Vitamin D

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Denise Kennedy
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by Denise Kennedy on Mon Jun 11, 2012 8:57 pm

Vitamin D

I am a dietitian and I am interested in your thoughts and recommendations with regard to sun exposure and vitamin D. I work with many children and adults, some of whom I get quite concerned about their future bone health for various reasons, for example they have limited calcium intakes due to milk avoidance, or are from ethnic minority backgrounds. We know vitamin D (also known as the sunshine vitamin) is really important for bone health long term.

A recent consensus statement ( from a group of experts including cancer charities, skin experts, and other professional groups) was released concerning sun exposure and vitamin D. We know how important Vitamin D is to bone health in all of is and there has been lots of talk about its importance in other conditions such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis - although the experts all still say that the evidence on these conditions is inconclusive. This statement said "The time required to make sufficient vitamin D is typically short and less than the amount of time needed for skin to redden and burn. Regularly going outside for a matter of minutes around the middle of the day without sunscreen should be enough. When it comes to sun exposure, little and often is best, and the more skin that is exposed, the greater the chance of making sufficient vitamin D before burning. However, people should get to know their own skin to understand how long they can spend outside before risking sunburn under different conditions."

I ALWAYS advise patients to ensure they do allow their skin to redden or burn, but in view of this statement do suggest short amounts of time of sun exposure to ensure adequate vitamin D status. Personally I would rather advise natural ways to obtain vitamins rather than supplements wherever possible, and dietary sources of vitamin D are quite limited.

I would welcome your comments. Thank you.

The statement is available here:- http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/news/a ... D-clarity-
Denise Kennedy
Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist

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Professor_Brian_Diffey
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by Professor_Brian_Diffey on Wed Jun 20, 2012 5:59 pm

Re: Vitamin D

The consensus statement is misleading in that the recommendation of “…going outside for a matter of minutes around the middle of the day without sunscreen should be enough” only applies if you are lying horizontal under a cloudless sky with no nearby shade. Most of us spend most of our time outdoors walking around in an urban environment usually under cloudy sky. This means the intensity of the sun’s UV rays on our skin is much less and as a consequence we require about an hour a day outside to make sufficient vitamin D in our skin. Fortunately, many of us are outdoors for this time each day particularly if we enjoy popping outside during our lunchbreak, and especially during summer weekends. Importantly, this exposure doesn’t require our skin to go red or burn.

However, in the winter the sun is not strong enough to make vitamin D and if you are concerned about your vitamin D status, you would be better advised taking supplements and/or enjoying a diet rich in vitamin D, although as you say, this can be quite difficult to achieve.
Brian Diffey
Professor Brian Diffey
Emeritus Professor of Photobiology, Dermatological Science

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Denise Kennedy
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by Denise Kennedy on Thu Jun 28, 2012 8:19 am

Re: Vitamin D

Many thanks for your response - I know these things are never simple. Can I just make a further comment - in that there are often comments (including on this forum) saying that there is no such thing as 'safe exposure to the sun'. This appears to directly contradict the advice on vitamin D and sun exposure. Taking it as written that the sun should not redden or burn, and assuming we are talking about a healthy individual, how do we reconcile these two issues?

Thanks for your thoughts.
Denise Kennedy
Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist

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Professor_Brian_Diffey
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by Professor_Brian_Diffey on Mon Jul 02, 2012 4:17 pm

Re: Vitamin D

It's virtually impossible to give precise information about what constitutes an optimal sun exposure as it depends on so many factors - the weather, the season, our behaviour outdoors and our individual susceptibility to sunburn. My advice is not to worry about our casual sun exposure but take care not to overexpose ourselves during our summer recreational exposure. This should ensure we don't end up with red, sunburnt skin but at the same time receive sufficient sun exposure to maintain our vitamin D at adequate levels for much of the year. So you won't find me subscribing to the notion that there's no such thing as a safe sun exposure!
Professor Brian Diffey
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Denise Kennedy
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by Denise Kennedy on Fri Jul 06, 2012 10:01 pm

Re: Vitamin D

Thank you for your thoughts - most interesting. Denise
Denise Kennedy
Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist

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