Vitamin D and Weight Loss

Don't tanning beds contain vitamin D?

Please remember that too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.

It only takes 10 minutes of natural sun to get your daily dose of vitamin D. Outside of that it is important to protect yourself from the damaging rays. Melanoma is deadly. (And it is NOT pretty)

It is important to wear sunscreen, but even that can go too far. There are theories that blame to over use of sunscreen for the vitamin D deficiencies in todays world. SPF 90 is not necessary, SPF 15 reasonable.

Of course laying in the sun for hours with a reflective mat is not a great idea. But a brisk walk in the sun is ideal. If your taking a walk its ok to skip the sunscreen, but if your heading to the beach, you should probably slather it on.

Our skin is the largest organ on our body. It is designed to protect our insides. If it gets burned, its not able to function properly.

The SPF numbers above 30 are misleading. They don't neccessarily provide that much more protection. 15 blocks about 92% and 30 only about 95%. They don't really climb higher than that. As a matter of fact, I've heard some buzz that they will be required to stop using numbers above 30 because it is really false advertising. The only difference is, the length of time it protects. There is some contrversy to that as well.

Say you use SPF 45 and the bottle says you reapply after 4 hours rather than 2. (Hypothetical) Most people will sweat it off before that full time anyways and wind up vulnerable to burning.

So in essence it is fine, but it doesn't really provide more protection. Just make sure you use enough and reapply even if it claims to be waterproof. Most people use less than half the amount that is actually required for protection. Most importantly, make sure whatever you use blocks BOTH UVA and UVB rays.

Hope that helps.

I hate tanning beds and live in Iowa so seeing the sun is rare right now so I think I'll just stick with supplements!

I hate tanning beds too! They are BAD!!!! I wish I could discriminate and refuse clients who use them. (Even though I would make more money by ridding them of wrinkles as they prematurely age and beg me to make it stop.) It annoys me that people are willing to age themselves and pay for treatments to counter the very thing that causes the problem in the first place. But I have ethics, most people in my industry don't care.

Thanks a ton for all the info!
I used to tan a lot in high school but stopped after all of the articles about 20 year olds getting melanoma started appearing. I love the look of tan skin but it's not worth it in the long run - I think it's disgusting looking at women that have tanned for years, their skin looks like leather. :sick:

Guess I'm stuck with experimenting with lotion that makes you look tan!

Can I just say that the sun does not give you Vitamin D? Vitamin D is activated by the sun. Meaning, you can take all the supplements in the world for Vitamin D and if you are not getting enough sun then it is completely useless. I learned this in my nursing class. Vitamin D is essential, but be careful with the sun and tanning beds!!
Jen