A Connecticut physician has authored a paper calling for everyone to get real about our need to get regular sunshine to manufacture sufficient vitamin D.

“Most people do not get enough sunshine to maintain adequate vitamin D levels,” Dr. Jared M. Skowron, a Connecticut-based private practice physician wrote in an article titled, “Top 10 Myths About Vitamin D” which attempts to dispel myths that you can get enough vitamin D from dietary sources, supplements and by drinking milk. “Our ancestors spent most of the day in the sun, farming, fishing and hunting. Our bodies physiologically developed to need that much vitamin D. Today’s indoor society of office workers, television watchers and hermits gets much less sun exposure and vitamin D production. Add on clothing and sunscreen, which also inhibit vitamin D production, and you understand the problem.”

The article appeared on www.RedOrbit.com, a popular science and health education web site.

Skowron challenges the assertion that 1,000 IU of vitamin D daily — more than double the current official recommendation — would be adequate to positively affect human health. He also points out that vitamin D is not really a vitamin: It’s a hormone. “It’s derived from cholesterol. It activates cellular processes and does not do so as a co-factor. Vitamin D receptors nave direct effects on the following cells: adipose, adrenal, bone, brain, breast, cancer, cartilage, colon, endothelium, epididymis, ganglion, hair follicle, intestine, kidney, liver, lung, muscle, osteoblasts, ovary, pancreatic B, parathyroid, parotid, pituitary, placenta, prostate, skin, stomach, testis, thymus, thyroid and uterus.”

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