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Are Vitamin D supplements and Vitamin D obtained from the sun the same thing? What I mean is, are supplements good enough, or is sun exposure really required?
by jsdalton 16y ago
Are Vitamin D supplements and Vitamin D obtained from the sun the same thing? What I mean is, are supplements good enough, or is sun exposure really required?
- robg 16y agoScientifically, that seems to be a tough question to answer. But it's probably better if your body makes it because it will be more easily usable. You only need 15 mins of direct sun exposure to produce more than enough for your daily requirements. The problem is my body has stopped producing Vitamin D. We've tried kick starting the system with the 50,000 IU dose and it barely moved my levels. Of course, the sun is also free (unless you worry that 15 mins/day can cause cancer) while if you buy supplements you'd want the high quality ones and preferably in a fatty medium for easier absorption. The D3 form is more easily converted by the body into an active form.
- adammichaelc 16y ago"you only need 15 minutes" It's important to qualify that this is only true of people with lower levels of melanin (ie white people). For Hispanics and Asians/Indians the number is probably closer to 60 minutes, and for those of African descent the number is closer to 120 minutes.
- sliverstorm 16y agoThat's evolution in action, folks. Just look at where each ethnicity originates from, and it makes perfect sense. When you live in northern Europe, you may not get much sun, and have to make the most of it.
- arethuza 16y agoI'm in Scotland, what is this "sun" thing you speak of?
- jacquesm 16y agoPossibly your skin can make vitamin D from rain ?
- arethuza 16y agoI believe we Scots are adapted (or at least attempting to adapt) to produce the necessary vitamins from a combination of alcohol and deep fried food. (e.g. deep fried pizzas and Mars bars).
- jacquesm 16y agoFish & Chips actually contain quite a bit of vitamin D!
- stcredzero 16y agoThe Scots have adapted to harsh modern environments containing hazards like the deep fat fryer, but what of more recent technological hazards? (And Hollywood!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FFRoYhTJQQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FFRoYhTJQQ
- sliverstorm 16y agoIt's a large, blazing fiery mystic beast that is greatly feared for its ability to kill masses of people through silent, sneaky death via waves. Many people are convinced one day it will destroy everything. You're missing out, really.
- jamesbritt 16y agoCome to Phoenix, AZ. I'll give you a demo. :)
- benpbenp 16y agoAn interesting addition to that point is the fact that it's the unique combination of little sun + arable land that set the stage for whiteness to develop in northern Europe. Take northern Native Americans-- they had little sun but also couldn't grow grains and so got plenty of vitamin D through their meat-only diet. There was an article here on HN about this some time ago.
- robg 16y agoDo you have sources for those numbers? They seem very high.
- adammichaelc 16y agoA quick google search found this: http://www.google.com/search?q=%223-6+times%22+%22vitamin+d%22+AND+melanin&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari http://www.google.com/search?q=%223-6+times%22+%22vitamin+d%... My battery is about to die in the iPhone, so I don't have time to curate the list, but from a quick glance a couple of the sources from the google search look credible.
- jamesk2 16y agoSeason and location are factors too. In the winter in the SF bay area, it's very unlikely your skin can make enough vitamin D. After one winter here, I my D levels were at 20 ng/ml -- way below what many believe is the sufficient level of 30 ng/ml.
- aw3c2 16y agoAlso it is important to keep in mind that the sun has a lower altitude over the horizon in winter (for europeans), you need more exposure then.
- rarrrrrr 16y agoYes! It's also important to note that sunlight through glass DOES NOT COUNT.
- kristiandupont 16y agoWhy not?
- lulin 16y agoProbably because glass filters UV light.
- jlcgull 16y agoAs a corollary to this, I am also curious about vitamin D levels in people using UV tanning beds. Assuming equal carcinogenic potential from sun exposure and from such beds (which is most likely an incorrect assumption), the results should be insightful.
