In the days before SPFs and CDs, when the whole country was California Dreaming, on any bright, warm weekend across the country, you could spot bands of sun worshipers on lawns, rooftops and beaches, dressed in swimsuits, slathered in baby oil and armed with aluminum-foil-wrapped album covers. Their makeshift reflectors a sign that they were in serious pursuit of a "healthy tan."
Then came the 80s, and the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) launched a media blitz warning of the dangers of the sun. Soaking up the rays would not only age your skin, it might also lead to skin cancer. The "healthy" tan was now deadly. Fast forward to 2009 and the AAD's message--abstain from unprotected sun exposure--has been so successful that we've become a vitamin D-deficient nation.
According to a recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine, 75 percent of Americans do not get enough of the sunshine vitamin. And that, it turns out, is much more hazardous to your health than unprotected sun exposure. A few years ago, researchers discovered that there are vitamin D receptors in every cell in the body and each week it seems another study points to its crucial role in maintaining good health. Inadequate levels of D can lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, a number of cancers, diabetes, osteoporosis, hypertension, obesity, perhaps even cognitive decline.
"People need to be aware that sunscreen, even at SPF 15, blocks more than 90 percent of the sun's rays used to produce this vital vitamin," warns Dr. Michael Holick, MD, PhD of Boston University, a leading researcher on the effects of Vitamin D, and a vocal proponent of a few doses of unprotected sunshine each week.While the American Academy of Dermatology recently acknowledged that lack of unprotected sun exposure may increase the odds of becoming deficient in vitamin D, it still insists that the risk of skin cancer warrants the "just say no" approach to unprotected sun exposure-of any length of time. A growing number of physicians disagree. "Sunlight is a readily-available, free source of vitamin D. Exposing 25 percent of the skin's surface area to 10 minutes of sunlight three days per week will maintain adequate levels in the majority of people; however, people with darkly-pigmented skin need more," says Catherine Petersen, assistant professor at the University of Missouri, College of Human Environmental Sciences. She has recently published research indicating that low levels of vitamin D negatively affect the immune system in healthy women. Bottom line, if you aren't getting some unprotected rays, talk to your health care provider about supplementation. Says Petersen, "To improve vitamin D status and achieve its related health benefits, most people should get at least 1000 IU of vitamin D per day."
