This may be on-topic because studies have shown that the majority of the population is Vitamin D-deficient which can have major ongoing health effects.
The science-based Vitamin D-focused web site, grassrootshealth.net, has a single web page that provides a personalized, common-sense approach to sun exposure.
Since I have Skin Type 3 (I tan evenly and have never burned) I am beginning my annual tan this week now that the weather is nice. Beginning a tan gradually in the early season is common sense. I get measured sun exposure and wouldn’t get hours of mid-day sun exposure (or southern-latitude sun exposure) even with a tan. Then I wear a hat and sun screen.
The point is to get enough sun to make natural Vitamin D (plus other benefits) while avoiding skin damage. The current medical advice to slather on sun screen and get NO sun at all doesn’t comport with the data.
I also take 5,000 I.U. per day of Vitamin D between October and May because otherwise I feel horrible and get depressed. This is so inexpensive and available that it’s a shame so many are deficient. My blood test showed that 5,000 I.U. per day gives me a blood level of 45 ng/ml. When I cut back I immediately felt bad, like a wave of depression and weakness.
Several METARs have written about skin cancers from sun exposure. I think that a carefully staged approach will avoid that. People should personalize their own sun exposure taking skin color and tanning ability into account. Many dark-skinned people are seriously deficient in Vitamin D.
I agree.
The Fitzpatrick scale helps id skin type.
I’m skin type 2 or perhaps 3.
I can “light” tan, with careful sun exposure. The tan disappears in a couple weeks of no sun.
I spend most days indoors, and fully clothed.
I some times go on my patio before 10am, sans shirt for 10-20 minutes, for vit D and “sunlight in eyes”.
Other than that, I try to wear sun protection. I prefer sun hat n clothing to sunscreen.
And I take 10k -20k (up to 50k) units vitamin D3 per week.
We live in Arizona. Although 1poorlady has a lot more melanin in her skin than I do, she’s very intent on sunscreen. She mostly just gets darker with sun exposure. I can burn in as little as an hour without protection in the Phoenix summer sun. I’ve had a few burns in my life, though I think only one that ever raised blisters. I do tan, but it has to be gradual (at least in Phoenix).
It’s a difficult balance to strike. Skin cancer rates in Arizona are significantly higher than most of the rest of the country. By a lot. White folks like me evolved in northern latitudes (e.g. northern Europe), so we have less melanin because sun exposure in northern latitudes is less. This also allows us to produce vitamin D with less sunlight. Transplant us someplace where the sun is intense, and we burn. Folks that evolved in southern climes have more melanin, and are more resistant to burning (and produce less vitamin D per unit of exposure than white folks do).
I personally hate sunscreens and lotions. For lack of a better word, they make me feel “icky” like I want to take a shower and wash it all off. I prefer just to wear breathable long sleeve shirts. My yardwork hat is like a Japanese army hat, with the drape on the back of the neck. But I also wear sunblock because a burn is potentially dangerous, plus it just hurts. Yes, I take a vitamin D supplement (along with K2 and calcium, so it goes to the bones instead of growing kidney stones).
At the same time, vitamin D is fat soluble. So any your body doesn’t use it stores in fat. While rare, there have been cases where people lost weight (for whatever reason…diet, illness, etc), and end up with a surge of vitamin D in their systems. It can be toxic.
Just checked…our UV index for today is going to top out at 8. They project it will be 11 later this week. This is not unusual for us.