- carbocation 16y agoSo long as they're getting exposed to UVB, they should be producing Vitamin D. E.g., http://www.nature.com/jid/journal/v125/n5/full/5603599a.html http://www.nature.com/jid/journal/v125/n5/full/5603599a.html The absolute amount of Vitamin D needed is quite modest, and the risk of cancer is (typically seen as) proportional to sun exposure; hence the recommendation for some - but not much - UV exposure.
- fauigerzigerk 16y agoI would assume that it gets turned into the same thing by the process they describe in the article. It ends up as 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which is what they measure in the end I believe. But I'm anything but an expert.
- joezydeco 16y agoFTA: "Although more foods today are supplemented with vitamin D, experts say it is rarely possible to consume adequate amounts through foods."
- gregwebs 16y agoUV-B reacts with the 7-Dehydrocholesterol in your skin to produce cholecalciferol (D3) If you take vitamin D, make sure it is D3! So either way it will hit your liver as D3. The body was designed to get D from sun, and it is difficult to overdose that way unless you are a lifeguard. It is easy enough to overdose on D if it is taken orally. There are other effects than vitamin D from sun exposure- it would be presumptuous to assume you could achieve optimal health from a vitamin D supplement.
- miked 16y agoIf you take vitamin D, make sure it is D3! In his book _The Vitamin D Solution_, Dr. Michael Holick ( the discoverer of the active form of Vit-D) debunks this myth with data. I haven't read most of it, but it looks interesting.
- gregwebs 16y agoThanks, I have his older book- I will see if he mentions that in there. I think either way it would be a safer bet to take D3- it seems everyone (including Holick I presume) is in agreement that D3 is a perfectly good form of vitamin D.
- flatulent1 16y agoI believe that vitamin D is best taken with and is absorbed in and later stored in fat (and the liver). Excessive amounts of animal fat are bad since it is a saturated fat, but some is beneficial. I suspect that range fed beef has more vitamin D since animals in the open get more sun and would store vitamin D in a smaller amount of fat built up over more time. Obese corn fed feed lot cattle are less healthy for other reasons also. The corn diet is very unnatural for them. It leads to rapid fat buildup with some meats containing over four times the fat of range fed animals. The diet causes the digestive system to become more acidic making the animals prone to various infections including E-coli a very dangerous bacteria. The E-coli mutates in the overly acidic animals becoming a form which humans often can't fight off without antibiotics if it wasn't already killed in cooking. The E-coli in range fed animals is not so troublesome. Bacterial that does survive in the animals loaded with antibiotics is also apt to be more resistant to treatment. Because of the the danger of E-coli, ground beef must be cooked well done all the way through. Slaughter exposes meat from other parts of the animal to the bacteria and if gets mixed all the way through when ground. Other beef should be eaten fresh and washed well before cooking, and utensils and cutting boards used with the raw meat should be kept separate from those used for vegetables and other foods. Besides tasting better, non-ground beef is more nutritious if the color isn't cooked out. Meat that's still juicy contains a fair amount of iron in the blood. PBS in the US has been running a documentary about corn production in Iowa. The subsidized inedible corn (tastes like cardboard, engineered for high yield per acre) is used mainly as cattle feed and to produce high fructose corn syrup, a non-nutritious addictive destructive AND CHEAP sweetener that's found its way into many of our foods. It's hurting us not only when consumed directly, but by degrading the beef produced as explained above. People consume more saturated fat in the beef. The excess fat and sugar has caused a major increase in diabetes in the last 20 years. Although supplements help with vitamin D problems, we really should be looking closely at what we eat and how it is produced. END CORN SUBSIDIES!!! contact your representatives. The corn isn't profitable without subsidies, farmers (big business now) would switch to nutritious crops if not paid to do the wrong thing. U.S. broadcasting has become dangerously consolidated in the hands of a small number of corporations and even more insidious venture capital groups. Pressure the F.C.C. and your representative for change, and watch and support your P.B.S. (non profit community tv) stations. For all of us to be healthier we should step back and see what's going on, be educated, produce healthy foods, eat properly, and live a healthier lifestyle. Some would say that's all too costly, but disease treatment costs even more and there is no price tag on suffering.