How to Cure Vitamin D Deficiency

Accord­ing to my cal­en­dar, win­ter began just a few days ago. But as far as my abil­i­ty to make vit­a­min D is con­cerned, win­ter actu­al­ly began in Octo­ber and will last until the mid­dle of March. If I run short of vit­a­min D before March, I have three options for get­ting more vit­a­min D: take a trop­i­cal vaca­tion, go to a tan­ning salon, or take vit­a­min D pills.

Vit­a­min D isn’t real­ly a vit­a­min. It’s a hor­mone that is made when the ultra­vi­o­let light from sun­light hits your skin. Some of the sun’s ultra­vi­o­let light gets fil­tered out by the atmos­phere, espe­cial­ly by the ozone lay­er. Where I live, the sun­light is at such a low angle from Octo­ber through March that prac­ti­cal­ly all of the ultra­vi­o­let light gets fil­tered out. Thus, we have a tan­ning index of zero even if there isn’t a cloud in the sky.

A light-skinned per­son in Boston can get enough vit­a­min D from get­ting only a few min­utes’ worth of sun expo­sure on his or her face, arms, and hands at mid­day two to three times a week dur­ing the spring, sum­mer, and fall. A per­son of African ances­try might need ten times as much sun expo­sure to make the same amount of vit­a­min D.

Nat­ur­al sum­mer sun­shine is the best way to get vit­a­min D. Sun­shine may have oth­er impor­tant effects on the body besides pro­duc­ing vit­a­min D. Of course, too much sun expo­sure can cause skin dam­age and increase the risk of skin can­cer.

Sun­lamps or a tan­ning bed can also help restore nor­mal vit­a­min D lev­els in the win­ter­time, espe­cial­ly in peo­ple who have an intesti­nal dis­ease that makes it hard for them to absorb fat-sol­u­ble vit­a­mins from their food. Tan­ning beds should be used cau­tious­ly because the ultra­vi­o­let light they pro­duce is so intense.

You can also buy vit­a­min D sup­ple­ments, but one nutri­tion expert warns that vit­a­min pills should be used as a last resort. Although low vit­a­min D lev­els have been asso­ci­at­ed with var­i­ous dis­eases, such as mul­ti­ple scle­ro­sis, treat­ment with vit­a­min D sup­ple­ments has not nec­es­sar­i­ly been shown to be use­ful in treat­ing those con­di­tions.