6 ms·

Or just get some sunshine! It's likely there are other benefits, besides just the vitamin D.

by dilap 6y ago

zmmmmm 6y ago
Oddly the study didn't seem to state (from the abstract anyway) if the participants were deficient in vitamin D to start with or not.
randmeerkat 6y ago
Sure, but the winter climates in many geographical regions don’t provide adequate sunlight during winter.
- wincy 6y ago
  I was pretty amazed to Discover that Spirit Airlines is doing round trip flights for $75 to Orlando from my local airport. If you’re in the Midwest in a midsized city that’s cold and dreary in winter there’s a good chance you can find a similar deal.
  - superkuh 6y ago
    A lot of this interest in vitamin D is motivated by the desire to not die from getting infected with sars-cov-2. Or not dying in general. Travel like that is counter-productive currently.
  - randmeerkat 6y ago
    I know different people have different risk tolerances, but there’s no way I would get on a plane during a pandemic if I don’t have to.
    - artursapek 6y ago
      An airplane is probably a safer place to be than your local grocery store right now.
      - dragonwriter 6y ago
        Unless airplanes are alternatives to grocery stores, even if that comparison was accurate it would be meaningless.
      - moron4hire 6y ago
        Am I the only one who finds it laughable to consider trusting the word of companies the likes of Delta, Southwest, and US Air? They seem fundamentally incompetent in pretty much every other aspect of anything that doesn't involve literally keeping the plane from crashing. Why would I believe the air filtration systems are even going to be operational, say nothing about effective when they are?
        sokoloff 6y ago
        Pressurized airliners have about 15 air changes per hour or 3-4x what’s typical in an office building. This is air exchanges with the outside, not filtration cycles which are in addition. Even if the filters were entirely INOP, I suspect you’re no worse off than sitting in an office building. Now, I’m not doing that right now, but there’s little reason to think major US carriers aren’t doing what they say they’re doing and if the air change mechanism wasn’t working, you’d see oxygen masks deploying as that’s the mechanism by which the aircraft remains pressurized.
        moron4hire 6y ago
        Sitting in an office building is one of the worst places you can be for avoiding getting sick.
        treeman79 6y ago
        Kids kind of makes it all pointless. They catch everything and bring it home. It was nice not being sick for so many months. 2 weeks after they went back. Bam, everyone sick. And that’s with intense mask rules and distancing
        6y ago
  - raffraffraff 6y ago
    Congratulations, you have proposed the least ecologically sustainable vitamin boost I've ever heard. Every day brings new surprises.
radicalriddler 6y ago
Well I mean, in Australia, that leads to skin cancer, so I'll just take some tablets thanks!
- dilap 6y ago
  We're starting to get into some pretty controversial territory here, but I think you're probably better off still getting at least SOME sunshine. It's speculative, but I believe the skin cancer risk can be dramatically reduced by making sure you're not getting too much linoleic acid in your diet (note: you really have to try at this, tho -- almost every1 is!). Here's a study in mice: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1751-1097.1988.tb02882.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1751-1097.... Of course, that's not humans, but I think the fundamental mechanisms at play should be the same. More broadly, this article is interesting, and makes the case for more sun exposure: https://www.outsideonline.com/2380751/sunscreen-sun-exposure-skin-cancer-science https://www.outsideonline.com/2380751/sunscreen-sun-exposure...
  - radicalriddler 6y ago
    Interesting. Other information [0] suggest that I should consume more lineolic acids compared to other fats to help my risk of Heart Disease that runs in the family. Not looking good for me hey! [0] https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2014/11/05/dietary-linoleic-acid-and-risk-of-coronary-heart-disease/ https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2014/11/05/diet...
- senectus1 6y ago
  Doctors in Australia recommend approximately 15 mins of sunshine a day in Australia. This is pretty easy to achieve, even in winter, for us... and is unlikely to "lead to skin cancer"
- pfarnsworth 6y ago
  Vitamin D taken via pill is not the same an that manufactured by sunlight. The pill form has side effects like causing too much absorption of calcium in the intestines, which leads to other problems. This is something that doesn't happen from sunlight.
Ragib_Zaman 6y ago
Correct. Perhaps even more important than vitamin D is nitric oxide. The summarised advice is to avoid the sun when it is high in the sky (noon-ish), get some sun in the mornings/evenings, and supplement vitamin D. This ensures good levels of vitamin D and nitric oxide while reducing skin cancer risk. Details here: https://youtu.be/Kvh4D_osFXs https://youtu.be/Kvh4D_osFXs
null_object 6y ago
> Or just get some sunshine! Where I live I haven't been able to get sun actually on my skin for the last three weeks. I saw sunshine through the window one day last week while in a meeting, but it was gone an hour later. According to my weather app the next break in cloud is more than a week from now. Even when there is sunshine in the winter, it's often too cold to expose more than a tiny amount of skin anyway. Please don't assume we all live in California.
- carlmr 6y ago
  >Please don't assume we all live in California. Same here, although at least there's sun on weekends for me (if it isn't cloudy). Looking out the window, and being outside on the weekend with a winter hat and long sleeves is probably not allowing a lot of vitamin D. I'm wondering if there's something like a good lamp that gives UV light without being too strong.
  - treeman79 6y ago
    UV bath in Russia. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/2009/10/ultraviolet-bath-mcnally-pod/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-...
neilwilson 6y ago
That doesn't work at the latitudes some of us live at. https://new-wayland.com/blog/onward-to-100-nmol/ https://new-wayland.com/blog/onward-to-100-nmol/
Noxmiles 6y ago
No. I'm a computer scientist and work at the computer. In my free time i play at the computer. I don't like to walk around for kilometers in my free time. Just because some people want to do it / can do it, it is not the same for everyone.
treeman79 6y ago
I’m allergic to the sun. Autoimmune. A day in full sun will mean months of agony.

