Sunlight is essential to maintaining good health. As your skin absorbs sunlight, it helps your body produce vitamin D, which is vital for your immune system and skeletal health.
Getting enough sunlight is important for your mood, mental well-being, and physical health. Ultraviolet light (UV) is a group of sun rays that your body absorbs when you expose your skin to sunlight.
UV light comes in 3 forms:
UV light A (UVA), which has longer wavelengths and can penetrate the skin more deeply
UV light B (UVB), which has shorter wavelengths
UV light C (UVC), which the ozone usually blocks, and is most likely to cause cancer
Your skin absorbs UVA and UVB and uses UVB to help produce vitamin D.
Vitamin D is an essential molecule for physical health and ensures that many of your body’s processes continue to function.
Getting enough vitamin D can be difficult, and vitamin D deficiency affects millions of adults in the United States.
While getting enough sun exposure is important, it’s also important to be careful about too much. UV exposure can cause skin cancer. It’s essential to find the right balance between healthy sun exposure and too much exposure to harmful UV rays.
Recommended amount of sun exposure
The American Academy of Dermatology Association (AAD) recommends that people stay out of the sun from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., as this is when UVR is the most likely to cause skin cancer.
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People with light skin tones should aim for at most 5 minutes of UV exposure daily, while those with dark skin tones should aim for at most 20 minutes.
While you can get vitamin D through your diet, the main source of vitamin D comes from your skin. Your need for vitamin D increases as you age. People ages 70 years and above have a higher vitamin D need than young adults.
If you’re over 70 years old or have a dark skin tone, it can help to remain aware of your exposure to sunlight to ensure you’re getting enough.
The amount of sunlight you need daily will vary depending on the strength of UV in your location. UV strength varies depending on the country you live in and how close you are to the equator.
While getting enough sunlight is important, you can get vitamin D from supplements and certain foods, such as salmon and mackerel, without increasing your risk of skin cancer.
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There are multiple factors to consider when making sure you get enough vitamin D. These factors can affect how your body absorbs UV. They include:
Skin color: People with more melanin in their skin are more likely to be deficient in vitamin D. A 2021 study found that African Americans have a 15–20-fold higher chance of developing vitamin D deficiency.
Distance from the equator: Other than in the summertime, when sunlight hours are long and UV is more intense, your skin makes little vitamin D if you live at latitudes more than 37 degrees north or south of the equator. If you live in these regions, you may be at an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency.
Sunscreen: Wearing sunscreen blocks UVB. This means that if you’re wearing enough SPF, you may be lowering the amount of vitamin D you absorb from sunlight. However, most people don’t use enough sunscreen to block all UVB.
Symptoms of vitamin D deficiency
If you’re deficient in vitamin D, it may be difficult to notice at first. Symptoms often take a while to present, if they do at all.
Signs and symptoms of a vitamin D deficiency include:
weight gain, which may also increase your risk of deficiency
Managing vitamin D deficiency
During the winter months, you may not be able to get enough sunlight to ensure your vitamin D levels are healthy. In this instance, supplements and diet can help boost your vitamin D levels.
Supplements that may help are available over the counter. For example, magnesium helps to activate vitamin D, so taking this mineral can help the vitamin D your body makes work more effectively.
A doctor may recommend a prescription dose of vitamin D to supplement the levels your body produces. These medications are available as oral tablets or injections, with maximum doses of 50,000 international units.
Certain foods can also help boost your vitamin D levels. They include:
oily fish, like salmon
mushrooms
soy milk
cereal
orange juice
Summary
Vitamin D is essential for a healthy skeletal system and a strong immune system to help fight illness and infection. Sunlight encourages your skin to produce a precursor molecule to vitamin D.
Where you live, the time of day and your skin color can affect how much sunlight you need to get enough UV exposure.
If you’re unable to get enough sunlight, you can take dietary supplements and vitamin D medications to boost your vitamin D levels.
Ames BN, et al. (2021). Does the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in African Americans contribute to health disparities? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33546262/
Ceolin G, et al. (2022). Vitamin D and depression in older adults: Lessons learned from observational and clinical studies. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35022097/
Liu Y, et al. (2020). Association of alopecia areata with vitamin D and calcium levels: A systemic review and meta-analysis. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32772238/