Re:Nutrition: Vitamins on trial
by vanderZwan on Thursday July 03, 2014 @05:12AM
(#7982161)
My parents are general practicioners, and for the last few years they have basically been told that the rule of thumb is to assume everyone is vitamin D deficient until proven otherwise (where "works outside in the sun all day" is an example of proven otherwise).
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Re:Nutrition: Vitamins on trial
by streptomycin on Thursday July 03, 2014 @10:01AM
(#7983096)
That doesn't mean that they have evidence that supplementation would actually help people. The currently available data says it could help, could do nothing, and could harm: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/819670
I have regularly read that all it takes is 15-30 minutes of direct sun exposure per day to generate the RDA of vitamin D. Is that inaccurate (as someone who slathers his kids with sunscreen I would really like to know)?
Here's a nifty calculator that tells you vitamin D values for exposure times taking season and latitude into account.
Re:Nutrition: Vitamins on trial
by vanderZwan on Thursday July 03, 2014 @07:49AM
(#7982497)
I don't know the answer to that. However, assuming you are correct, I live in a country where direct sun exposure is a rare commodity even in summer, so the recommendation to my parents could still make sense then.