Or just get some sunshine! It's likely there are other benefits, besides just the vitamin D.

by dilap 6y ago

Or just get some sunshine! It's likely there are other benefits, besides just the vitamin D.

Oddly the study didn't seem to state (from the abstract anyway) if the participants were deficient in vitamin D to start with or not.

randmeerkat 6y ago

Sure, but the winter climates in many geographical regions don’t provide adequate sunlight during winter.

wincy 6y ago
I was pretty amazed to Discover that Spirit Airlines is doing round trip flights for $75 to Orlando from my local airport. If you’re in the Midwest in a midsized city that’s cold and dreary in winter there’s a good chance you can find a similar deal.
- superkuh 6y ago
  A lot of this interest in vitamin D is motivated by the desire to not die from getting infected with sars-cov-2. Or not dying in general. Travel like that is counter-productive currently.
- randmeerkat 6y ago
  I know different people have different risk tolerances, but there’s no way I would get on a plane during a pandemic if I don’t have to.
  - artursapek 6y ago
    An airplane is probably a safer place to be than your local grocery store right now.
    - dragonwriter 6y ago
      Unless airplanes are alternatives to grocery stores, even if that comparison was accurate it would be meaningless.
    - moron4hire 6y ago
      Am I the only one who finds it laughable to consider trusting the word of companies the likes of Delta, Southwest, and US Air? They seem fundamentally incompetent in pretty much every other aspect of anything that doesn't involve literally keeping the plane from crashing. Why would I believe the air filtration systems are even going to be operational, say nothing about effective when they are?
      - sokoloff 6y ago
        Pressurized airliners have about 15 air changes per hour or 3-4x what’s typical in an office building. This is air exchanges with the outside, not filtration cycles which are in addition. Even if the filters were entirely INOP, I suspect you’re no worse off than sitting in an office building. Now, I’m not doing that right now, but there’s little reason to think major US carriers aren’t doing what they say they’re doing and if the air change mechanism wasn’t working, you’d see oxygen masks deploying as that’s the mechanism by which the aircraft remains pressurized.
        moron4hire 6y ago
        Sitting in an office building is one of the worst places you can be for avoiding getting sick.
        treeman79 6y ago
        Kids kind of makes it all pointless. They catch everything and bring it home. It was nice not being sick for so many months. 2 weeks after they went back. Bam, everyone sick. And that’s with intense mask rules and distancing
        6y ago
- raffraffraff 6y ago
  Congratulations, you have proposed the least ecologically sustainable vitamin boost I've ever heard. Every day brings new surprises.

