Vitamin D Deficiency
In The Age newspaper on Sunday (9th Dec 2007) there was a great article about the dangers of insufficient sun exposure.
Read the full article here.
In our beautiful sun-drenched Australia, we’ve been given the one-sided view of how dangerous it is to go outside without sunscreen on every single part of our bodies.
So after being told to “Slip Slop Slap” for around 25 years now, the news is out that without sufficient sun exposure (no sunscreen please), a large proportion of the population is suffering from vitamin D deficiencies.
Big deal you might say - can’t I just take vitamin pill or eat food that has vitamin D in it?
Well, you can do both of those things, but they come in as a poor second compared to exposing your skin (at least 40% of your body) to the life-giving and nourishing rays of the sun. A little bit every day is all you need - everything in moderation my grandmother used to say.
In the article it mentions vitamin D deficiencies causing fractures, bone disease and deadly illnesses. Interestingly, the article doesn’t elaborate on what these “deadly diseases” might be.
I came across the following quote from from a research study done at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego. You can read the full article here
“600,000 cases of breast and colorectal cancer could be avoided each year by an adequate intake of vitamin D”
That’s a pretty bold claim - one that the specialists interviewed by “The Age” have not mentioned. Instead the article suggests emerging evidence linking vitamin D deficiencies to colon, breast and prostate cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and other diseases in it’s closing paragraph.
Even without such amazing statistics on cancer, links between low levels of vitamin D and massive increases in the number of people being treated in hospitals with osteoporosis-related broken bones is costing our health system $1.9 billion a year in treatments.
You might read this and think about the excessive burden currently weighing down our health care system in Australia and wonder why our public health authorities aren’t recommending cautious and sensible sun exposure - as little as 10-15 minutes per day on 40% of your body (outside of the peak sunlight hours of 10am-2pm).
Sounds pretty logical to me.
Helena
