens, like PABA and such, but not with physical sunscreens, like zinc oxide, which provide immediate protection. Zinc oxide used to be a thick white goop that lifeguards used on their noses (later, it came in colors for kids!), which is not to practcal for a sunscreen, but now, due to nanotechnology, zinc oxide sunscreens can be made with particles so small they don't show white. Physical sunscreens are actually better than many chemical sunscreens, as they block BOTH UVA and UVB.
I forget which one does what, but I think it's UVA that is responsible for burning, and UVB that doesn't show burning on your skin, but causes more dangerous changes below the surface of the skin, and contributes more to photoaging and cancer. Many chemical sunscreens only block UVA--the burning rays---but not UVB--the more dangerous rays, so everyone should make sure their sunscreen blocks both.