At last a decent article on the Vitamin D prevents cancer issue.
Exposure to sun 'may help people with cancer survive'
Sunbathing warnings may have been too simplistic, say scientists By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor
You will see I've commented below the article to enable people to take effective action.
5 comments:
Cheers Ted thanks for the link.
It would be great if some more people who understood the importance of vitamin D and it's role in cancer prevention used the comments facility at Independent minds I feel a bit like a lone voice in the wilderness.
Surely the sight of naked flesh is only pornographic if it is is intentionally sexually oriented or explicit.
Discreet sunbathing on a public beach doesn't rate very highly on my scale of pornography.
This recent study of pregnant women shows 100% had levels below 75nmol/l.
Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in pregnant women: a longitudinal study.
and that included those taking supplements.
We have got to encourage everyone, including pregnant and nursing mothers that regular UVB exposure of as much skin as is possible will improve their health, lead to a safer more successful pregnancy and healthier babies and the sight of a naked pregnant person sunbathing is not in any way pornographic it's merely a sensible healthy way of getting adequate amounts of vitamin d3 for free.
I've just seen this - I hope your enegergetic commenting on the Independent's article persuaded more people to look into vitamin D3 supplementation and ease up on the sun screen.
What are your views on using sun beds? My hairdresser (very pale, like me) uses an automated commercial machine from time to time, at a cost of about 40p per minute. I was wondering if this would be a good substitute for sunbathing in winter.
Meanwhile, I'll keep taking the D3 capsules.
I personally use my own low pressure high UVB sunbed at home in the winter (bought secondhand from Ebay).
Given the trivial cost of vitamin d3 capsules $5 disc ount code WAB666 I don't think tanning beds can ever be as cheap as using effective strength capsules.
I also think you need to prepare your skin before UVB exposure or you may burn easily. Avoid trans fat. It's found in margarine, shortening, refined soy and canola oils, many deep fried foods and processed foods in general.
Avoid industrial vegetable oils and other sources of excess omega-6. Eating pastured or omega-3 eggs, rather than conventional eggs, can help reduce dietary AA as well.
Ensure a regular intake of omega-3 fats from seafood. You may need as much as 1#2grams of omega 3 (EPA+ DHA= @ 1.5g) Allow at least a week of 2g omega3 daily before expecting improved photoprotection and understand that probably 3months before significant changes to tissue omega 3 levels and by 2yrs perhaps 50% of you cells will be at the evolutionary standard. So your natural sunscreen potential will steadily improve, (if you keep on with the low omega 6 high omega 3 regime) over the next 5yrs.
Our skin is our largest organ and it evolved to cope with UVB exposure and generate 10,000~20,000iu rapidly given full body sun exposure.
The main reason, IMO, why modern skin is unable to safely cope with UVB exposure is the lack of natural anti inflammatory agents. Being omega 3 deficient but having lots of pro inflammatory omega 6 in the skin simply adds fuel to the fire.
I think there are some benefits to sun (UVB)exposure that cannot be replicated by using supplements.
I doubt we would have evolved endorphins to reward sun exposure if the practice wasn't necessary to our survival.
We have cells on the skin surface that process D3 into both calcidiol and calcitriol, this enables a better response to pathogens at the point we are most vulnerable.
Although Liver and Kidneys are the main centers for calcidiol and cacitriol production they may only be the tip of the iceberg and ensuring reserves of D3 match circulating levels of 25(OH)D gives us the best chance of dealing with trouble promptly and effectively.
My concern with recommending commercial sunbeds in the UK is that by EU law the amount of UVB the produce is strictly limited. It's now very difficult to find any wholesalers selling high UVB output tanning tubes. UVA mainly damages the skin, (it's possible some previtamin d is made by UVA and that could improve D3 production when UVB is available.)
Another problem is that the UVB output of tubes declines as the tubes age. At home you can roughly work out how many hours you've used the bed over the winter and how many years you've had the bed so will have an idea if you've exceeded 500hrs but this would be difficult in a professional tannign studio and I'm not sure tanning studio's have UVB meters to check the beds are actually producing UVB in effective amounts?
So the answer is YES I think using a tanning bed over the winter MAY improve your Vitamin D3 status. It may prepare your skin for summer sun exposure. It MAY (providing the tubes are low pressure and emit UVB) be a good source of vitamin d.
Unless I know for certain that the tubes in the bed I was using definitely emitted UVB I wouldn't bother.
I'm not sure I think £4.00 for 10minutes twice a week would be as good as spending £10 on 360 x 5000iu/vitamin D3 and taking one daily.
I personally take 5000iu/daily and use regular full body prone sun exposure when possible April ~ September and twice weekly UVB exposure October ~ March.
I try to keep my 25(OH)D levels above 60ng/ml. I have an underlying chronic inflammatory condition that I'm controlling much better now I keep my natural anti inflammatory status as high as possible.
Have you read Jacob Liebermans' book "Light: Medicine of the Future" and John Otts' book I think it is called "Health and Light"...? In the first book I think that is where I read that those who work under flourescent lights get skin cancer due to the mercury vapors produced at the end of the bulbs. Outdoor workers are healthy in comparison due to absence of mercury vapors and flourescents. However, if you go from indoor living to Australia, one has to gradually expose themself to the sun and use protective hats or sleeves. Sun screen and other chemicals in body care products also contribute to cancer....
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