Shun The Sun At Your Peril

If you've been taking care to prevent wrinkles by avoiding the midday sun and slathering on the sunscreen, you may want to think again - especially if you have a fair complexion. 

It seems that our enthusiasm for protecting ourselves from the sun's rays is causing rising levels of Vitamin D deficiency.  

Researchers in the UK have published a study showing that of 1,200 people they studied, 730 had insufficient levels of Vitamin D.  That's a little over 60%! 

Those who were fair (defined as having blue eyes, freckles, or a tendency to burn) had the lowest levels of all, which led the researchers to conclude that Vitamin D supplementation was advisable for this group

Although vitamin D is present in certain foods, the best source is the action of the sun's rays on your skin.  And it seems that the length of sun exposure needed is longer than we may have previously thought.  Many factors interfere with the level of sun strength, including smog, cloud, pollution - and how far north you live (latitude). It seems that just exposing your hands and face for a few minutes every day may just not be enough.   

Vitamin D is important because it helps to ensure that your body absorbs calcium properly.  For women, that's especially important to prevent the brittle bone disease, osteoporosis - particularly in later life when estrogen levels decline after menopause (estrogen has a protective effect on bone density).  

Many years ago, I remember accompanying a female doctor on her annual viist to give a closed order of Catholic nuns their annual flu vaccinations.  The nuns lived in a convent where they were self-sufficient, growing their own organic vegetables, praying, singing, and looking after each other.  They were all quite advanced in years but extremely sprightly and energetic.  Except I noticed that several of them were very stooped over with what was then termed a 'widow's hump'.  

I asked the doctor whether there was a reason for this, and she told me straight: osteoporosis caused by Vitamin D deficiency.  The black habits that the nuns wore every day of their lives covered them up to their ankles, their wrists and their necks, preventing the sun from reaching their skin.