Data from D*action cohort – Average Vitamin D Serum Levels by Amount of Sun Exposure
The GrassrootsHealth D*action cohort contains a number of people who do not take any vitamin D supplements. That means that they get their vitamin D from sun exposure and food alone.
Vitamin D production in response to sun exposure varies from person to person depending on many factors, such as latitude, season, age, and skin pigmentation.
There is a common belief that spending 15 minutes outside once a day with just your face and arms exposed will provide adequate vitamin D. This is not what we see in our data.
While there are individuals at each time interval of sun exposure who will reach 40 ng/ml, the average level did not reach 40 ng/ml until daily sun exposure reached 2 hours each day. However, since many of us cannot make that kind of time commitment to mid-day sun exposure, supplementation is the key for most of us to achieve optimal vitamin D status of 40-60 ng/ml. Are you taking supplements or trying to get enough from the sun? Test, don’t guess – join D*action today!
