One of the internet’s leading health-education web sites this week published a report slamming those who have singled-out UV exposure as the cause of melanoma — citing reports arguing that alleged melanoma increases are more a product of increased reporting and less a product of actual increase in disease.

Dr. Joseph Mercola, founder of Mercola.com, published an article on FoodConsumer.org on Monday.

“Rates of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, have been rising for at least the last three decades, and this increase has been largely blamed on exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun,” Mercola wrote. “However, research published in the British Journal of Dermatology shows that the sun is likely nothing more than a scapegoat in the development of melanoma, and the sharp increase may actually be ‘an artifact caused by diagnostic drift.’”

Mercola believes optimizing vitamin D levels will have more of a positive impact on human health and that regular sun exposure, or usage of a standard tanning bed, is the best way to produce vitamin D. “The sun is your best source of vitamin D because when you expose your skin to sunshine, your skin synthesizes vitamin D3 sulfate. This form of vitamin D is water-soluble and can travel freely in your bloodstream, unlike oral vitamin D3 supplements,” he reports.

To read all of Mercola’s report click here.