Do I need to take vitamin D during the summer months? And other frequently asked questions answered.

Q: Do I need to take vitamin D during the summer months?

A: For most people, the answer is yes. If you wish to get your vitamin D the old-fashioned way, from the sun shining on your bared flesh, you need to do it right. When sunlight hits your skin, the UV-B rays convert a chemical in your skin (a form of cholesterol actually) into the precursor of vitamin D. That then moves on to the liver for a bit of conversion, and from there to the kidneys where it is modified again and completes its conversion to vitamin D. It takes about 15 minutes of sun to produce 10,000 i.u.s.

People who live north of 37 degrees longitude don't get enough of the right sunlight to make an adequate supply of vitamin D. Southeastern Massachusetts is just below that zone. We can't make vitamin D at all in the fall and winter at our longitude. You could run the length of Plymouth Beach naked, at high noon, in October and not make a speck of D. We can make it in the summer but only sometimes.

The angle of the sun itself, where it is in the sky, affects how much Vitamin D your body can make. If it's not striking your skin from the proper position then you will produce none of it. The early morning hours, as well as those in the late afternoon hour, just don't work. The best exposure time is between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. during the summer months. You know, the hours that your family dermatologist tells you to stay out of the sun.

That same dermatologist would insist that you wear sunscreen. That is going to make your attempts at producing vitamin D from sunlight an exercise in futility. Sunscreens block UV rays. The same type of light that helps your body make D causes sunburn. While sunscreens are great to protect your skin from sunburn, and potentially skin cancer, they allow your skin to make little or no vitamin D.
So unless you can be in the sun, in exactly the hours your doctor told you to avoid, without sunscreen, you'll have to get vitamin D in your diet.  Egg yolk and fish are good sources of it. But the easiest way to consistently get vitamin D is with a dietary supplement. Take a 1000 - 2000 i.u.s a day, year round.

Q: Why doesn't my multivitamin have enough calcium?

A: This is easy to answer. It just doesn't fit! If you look at a 1000 mg. serving of calcium, it may be as many as four fairly big tablets. It's as simple as that. Calcium takes up a lot of room. You'll have to take it separately, unless you'd prefer a multivitamin the size of a golf ball.

Q: Can't I just take Tums to get my calcium?

A: Only if you have heartburn, and aren't concerned about your bones. There are several types of calcium. Antacids are made with calcium carbonate, a difficult to absorb type. They aren't made to build bone, just help a sour stomach. Calcium citrate based, algae-derived calcium or food-based calcium supplements are preferred because they are better absorbed.

Also, it takes more than just calcium to build bones. If you have low vitamin D, for instance, your rate of absorption for calcium by itself is poor, from 10 - 15%, but if you have adequate D levels, you may absorb 30 - 40%. Vitamin D is vital for bone health, taking calcium without it is pointless. A good bone building formula should always contain magnesium, too. Taking calcium without magnesium can do more harm than good. Studies that point to issues like calcification of the arteries and bone spurs in women taking calcium were done on subjects taking calcium without magnesium.

 
So no need to chew those antacids, unless reading this blog gave you indigestion.

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