Are You Getting Enough Vitamin D Through Sunlight?

Are You Getting Enough Vitamin D Through Sunlight?

Vitamin D is essential for healthy bones and teeth as it maintains body's calcium and phosphate levels. Apart from that, it also plays an important role in immunity.

When you are exposed to sunlight, the UVB rays of the sun acts upon cholesterol present under your skin to form vitamin D. This Vitamin D is in its inactive form. It gets converted into its active form in the liver and kidneys.
We all know that sun light is the major source of vitamin D. But, are you getting enough vitamin D through Sunlight? This is a big question specially for vegans.
There are many factors that affect the formation of Vitamin D when your body is exposed to the sun like time of exposure, skin color, sunscreen and many more. Let us discuss them below...

) Time of exposure : 5 minutes to 30 minutes (depending upon skin colour and intensity of sunlight) of Sunlight exposure to face, arms and legs twice a week generally produces adequate vitamin D in the body.
) Skin colour: Darker skin requires more time of exposure.
) Intensity of light : The weaker the sunlight the more time of exposure is needed.
) Glass windows : Exposure to sunlight through glass window is insufficient as it blocks the UVB radiations almost completely.
) Sunscreen : Sunscreen absorbs or reflects UV rays and prevents it from reaching the skin to a great extent. Sunscreen with SPF 8 reduces the synthesis of vitamin D by 95% and those with SPF 15 reduces by 98%. Exposure of skin to sunlight without sunscreen is necessary for the synthesis of vitamin D. But if you are going in intense sunlight for longer periods then putting on the sunscreen is a good idea to prevent sunburns and other skin problems.
) Age : Older people require more time of exposure to sunlight as their capacity for producing Vitamin D decreases.

Hope you find the article 'Are You Getting Enough Vitamin D Through Sunlight?' useful..

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