Britains Weather and Vitamin D

[Jam300]

Good morning everyone, what a lovely day it is today here on the south coast!

In no small part due to the huge advocacy of Vitamin D supplementing here on this forum i've recently been very wound up about our fair Albion's miserable weather. Fortunately today is absolutely gorgeous.

I was just wondering how much time in the sun is recommended to perhaps take on about 5,000 units? I read from David that sun screen pretty much negates Vitamin D so i'm out in the garden with nothing but my laptop and a Beach Boy's record. What would be the crossover point between getting a healthy amount of time in the sun and absorbing and good amount of vitamin D and exposing your skin to dangerous amounts of sun, as i'm normally a big user of sun cream.

Jordan

 

[bigtruck]

Hello and welcome, I honestly don't know how long you would need in the sun, but with our poor weather what about a good vit d3 cholecalciferol supplement from your doctor? I take a 20,000 iu oil based capsules once every 2-3 days. Maybe this is something you could discuss with your doctor or hospital specialists, have you had your levels checked?

 

[Jam300]

Hi bigtruck, thanks for getting back to me.

I will be having my levels checked in the near future by my doc, but until then, i've read that most of the population is deficient with or without Crohn's so I thought i'd get a head start on things. I already supplement with a very weak Sainsbury's Vit D tablet that I found laying around the house. Once I have my readings back i'll start on the big gun supplements if needs be

I was just wondering what a good time period of sun exposure would be, are we talking minutes, hours?

 

[rygon]

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2010/12December/Pages/sunlight-exposure-and-vitamin-d-advice.aspx

It all depends on the person and environment but goes on to say about 10-15mins of midday sun (with no suncream) a several days a week

 

[bigtruck]

The problem with the cheaper vit d supplements I believe is the absorption I think some people take them with some sort of oil as this helps with absorption.

 

[Beach]

I would guess it is not possible to make any vitamin D from sun exposure in the UK at this time of the year. The sun is not high enough in the sky. It probably will not be till sometimes in April in your neck of the world that UVB rays will be capable of making it to the ground. That's just a guess on my part.

There is now an app that can be downloaded that can tell approximately how much vitamin D your skin can make per location, time spent in the sun, on a particular day of the year. I imagine this will work in the UK. (Not for sure about that, as I have not used it myself at this point. I'm probably another 2 to 3 weeks away till sun bathing will be possible where I live.)

"Tool for Tracking Vitamin D from the Sun"

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=48267

 

[Gianni]

The Rule of thumb is 15 minutes a day in the sun for a fair skinned individual (about 30-40 minutes for darker skinned individuals) with no shirt on would yield the RDA of healthy Vitamin D. My personal rule of thumb is... don't worry about too long of sun exposure let's go for hours . I feel like its kind of silly that everyone is scared of the sun

As for the foggy months of the year, our bodies have a great capacity to store the vitamin D in the fat cells and use it slowly over those months so make sure you are out in the sun on those rare sunny days or during the sunny season.

I do know David knows a quite a bit about the subject and has even talked to some vitamin D experts so I'm going to give him another tag.

Gianni

 

[Jam300]

I feel like its kind of silly that everyone is scared of the sun

Gianni

People were scared of fire when they first saw it too, trust me, in England we haven't quite learned how to react to it yet!

 

[sashaz]

I was in Dubai for Christmas and had a good week of vitamin D. Must say I felt really good while I was away. Really made sure my vitamin D supplementation was good when I got back.

 

[rygon]

I think most of the UK population look like this after the 1st weekend of summer

Luckily we dont get to see it very often (havent seen it in 2 weeks so far as its been foggy and overcast everyday )

 

[xX_LittleMissValentine_Xx]

In the UK the sun comes in at the right wavelengths for us to get Vit D from March- September. (I got that out of one of my Nutrition text books)

 

[Jam300]

Thanks Holly, hopefully that means I got myself some much needed replenishment yesterday after a good few months of cloud.

 

[xX_LittleMissValentine_Xx]

Hopefully you will get a few more chances before September too!

 

[Beach]

I figured there was probably also a web that could figure this out. Saw this in which you enter you location, hour of day, your skin type, and date. It will then mention how many minutes one needs to be outside in the sun to produce 1000ius of vitamin D3. If you are near London, noticed the sight is configured for there.

"How Much Sunshine Does it Take to Make Enough
Vitamin D? Perhaps More Than You Think!"

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a...gh-vitamin-d-perhaps-more-than-you-think.aspx

 

[xX_LittleMissValentine_Xx]

That is so clever! Thanks Beach!

 

[Beach]

LMV - It isn't the most user friendly sight, but figure it might come in handy.