The Importance Of Sunshine

One of the most important things about sunshine is its ability to supply us with Vitamin D!  Sadly, things like the popular drink “Sunny D” and false claims on orange juice containers make it way too easy to think that drinking orange juice and store bought cow’s milk is the best way to get vitamin D.  Guess what? Your body is way more capable of supplying you with vitamin D from the sun than any processed food. 

When sunlight penetrates your skin cholesterol (the lifesaving nutrient, not the evil thing we once thought it was) it starts the process of turning the sunlight into vitamin D.  This process doesn’t seem that amazing unless we talk about the huge role that vitamin D plays in our health.

                Vitamin D is necessary for so many things, but we narrowed it down to 4 important ones here.   

1. Healthy immune system.  Your immune system does more than just fight away a cold!  It allows your body to be an efficient machine that kills anything bad from the flu virus and allergies to autoimmune disease and cancer.   

2. Healthy brain function.  What does your brain control?  Everything!  Since it controls everything, it will impact the health of everything. 

3. Gene regulation.  Vitamin D is technically a hormone.  It will affect the expression of around 10% of our genes. 

4. Our mood!  Vitamin D helps us to be in a good mood.  Studies have shown that there is a significant relationship between low levels of vitamin D and depression.

Here’s the problem. At one point or another we have all been scared of sunlight.  There are a lot of voices out there telling us that the harmful rays of the sun are sure to cause cancer and therefore sun without proper protection should be avoided completely.  Ironically with the increased use of sunscreen we see MORE cancer and more vitamin d deficiency, not less. 

Sunscreen will almost completely block the creation of any vitamin D.  Even very low SPF sunscreen like 20 SPF blocks most of your body’s ability to make vitamin D from sunshine.

Don’t worry, there is a better way.  People have lived for thousands of years without sunscreen and with way fewer cases of cancer.  We are certainly not telling you to go spend hours in direct sunlight till you are as red as a tomato.  Sun burn is your bodies’ way of telling you you’ve gotten too much sun at once. 

So, what’s the solution?  Spend smaller amount of time outside in the beginning of spring/summer for your body can get used to being in direct sunlight.   If you are required to spend more time outside than your skin can handle, here are some safe sun blocking options and their SPF ratings:

Carrot Seed Oil –  SPF 35-40
Red Raspberry Seed Oil SPF 25-50
Zinc Oxide SPF around 20This is a common one used in pre-packaged “natural” sunscreens.
Almond Oil- SPF around 5
Coconut Oil- SPF 4-6
Shea Butter – SPF 4-6

If you have a tendency to burn badly and get flaky peeling skin from sunburns you should  consider the possibility of being deficient in healthy fats.  These symptoms tell us that your body does not have enough healthy fat, cholesterol, and fat soluble vitamins to protect your body from the harmful rays of the sun.  The cool thing is that the foods that are highest in Vitamin D are also high in healthy fats and cholesterol. 

Here are some options: Wild-caught fish like halibut and salmon, Portable mushrooms, Tuna, Eggs.

As a culture, we don’t spend nearly enough time outside. Try to get 20-30 minutes outside a day.  With arms and legs exposed your body can make 10,000 IU’s of vitamin D in 10 minutes.  If you just aren’t able to spend time outside when the sun is directly above you in the sky (which is the best time for making vitamin D) then try to eat a lot of the food options above and consider supplementing Vitamin D. 

Since North Dakota has longer winters it can be tricky to get enough sunlight so supplementation will usually be needed for around 8 months out of the year. 

Our vitamin D stories: 

Dr. Alex had been taking 5,000 IU (the standard daily dose) for a few years before checking his levels.  His levels came out surprisingly low (31) so he upped his dose to 10,000 IU a day and will continue that for a few months before retesting.  It can be tricky to get your levels up especially since things like stress will drain your levels. 

In November Nicole’s levels were 29, she supplemented with 10,000 IU a day and rechecked in four months and her levels were 55!  For the summer, she is getting lots of sunshine and taking 10,000 once a week. 

Knowing your vitamin D level is extremely important.  If you have never had your vitamin D levels checked we have a quick and east test we can do in the office at Maximized Chiropractic which is where I see all of my Nutritional Therapy clients. My favorite part about this vitamin D test is that you don’t even have to draw blood.  

If you want more info on the vitamin D test that I offer fill out the contact form on this site or call Maximized Chiropractic at 701-751-6000

This article was written in collaboration with Dr. Alex Coleman at Maximized Chiropractic. To learn more about the practice visit this site maximizedchiro.com