Sun best way to boost vitamin D

CHARLOTTE — There's something simple you can do to help protect yourself against ailments ranging from cancer to depression. Chances are, you're not taking the cure.

It's vitamin D, and some experts believe as many as 50 percent of healthy adults and children are deficient in this essential nutrient.

Doctors across the country have begun prescribing high doses to patients who are surprised to learn they're deficient.

Yet doctors and researchers say the vitamin D problem could be solved if we just got out in the sun.

Q: What's so important about vitamin D?

A: For years, doctors have known vitamin D helps build strong bones by promoting the absorption of calcium. (The vitamin was added to milk more than 50 years ago to successfully combat the common childhood bone disease of rickets.) But recent research indicates D is important to almost all body tissues. Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to increased risk of breast and prostate cancer, colon polyps, multiple sclerosis, Type 1 diabetes, muscle weakness, even depression and schizophrenia.

Q: Why are so many people deficient?

A: Two reasons: People aren't spending enough time in the sun and it's hard to get enough vitamin D from food. The best way to get it is by being in the sun since skin produces plenty of D when exposed to the sun's rays. But office workers and kids playing video games often don't spend enough time outdoors to make the D they need. And when they are outside, they're probably wearing sunscreen. Sunscreen with an SPF of 8 blocks more than 95 percent of the sun's capacity to make vitamin D in your skin.

Fortified milk, yogurt and orange juice contain about 100 International Units of vitamin D per one-cup serving. Canned salmon contains 300 to 600 IU. Doctors used to think 400 IU daily was enough for most adults. But new research indicates that is too low. Dr. Michael McClung, director of the Oregon Osteoporosis Center, recommends adults get 1,000 to 2,000 IU of vitamin D each day unless their blood calcium is too high or they've had kidney stones.

Q: How much Vitamin D do I need and what are the best sources?

A: There's still disagreement on how much D is enough. The New England Journal of Medicine says adults and children need 800 to 1,000 IU of vitamin D daily if they're not getting enough sun exposure. McClung says it's safe for adults to take 1,000 to 2,000 IU daily. (You'd need to drink 10 glasses of milk to get 1,000 IU.) Cautious sun exposure is the easiest way to get enough vitamin D. The National Institutes of Health says 10 to 15 minutes in the sun at least twice a week with your arms, hands, face or back exposed without sunscreen is usually enough.

Children and healthy adults make about 25,000 IU of D by spending 15 minutes in the sun with their face and arms exposed before applying sunscreen, says McClung.