Sunscreen: The culprit of vitamin D deficiency

Vitamin D deficiency rates in the US have increased from 45% to 75% in the past 25 years, and a new study has concluded that using too much sunscreen is the culprit.

Overuse of sunscreen appears to have contributed to the need for vitamin D supplements.

Figures show that three-quarters of Americans are deficient in the “sunshine vitamin.” This is a dramatic increase from the early 1990s, when less than half of the population was deficient in vitamin D.

Many studies have warned that Americans spend too much time indoors. But a new study published in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association on May 1, 2017, offers a different perspective: By using too much sunscreen, we are blocking the benefits of the sun.

This is a surprising statement as the country is facing a rise in melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer.

Professor Kim Pfotenhauer, Touro University (California) said above.Dailymail: “People who rarely go out but when they do go out often apply sunscreen, their bodies will lose the ability to produce vitamin D.

Although the purpose of sunscreen is to help reduce skin cancer, some exposure to sunlight will help increase the body's vitamin D."

Dr. Pfotenhauer also said that chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and diseases related to malabsorption, including kidney disease, Crohn's disease... inhibit the ability to metabolize vitamin D from food. Therefore, the role of sunlight is even more important for these patients.

How does the body synthesize vitamin D?

A simple way to increase and maintain standard vitamin D levels in the body is just 5 - 30 minutes in the sunny afternoon, 2 times/week.

Light skin will synthesize more vitamin D than dark skin and it is important not to wear sunscreen. Because just sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher can reduce the body's ability to create vitamin D by 99%.

“You don’t need to go sunbathing at the beach to get these benefits,” Dr. Pfotenhauer added. “A light walk with bare hands and feet is enough to get the vitamin D your body needs.”

Foods such as milk, breakfast cereals and mushrooms are also rich in vitamin D.

In fact, vitamin D is considered more of a hormone than a vitamin because vitamin D is produced when the skin is exposed to sunlight, and vitamin D receptors are found in most cells in the body with the task of regulating cell growth, muscle and immune function, and reducing inflammation.

Therefore, people with symptoms of muscle weakness, osteoporosis, and the above chronic diseases need to be tested and supplemented if they are deficient in vitamin D.

According to Dantri