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When I was a kid growing up, my mom used to say “Go outdoors and play, the Sun will do your body good!” Of course, I had no problem with that. I loved being in the Sun and I still do. But other than just feeling great on my skin, what was it about sunlight that was so good for me?

I soon learned in elementary school science class that it was primarily the health benefits from Vitamin D that she was talking about. But I didn’t know just how important Vitamin D is to living a healthy life until I attended a seminar called The Silent Epidemic of Vitamin D Deficiency recently. And I also found out that as important as the Sun is as a source of Vitamin D, the Sun is not enough!

Dr. Joseph Mercola says that the growing health problem of vitamin D deficiency is considered a Silent Epidemic for a very good reason — most people aren’t aware it even exists. And as research continues in this area of concern, the list of diseases potentially caused by this epidemic continues to grow and grow. Diseases like Osteoporosis, Osteomalacia (the adult form of rickets), some Cancers, and even Alzheimer’s disease.

Sunlight is man’s primary source of vitamin D, and the mechanism by which the sun delivers its healing power is through ultraviolet-B (UV-B) light, which is synthesized by the body into vitamin D. Man originated and developed in tropical and sub-tropical environs and our metabolic make-up requires this synthesis process for good health. Most all of us need to expose far more of our skin to the sun during the hours just before and after noon to get the beneficial UV-B. The other sunny hours of the day don’t provide this benefit.

Now, by this point I already had several questions, including:

1. I thought exposing our skin to UV-B was a bad idea. What about the risk of skin cancer?
2. If two to four hours of sun a day is so beneficial, why do you say the sun is not enough?
3. Milk has vitamin D. Doesn’t that compensate?
4. Why should I even care about this? I mean, do I really need to worry about rickets in 2011?

Let’s look at the skin cancer question first:

Dr. Krispin Sullivan explains that Ultraviolet (UV) light is divided into 3 bands or wavelength ranges, which are referred to as UV-C, UV-B and UV-A. UV-C is the most energetic and shortest of the UV bands. It will burn human skin rapidly in extremely small doses. Fortunately, it is completely absorbed by the ozone layer. However, UV-C is present in some light sources. For this reason, fluorescent and halogen and other specialty lights may contribute to skin cancer.

UV-A, known as the “tanning ray,” is primarily responsible for darkening the pigment in our skin. Most tanning bulbs have a high UV-A output, with a small percentage of UV-B. UV-A is less energetic than UV-B, so exposure to UV-A will not result in a burn, unless the skin is photosensitive or used in excessive doses. UV-A penetrates more deeply into the skin than UV-B, due to its longer wavelength. Until recently, UV-A was not blocked by sunscreens. It is now considered to be a major contributor to the high incidence of non-melanoma skin cancers. Seventy-eight percent of UV-A penetrates glass, so windows do not offer protection.

The ultraviolet wavelength that stimulates our bodies to produce vitamin D is UV-B. It is sometimes called the “burning ray” because it is the primary cause of sunburn (erythema). However, UV-B initiates beneficial responses, stimulating the production of vitamin D that the body uses in many important processes. Although UV-B causes sunburn, it also causes special skin cells called melanocytes to produce melanin, which is protective. UV-B also stimulates the production of Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone (MSH), an important hormone in weight loss and energy production. Check out The Healing Power of Sunlight – A special report features an interview with Dr. Michael Holick

The reason it is difficult to get adequate vitamin D from sunlight is that while UV-A is present throughout the day, the amount of UV-B present has to do with the angle of the sun’s rays. Thus, UV-B is present only during midday hours at higher latitudes, and only with significant intensity in temperate or tropical latitudes. Only 5 percent of the UV-B light range goes through glass and it does not penetrate clouds, smog or fog.

Sun exposure at higher latitudes before 10 am or after 2 pm will cause burning from UV-A before it will supply adequate vitamin D from UV-B. This finding may surprise you, as it did the researchers. It means that sunning must occur between the hours we have been told to avoid. Only sunning between 10 am and 2 pm during summer months (or winter months in southern latitudes) for 20-120 minutes, depending on skin type and color, will form vitamin D before burning occurs, and it’s one of the healthiest things you can do for your body.” In April of 2000, a clinical observation published in Archives of Internal Medicine caught my attention. Dr. Anu Prabhala and his colleagues reported on the treatment of five patients confined to wheelchairs with severe weakness and fatigue. Blood tests revealed that all suffered from severe vitamin D deficiency. The patients received 50,000 IU vitamin D per week and all became mobile within six weeks.

Getting your vitamin D naturally through sunlight is the best way to obtain it, but that can be a challenge for most of us.

Let’s look at some reasons why a few primetime hours of sun every day are not enough.

William Grant authored a study in which ‘506 regions’ were studied for their correlation between sunlight (and the lack of) and cancer mortality. He found that the further a region was away from the equator the higher the incidence of cancer. In fact, some areas, such as in northern parts of the United States, winter months may be dark enough that vitamin D synthesis shuts down completely. While the study focused on white Americans, the same geographical trend affects black Americans, whose overall cancer rates are significantly higher. Due to higher levels of protective Melanin, darker skinned people require much more sunlight to synthesize vitamin D.

