Comment by sschueller 3 days ago
If you don't have an underlying condition it is way better to get the Vitamin D from the sun in 10-30min increments per day after which you are saturated for the day. Overdose is not possible via the sun (excluding sun burns of course).
> A single, optimal sun exposure session might produce the equivalent of 10,000 to 25,000 IU from a supplement, but it will not keep increasing with more time in the sun. That's your max per session.
And in Norway we often don't see the sun during certain months, due to it only being up for a few hours in the middle of the day (when we're working). And even if I was outside I would be covered in clothes.
We have a saying here to take cod liver oil all months ending with R (in Norwegian that's September to Februar) to get both omega 3 and the vitamin D.
Your suggestion sounds a bit detached from reality of many people.
In many countries it is physically impossible to get enough vitamin D from the sun, even if you go out naked.
Also did you ever notice that the cheap apartments in many places are facing north and do not have a balcony, and of course do not have a private garden? Now you are reduced to going to a park which in the "cheap" areas is also not a good spot to chill for 30 minutes.
Yeaaah, in Finland the sun just fucks off for multiple months over the winter.
It's much cheaper to take a few pills than it is to travel 3000km south to see the sun for 30 minutes :D
We even put Vitamin D in milk by default just so that people would get some extra.
> it is way better to get the Vitamin D from the sun in 10-30min increments per day
spoken like someone who has never lived in the UK
I would argue to do both in the winter, since sunlight has other benefits than just Vitamin D synthesis, like mitochondrial health and better circadian signaling for better sleep quality.
This is nonsense advice for pretty much anybody that is shovelling snow right now.
.. how do you calibrate this against a cloudy sky? It's pretty dark up here at 56 degrees north, and on top of that it's been overcast for days.
It also sucks a lot when it's dark before starting work, dark after leaving work, and during the day rather cold to be exposing skin to the sun.
From NHS Scotland:
"In Scotland, we only get enough of the right kind of sunlight for our bodies to make vitamin D between April and September, mostly between 11am and 3pm."
https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/food-and-nutrition...
Personally I found that taking Vitamin D supplements made quite a bit of difference - and I spend a fair amount of time outside (~3 hours each day).