Source: http://refineryfitnesspdx.com/vitamin-d-the-sunshine-vitamin/
With the meat of summer quickly approaching now is the the time for us to stock up on our Vitamin D. Vitamin D is often called the “sunshine vitamin” because our body needs exposure to sunlight for its production. These days, people are spending more time inside and even when they do go outside, are slathering themselves with sunscreen. Dark skinned people have less ability to convert sunshine to Vitamin D then light skinned people and the sunshine for people living in the northern climates (above Los Angeles) is often not strong enough to stimulate production, particularly in the winter. These factors contribute to what many are calling a Vitamin D deficiency epidemic.
Vitamin D deficiency has now been associated with Seasonal Affective Disorder, breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease, depression, weight gain, decreased immunity and other illnesses. Your body needs Vitamin D to aid calcium absorption to prevent bone difficulties and Vitamin D seems to be important for activating the t-cells of the immune system. Only 30 minutes, two times a week of summer sun exposure to your back, legs or face without sunscreen will usually produce adequate levels of Vitamin D. (There is s…