But even if you were independently wealthy and were able to lay out in the sun during prime time every day, all year, every year, in some sun-drenched tropical paradise, the most vitamin D you could expect to generate from beneficial UV-B exposure is 300-500 International units per day. And that is not enough.

Robert Heaney MD, a prominent vitamin D researcher, served as a member of the Food and Nutrition Board over a decade ago to help establish the RDA for vitamin D. According to Heaney, the resulting RDA of 200 IU (International Units) for vitamin D was based on how much of it is needed to prevent rickets. This is troubling because vitamin D deficiency can still cause significant problems at levels that aren’t extreme enough to cause rickets. To this day, the RDA for vitamin D is still 200 IU for all people 50 years old or younger. Although it increases to 400 IU for people older than 50 and to 600 IU for people over 70, these values are still quite low. In fact, many experts believe that as much as 80% of the population is deficient in vitamin D.

In contrast to the 200 IU RDA for vitamin D, research is showing that people who don’t receive regular sun exposure would benefit from anywhere between 1,000 IU and 5,000 IU of vitamin D3 supplementation per day. In some cases where deficiency is present, the recommendations are even higher! Although this may sound like an extreme amount of vitamin D, 1,000 IU is only 25 micrograms or 0.025 milligrams. For more information about recent research on vitamin D requirements, visit the Vitamin D Council.

Alright, so the sun is not enough. What about milk? Isn’t that better for you than taking supplements?

Many people believe that a glass or two of vitamin D fortified milk a day will make up for any lack of sun-derived benefit. But that’s not so, according to The New England Journal of Medicine; they purchased 42 containers of milk and 10 cans of infant formula from supermarkets in five Eastern states. They included 14 samples of whole milk, 10 samples of milk with a fat content of 2 percent, 4 samples of milk with a fat content of 1 percent, and 14 samples of skim milk from 13 milk processors and 10 samples of different types of infant formula from 5 manufacturers. All the samples were purchased before the expiration date and analyzed within 24 hours after purchase. The concentration of vitamin D was determined in 10 ml of each milk sample according to modifications of the procedures of Hollis and Chen et al. Although each quart of milk was labeled as containing 400 IU (10 μg) of either vitamin D2 or vitamin D3, there was wide variation in the amount of vitamin D measured in the milk samples.

Only 12 (29 percent) of the 42 milk samples from the 13 milk processors that we analyzed contained 80 to 120 percent of the amount stated on the label. Twenty-six (62 percent) of the milk samples contained less than 80 percent and 4 (10 percent) contained more than 120 percent of the amount stated on the label.

The vitamin D concentrations of the 10 samples of five brands of infant formula contained from 715 to 1608 IU of vitamin D per quart (756 to 1700 IU per liter). Seven of the 10 samples (70 percent) contained more than 200 percent of the amount stated on the label. That with the highest concentration was the iron-fortified brand Q, which contained 419 percent of the amount of vitamin D stated.

Bottom line…Their results showed that the amount of vitamin D most dairies advertised as contained in their fortified milk versus the actual amount therein, is dubious at best and downright toxic at worst.

Okay, so the above explains the best ways you can get vitamin D and how much you need. But why is vitamin D so important? Why should I care?

Jeremy Laurance, an Independent On Line Health Editor reported that after assessing almost every scientific paper published on the link between vitamin D and cancer since the 1960s, U.S. scientists say that a daily dose of 1,000 international units (25 micrograms) is needed to maintain health. “The high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency combined with the discovery of increased risks of certain types of cancer in those who are deficient, suggest that vitamin D deficiency may account for several thousand premature deaths from colon, breast, ovarian and other cancers annually,” they say in the online version of the American Journal of Public Health.

A daily dose of vitamin D could cut the risk of cancers of the breast, colon and ovary by up to 50 percent, a 40-year review of research has found. The evidence for the protective effect of the “sunshine vitamin” is so overwhelming that urgent action must be taken by public health authorities to boost blood levels, say cancer specialists.

A growing body of evidence in recent years has shown that lack of vitamin D may have lethal effects. Heart disease, lung disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis are among the conditions in which it is believed to play a vital role. The vitamin is also essential for bone health and protects against rickets in children and osteoporosis in the elderly.

So there it is. A relatively quick assessment of the what, how, and why of the silent epidemic of vitamin D deficiency and how you can avoid its deadly effects. There are literally hundreds of online articles and videos the benefit of taking,, and the consequences of not taking adequate amounts of vitamin D into your body. Take responsibility for your heath and that of your children. Take your vitamin D supplements, preferably 5,000 UI per day. It costs less than $10 a year and may add years to your life. Then, get out and get some sun if you are able. It’ll do your body good, but remember this…

The Sun is NOT Enough!