Vitamin D3 Sun or Supplement?

Life Priority Blog, July 25, 2019---Vitamin D3  Sun or Supplement?

We have a love-hate relationship with the sun, don’t we? As much as we may worship the sun for its comforting, life-giving light and warmth, and as much as our world literally revolves around it, we have nonetheless learned to fear its power to harm us—even kill us. Skin cancer is no laughing matter, and we are right to take precautions against excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation, the “light” we cannot see.

The paradox of the sun is that, even as it’s burning our skin and setting us up for cancer, it’s also causing something almost magical to happen in that same skin: the synthesis of vitamin D. This formerly rather boring vitamin, which helps build strong bones and teeth and prevents rickets, is rapidly achieving stardom in the nutritional world, as scientists find out more and more about its ability to help prevent cancer and reduce our overall risk for death.

Vitamin D — Sun or Supplement?

Vitamin D is the only nutrient we get from the sun—all the rest must be obtained from food or supplements. Of course, vitamin D can also be obtained from food or supplements, and for many people—mainly shut-ins or those who live in far northern (or far southern) latitudes and who don’t get out much—that is the principal way, or the only way, they get their daily dose.

Actually,  though, it’s not that easy to get adequate vitamin D from food, because so few foods contain appreciable amounts of it. Unless you eat a good deal of fatty fish (such as salmon), fish-liver oils, or fortified milk or cereals, you probably don’t get enough vitamin D, and you should supplement to make up for the deficit.