Given the health benefits of the sunshine vitamin, scientists have researched whether and how much vitamin D per day is actually healthy. The study results show that previously published sun exposure guidelines for aoptimal vitamin D synthesismight need to be revised. In addition, the research team tested the optimal wavelengths of UV radiation for producing vitamin D in sunlight.
How much vitamin D the skin needs for optimal synthesis
Ultraviolet radiation from sunlight can cause sunburn and skin cancer. However, this is the most important source of vitamin D, which is essential for healthy bone development and maintenance. Calculating the potential risks and benefits of sun exposure is not easy, according to the study authors. This is because the health consequences of exposure vary significantly depending on the wavelength within the solar spectrum. For example, the sun's UV light contains less than 5% short-wave radiation, but this is responsible for over 80% of the sunburn reaction. Therefore, the researchers measured blood vitamin D levels in 75 healthy young volunteers by varying their body's exposure to five different artificial light sources with different amounts of UVB radiation. The team wanted to weigh up sun exposure, which includes vitamin D synthesis, against the risks of sunburn and skin cancer. They then compared their results and found that previous guidelines were not an accurate predictor of optimal health benefits.
Based on the study results, the authors recommend a simple systematic correction of the wavelength dependence of the solar vitamin. This new research means that many risk-benefit calculations for solar exposure need to be checked using a revised version of wavelength dependence. According to the researchers, this study shows that the studies carried out so far on the effect of solar radiation may need to be re-evaluated. In this way, scientists will be able to discuss the results of this paper to redefine this wavelength dependence for synthesis of the vitamin. The datathis studyalso show that regular solar exposure of ∼4% improves the production of the sunshine vitamin. An important health benefit of daily exposure to terrestrial solar UV radiation (∼295 to 315 nm) is the cutaneous synthesis of vitamin D3, which is initiated by photoconversion to previtamin D3. Further research by the research group will also be able to better estimate the risk-benefit calculations.