radicalriddler 6y ago

Well I mean, in Australia, that leads to skin cancer, so I'll just take some tablets thanks!

dilap 6y ago
We're starting to get into some pretty controversial territory here, but I think you're probably better off still getting at least SOME sunshine. It's speculative, but I believe the skin cancer risk can be dramatically reduced by making sure you're not getting too much linoleic acid in your diet (note: you really have to try at this, tho -- almost every1 is!). Here's a study in mice: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1751-1097.1988.tb02882.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1751-1097.... Of course, that's not humans, but I think the fundamental mechanisms at play should be the same. More broadly, this article is interesting, and makes the case for more sun exposure: https://www.outsideonline.com/2380751/sunscreen-sun-exposure-skin-cancer-science https://www.outsideonline.com/2380751/sunscreen-sun-exposure...
- radicalriddler 6y ago
  Interesting. Other information [0] suggest that I should consume more lineolic acids compared to other fats to help my risk of Heart Disease that runs in the family. Not looking good for me hey! [0] https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2014/11/05/dietary-linoleic-acid-and-risk-of-coronary-heart-disease/ https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2014/11/05/diet...
senectus1 6y ago
Doctors in Australia recommend approximately 15 mins of sunshine a day in Australia. This is pretty easy to achieve, even in winter, for us... and is unlikely to "lead to skin cancer"
pfarnsworth 6y ago
Vitamin D taken via pill is not the same an that manufactured by sunlight. The pill form has side effects like causing too much absorption of calcium in the intestines, which leads to other problems. This is something that doesn't happen from sunlight.

Ragib_Zaman 6y ago

Correct. Perhaps even more important than vitamin D is nitric oxide. The summarised advice is to avoid the sun when it is high in the sky (noon-ish), get some sun in the mornings/evenings, and supplement vitamin D. This ensures good levels of vitamin D and nitric oxide while reducing skin cancer risk. Details here: https://youtu.be/Kvh4D_osFXs https://youtu.be/Kvh4D_osFXs

null_object 6y ago

> Or just get some sunshine! Where I live I haven't been able to get sun actually on my skin for the last three weeks. I saw sunshine through the window one day last week while in a meeting, but it was gone an hour later. According to my weather app the next break in cloud is more than a week from now. Even when there is sunshine in the winter, it's often too cold to expose more than a tiny amount of skin anyway. Please don't assume we all live in California.

carlmr 6y ago
>Please don't assume we all live in California. Same here, although at least there's sun on weekends for me (if it isn't cloudy). Looking out the window, and being outside on the weekend with a winter hat and long sleeves is probably not allowing a lot of vitamin D. I'm wondering if there's something like a good lamp that gives UV light without being too strong.
- treeman79 6y ago
  UV bath in Russia. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/2009/10/ultraviolet-bath-mcnally-pod/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-...

neilwilson 6y ago

That doesn't work at the latitudes some of us live at. https://new-wayland.com/blog/onward-to-100-nmol/ https://new-wayland.com/blog/onward-to-100-nmol/

Noxmiles 6y ago

No. I'm a computer scientist and work at the computer. In my free time i play at the computer. I don't like to walk around for kilometers in my free time. Just because some people want to do it / can do it, it is not the same for everyone.

treeman79 6y ago

I’m allergic to the sun. Autoimmune. A day in full sun will mean months of agony.