Blacks Dangers of low Sun Exposure: please share the word

[Abu-Salman]

One Size Doesn’t Fit All When it Comes to Vitamin D for Men

 

African-American men especially need high doses of supplements

 

 

African-American men living in areas with low sunlight are up to 3 ½ times more likely to have Vitamin D deficiency than Caucasian men and should take high levels of Vitamin D supplements, according to a new study from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

 

“This study shows that the current one-size fits all recommendations for 600 International Units (IU) of Vitamin D don’t work,” said Adam Murphy, MD, instructor in the Department of Urology at Feinberg. “Skin color and sunlight exposure need to be considered for recommended daily allowances of Vitamin D.”

 

 

Vitamin D deficiency causes brittle bones and has been linked to such diseases as prostate cancer, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

 

 

African-American men have lower levels of Vitamin D because the increased melanin in darker skin blocks the ultraviolet rays necessary for the body to produce the vitamin, Murphy said. Thus, African-American men require up to six times more sun exposure than Caucasian men to make adequate Vitamin D levels.

 

“It takes a dark-skinned male like myself 90 minutes three times a week to absorb enough sunlight to produce the recommended amount of Vitamin D compared to just 15 minutes three times a week for a Caucasian male,” said the Chicago-based Murphy, who also is a physician at Jesse Brown VA Medical Center

url=http://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/news/2011D-September/Vitamin-D.html

 

 

 

PS: Since Vitamin D is crucial for every body system, from brain to immunity (as well as in getting optimal children0), this seems to vindicate the Dr advising 5000 IU a day in places such as the UK where sun exposure is normally minimal and people assumed to be Vitamin D deficient (often very deficient).

 

However, sunshine is important for the body for other reasons and advocating for supplements in this special case is probably a "lesser evil" (I walk, jog and expose myself to sunshine, very few do it to the same extent though).