Vitamin D - How Much Sunlight Does it Take to Get Enough?

Vitamin D deficiency is possibly one of the most recognized forms of vitamin deficiencies in the world. This is largely as a result of sedentary lifestyles in which we see individuals either working primarily indoors or so infused with paranoia regarding skin cancer that any time they go into the sun they wear protective layers of clothing. These could be the contributing factors to why the list of diseases and conditions associated with vitamin D deficiency are growing daily. While taking care to avoid excess sun exposure, some exposure to the sun is of utmost importance. With more individuals living in fear of the sun, when in fact they should be embracing it, collective mindsets must be changed to consider sun exposure a vital element of a healthy life.

Guidelines for Consumption

Most guidelines are fairly vague when it comes to recommending a specific amount of sunlight required for healthy living, and the problem with vague guidelines is exactly that: the recommendations are too general to be useful and considering each individual has a distinctly different requirement, the levels of vitamin D necessary depend upon several factors; these range from where one lives, skin type, time of year and even items as mundane as atmospheric conditions.

A recent study put forth by scientists at the Norwegian Institute for Air Research demonstrated the creation of a calculator that takes into consideration the various factors and estimates the number of minutes of exposure each individual requires on a daily basis to produce sufficient vitamin D for optimal health: roughly 25 mcg. Unfortunately, while it does provide a general idea, the criteria for determining how much specific individuals require is extremely complex and US cities are not listed in the calculator.