Starving for sunshine.
People in the United States face “severe vitamin D deficiency,” according to Michael F. Holick, a MED professor of medicine, dermatology, physiology, and biophysics, who spoke recently at a National Institutes of Health symposium on Vitamin D in the 21st Century.
Terming the deficiency a “severe, unrecognized epidemic,” he cited far-reaching health consequences, including increasing rates of breast cancer, colon cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, and multiple sclerosis. Holick, who isolated, identified, and synthesized the active form of vitamin D, said recent research reveals that “the 1997 daily recommended allowances . . . are totally inadequate to protect public health. . . . Adults should be getting 1,000 international units (IU) a day, not the 200 to 600 IU recommended in 1997.”
Taking diet supplements or drinking fortified milk or orange juice, however, does not provide enough of the vitamin. Holick recommends regular and moderate exposure to sunlight to allow the body to manufacture the vitamin D it needs. He proposes a national education campaign that “encourages people to get the exposure to sunlight they need and then put on lots of sunscreen.” He advises common sense in determining how much sun is needed. People with darker skin require more, light-skinned people less. The basic rule is to avoid sunburn to protect from skin cancer.
“Possible overexposure to ultraviolet light should not be an excuse to scare people out of the sun entirely,” Holick says.
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