Sunlight is crucial for the body’s natural production of vitamin D in the skin, which helps maintain healthy bones and teeth. However, geographic location, pollution, and cloud cover can affect this relationship. Vitamin D can also be obtained through food sources or supplements.
The body’s natural production of vitamin D in the skin, which is accomplished with the help of radiation from the sun, is the main connection between vitamin D and sunlight. Vitamin D production is one of the main functions of the skin, along with more obvious features like feel and insulation. When ultraviolet light from the sun hits the skin, it produces a substance that the body can convert into vitamin D. In areas with sufficient sunlight, regular exposure to the sun’s rays can produce enough vitamin D to meet the body’s requirements. Due to the connection between vitamin D and sunlight, this vitamin is often informally called the sunshine vitamin.
The synthesis of vitamin D in the skin begins when a modified type of cholesterol naturally present in skin cells is exposed to sunlight. Specifically, the molecule is exposed to an invisible type of light, known as ultraviolet B (UVB), which turns it into a substance called cholecalciferol. Cholecalciferol is then transmitted through the bloodstream to the liver and kidneys, where it is further modified to become the active form of vitamin D, also known as calcitriol. The relationship between vitamin D and sunlight helps the body perform a number of important functions. The most important of these is the maintenance of healthy bones and teeth.
Different geographic locations can affect the relationship between vitamin D and sunlight. In northern latitudes, weaker and less frequent sunlight reduces the skin’s opportunities to make the vitamin D precursor. Also, since these climates tend to be colder, people are more likely to wear heavy clothing and spend more time indoors, which further decreases the time they spend in the sun.
Pollution and cloud cover can also reduce the amount of ultraviolet light that reaches the earth’s surface. Still, five to 15 minutes of unprotected exposure to sunlight a day is probably enough to meet most people’s vitamin D needs. Longer periods of sun exposure increase the risk of skin cancer. It also makes the skin age faster, increasing the appearance of wrinkles and blemishes.
While environmental factors can alter the relationship between vitamin D and sunlight, this vitamin can also be obtained through food sources or supplements, where it is absorbed in the intestine. Good food sources of vitamin D include cold-water fish, egg yolks, and fortified foods such as milk or breakfast cereals. Vitamin D can also be purchased as a supplement and is usually included in multivitamin formulas.
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