2023-10-16 15:21:25
By FITBOOK | October 16, 2023, 11:16 a.m
Vitamin D protects once morest age-related bone loss, strengthens the immune system and there is even evidence that a good supply of the hormone to the population might prevent tens of thousands of cancer deaths every year. The position of the sun is crucial for stimulating the body’s own vitamin D production. FITBOOK says whether this is still sufficient at this point in time – and when you have to take the vitamin from outside.
It has become cold, summer has undoubtedly said goodbye to us. Nevertheless, there are of course days when we can sit in the cool wind or in a sheltered spot in the sun. This is wonderful! But is the sun enough to produce vital vitamin D in the cold season that has begun? If you are in Germany, unfortunately the answer at this point is: no. But why exactly is that?
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Importance of vitamin D for health
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is essential for life and can be produced by the body itself. The functions range from strengthening the skeleton and immune system to a reduced risk of dementia – with good care – to a (not yet fully scientifically proven) risk reduction for advanced cancer. You can read more regarding the function and requirement of vitamin D here.
People can absorb vitamin D in two ways: through food – it is found in beef liver, butter, chicken eggs or the types of fish herring, salmon or mackerel – and through the skin. When the sun shines on our skin, the body’s own production of vitamin D is stimulated – this fact has also earned it the nickname “sun hormone”. The prerequisite for this body’s own production is not just the fact that the sun shines – but also the intensity of its radiation, which changes with the seasons.
The sun’s angle of incidence of 42 degrees is crucial for vitamin D production
The UV-B rays in sunlight are crucial for the formation of vitamin D via the skin. They penetrate the upper layers of the skin before they initiate the production of vitamin D (more precisely: D3) via various intermediate steps.
What you have to understand: The flatter the angle at which the sun’s rays hit us, the longer their path through the ozone layer, whereby some of the important UV radiation is absorbed and lost.
Our skin can only produce vitamin D when the sun’s altitude (i.e. the angle above the horizon) is 42 degrees or more. Applied to Germany and the latitude at which we are, this means: Between mid-October and the end of March, the angle of incidence of the sun’s rays in Germany, even at midday, is too “flat” to stimulate vitamin D production in the skin. Completely independent of how warm the sun is during this period.
Is vitamin D production taking place? A simple rule of thumb reveals it
As a rule of thumb: If my shadow is longer than my height, there is no or no significant production of vitamin D in the skin. Once once more: This rule applies regardless of whether the sun creates a warm feeling on the skin or not…
It is simply because Germany is located at the “wrong” latitudes: namely between the 47th and 55th degrees of latitude north of the equator and the 6th and 15th degrees of longitude east of the prime meridian.
The further north you are, the shorter the intervals in which the sun’s angle of incidence is optimal. Accordingly, even in the summer months, exposure to the sun in the morning or evening hours is not enough.
Precisely determine the height of the sun for your location
On the website www.sonnenverlauf.de You can enter the location where you are at the moment – and then see how the sun’s height develops over the course of the day (at midday it is known to increase, then decrease once more – and in the last days of summer and first days of spring the periods in where the sun is at the ideal angle is correspondingly shorter.)
For example, for Madrid on October 16th you can see a maximum sun position of 40 degrees; In Rome the sun shines at an angle of around 39 degrees at midday and in Berlin and London it reaches a maximum of 29 degrees. The sun reaches an angle of over 42 degrees (more precisely 44 degrees) and therefore good conditions for the formation of the solar hormone in mid-October in the south of Portugal.
Also interesting: These symptoms can indicate a vitamin D deficiency
Vitamin D production in summer – what time is ideal?
In the summer half of the year – the period between the astronomical start of spring and autumn – the sun has the best possible angle between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., and ideally at 1 p.m., to optimally supply us with the health-promoting vitamin D, which is actually a hormone. In midsummer, depending on your skin type, just a short period of sunbathing (around 15 minutes) is enough to (temporarily) prevent a vitamin D deficiency.
Check your vitamin D levels
However, it should be noted: Because the body cannot store vitamin D for long, most Germans have a deficiency once more in winter, which they can hardly compensate for through diet alone. That’s why you should have your vitamin D levels checked regularly – this can be done not only at the doctor’s office, but also at the pharmacy. If there is an undersupply or deficiency, it may make sense to take nutritional supplements with vitamin D. The FITBOOK editorial team also wanted an answer to this – and sent eight healthy people to the vitamin D test. The result was actually very shocking.
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