Sounds like we may soon be seeing a modification in the
belief that we need to cover ourselves in SPF15 sunscreen
before we hit the sunshine. Studies by Harvard Medical
School professor Dr. Edward Giovannucci suggest that
moderate exposure to sunshine increases our levels of
Vitamin D to the point where the risk of prostate cancer in
men and PMS in women is greatly reduced. He argues that
staying out of the sun and blocking the benefit of the
increased Vitamin D can add as many as 70 cancer-related
deaths per 100,000 people per year (in a US population of
250 million, this translates to as many as 175,000 more
deaths per year).
Vitamin D is called the sunshine vitamin because the skin
naturally makes it using ultraviolet rays of the sun. Using
too much sunscreen blocks the ultraviolet rays making it
impossible to gain any positive effect. This challenges the
current position of health agencies, who teach that high
SPF lotions should be used at all sun exposures in order to
reduce the risk of skin cancer (melanoma). While what they
teach will reduce the risk of melanoma, these new studies
suggest that there is some middle ground that should be
studied further.
Comments by Dr. Joseph Mercola (author of the Total
Health Program) support how important Vitamin D and
sunshine are to total health care. He gives useful
suggestions as to the proper way to enjoy the sun, and
explains how to achieve maximum benefit from outdoor
activities. One of his suggestions is to slowly increase
sun exposure until you can exercise about one hour at a
time without risk of sunburn. Since Vitamin D is oil-
soluble, he suggests giving some time for the vitamin to
absorb back into the skin before bathing and washing it
off.
More information can be read here: http://www.mercola.com/
2005/jul/5/sunshine_vitamin_d.htm.