4 ms·
I've read varying reports of how much sun you need to generate a day's supply of vitamin D, but rarely do they mention how much skin needs to be exposed. Face
by Johnny555 9y ago
I've read varying reports of how much sun you need to generate a day's supply of vitamin D, but rarely do they mention how much skin needs to be exposed.
Face only? Face and arms? Entire upper body? Entire body?
Is there some online resource for this with time of year and latitude corrections? I imagine there's quite a difference between vitamin D production in noon sun in Fairbanks Alaska versus Miami Florida.
- cellis 9y agoDepends on a lot of things as you mentioned, but also especially on your pigmentation/levels of sunburn. I'm very dark skinned, so I need a lot longer for UV rays to penetrate.
- astura 9y agoWould depend on how dark your skin is.
- appleiigs 9y agoI did some searching... "John Jacob Cannell, MD, executive director of The Vitamin D Council, notes that the skin makes 10,000 IU of vitamin D after 30 minutes of full-body sun exposure. He suggests that 10,000 IU of vitamin D is not toxic." https://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/features/the-truth-about-vitamin-d-can-you-get-too-much-vitamin-d https://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/features/the-truth-about-...
- AstralStorm 9y agoExcept that 10000 IU is mostly localized in skin and released a bit slower.
- pkaye 9y agoFor it, my face and arms are exposed. I walk in the bay area sun for 15 minutes after lunch. Doing this regularly over a month or two will boost my numbers from the mid 20s to mid 30s.
- twobyfour 9y agoNot to mention it needs to be adjusted for skin tone. The whole reason that humans have a range of skin tones is that paler skin allows for better vitamin D absorption at higher latitudes.
- thinkingemote 9y agoNote that in the winter months even if you're naked outside in the UK you won't get any vitamin D, the sun is too low, the latitude (about same as Alaska) too high.