Comments on: Vitamin D from Sunlight Shown to Boost Mood and Brainpower

By: toby

toby — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:01:12 +0000

The Canadian Cancer Society now recommends that everyone take vitamin D to prevent cancer. The site has good summaries of the data and offers a new preparation of vitamin D in a micro-pill formulation. The pills have been formulated with cellulose which absorbs water very quickly. This ensures that the pill breaks up very quickly to provide for maximum absorption. The micro pill is tiny and tasteless. Many vitamin D pills on the market have very poor dissolution properties resulting in poor absorption.

By: Liza

Liza — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:37:27 +0000

Just one more reason why we have to get our kids out from in front of the tv and computer screen and get them some fresh air and sun!

By: audrey

audrey — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:07:01 +0000

Exposure to sunlight is important even to our skin. I didn’t really know it affects our mood and memory. This is good reference about the positive benefits of sunlight. Will save this for future.

By: Naomi

Naomi — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:42:19 +0000

Good Ol’ sunshine. Knew there had to be something good about being out in it besides being worried about the rays.

By: Ami

Ami — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:01:02 +0000

I agree with you totally Monica! nothing better than the actual thing.

By: Iliana

Iliana — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:52:41 +0000

Have there been any studies that reflect what happens when people have too much vitamin d in the system or is something like this even possible? I know that it can be with other vitamins but I was not sure about the d variety.

By: Monica J

Monica J — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:41:01 +0000

All natural, baby, is always better than processed and canned replacements!

By: Cameron

Cameron — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:51:15 +0000

Just hope there continues to be an emphasis on the proven fact that supplements are never as good as the real thing.

By: Brittany

Brittany — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:41:56 +0000

I have heard that Vitamin D was good for us many times over the past year. I am just now starting to hear it again, especially with direct sunlight. I have to admit… I feel so much better when I get out of my apartment where there is hardly any light and outside in the brilliant sun. Gives me that boost.

By: Sally

Sally — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:57:37 +0000

If Vitamin D is such a critical element than how come we are just now all getting to hear that? I swear it sometimes seems that that what doctors think we need changes from day to day so that it is difficult to always be able to keep up with it all. I am all for new and emerging information to give us all better and healthier lives but sometimes it really is hard to distinguish the bad from the good.

By: Sherri

Sherri — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:02:56 +0000

getting direct sunlight for vitamin D to me seems more beneficial then the vitamin itself. I’d rather be outsided getting the D vitamin then taking some pill.

By: Will

Will — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 01:01:15 +0000

I have heard that wearing sunscreen can actually not only block the harmful rays of the sun but that they can also block out the benefits of vitamin d that you get from sunlight. Does anyone know if this is true? When you get conflicting messages like this it is hard to know which you are supposed to do. I know that the researchers are not proposing that you stay unprotected in the sun for hours at a time but it is common knowledge that too much time in the sun without spf can be dangerous too. Sometimes it really is difficult to know just the right ways to get that perfect balance.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 21:45:45 +0000

I love being outside and when I am in slump, I’ll go out for a couple hours and I absolutely feel great, relaxed and have more energy than i did before.

By: Olivia

Olivia — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:50:16 +0000

So maybe now all of the skin care gurus will have to come to see that some sun is actually good for you.

By: Selena

Selena — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:52:00 +0000

Living in the northwest can leave a lot to be desired when it comes to getting enough of the sun’s rays. When I first moved here I think I really did suffer from seasonal affective disorder but not just in the winter time- pretty much year round! I try to make it a point to get outside for a few hours every day regardless of the weather but there are definitely times that the weather makes that a challenge. I do take supplements as well but never feel as good when I can just get days and days of straight sunshine.

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:30:48 +0000

The other thing about getting enough sunlight is it helps your natural immune system against cancer. Substituting the vitamin D you get from sunlight with vitamin D from other sources does not give the same benefits to your body’s natural ability to fight things like skin cancer.

Yes ironically if you allow yourself to be sunburned repeatedly you do increase your risk of skin cancer, but equally by not getting enough sunlight you do the very same thing.

It’s not a difficult balance. You can easily get enough sunlight simply by going outside while the sun is relatively low for 10 minutes or so every day (before 11am and after 3pm in most places).