Vitamin D is essential for bone health. Recent research suggests it may have other benefits, too, such as protecting against colds and fighting depression. The good news is that most people get enough vitamin D, according to the Institute of Medicine (IOM). However, if you don't spend enough time in the sun or if your body has trouble absorbing the vitamin, you may not get enough. Here are 12 ways to ensure adequate intake.UV light in the wintertime Winter is here in the northern hemisphere. Until the winter solstice (December 21st), every day will have less sunlight and more darkness than the day before. In the winter, at many latitudes, all the UV that is present is UVA wavelength, not UVB. Remember, UVB are the rays responsible for your body making vitamin D. So in the winter, it’s impossible to make much vitamin D if you’re living north of about 35 degrees latitude (and still not much between 30 and 35). Despite this shortcoming in wintertime sun exposure, evidence has been presented that UV light does more than just make vitamin D.
For example, it was UV light in general, and not 25(OH)D levels, that improved quality of life indicators in a recent study. Phototherapy improves quality of life, says new study. Posted on August 19, 2013 by John Cannell, MD. Last year Brant Cebulla wrote a good blog summing up what good UV light does outside of vitamin D production. Sun exposure: Benefits beyond D production. Posted on August 1, 2012 by Brant Cebulla. So I still seek sun exposure in the wintertime, even without the UVB. While I continue to get UVA in the winter from sunshine, I keep a UVB light in my office for the winter as I think both moderate amounts of UVA and UVB light are important for health. One option is to go to sun tanning parlors and ask for old-fashioned low-pressure UV sunbed. They approximate the wavelengths in sunlight. However, if readers want a device for their own home and want to buy a UV light with UVB for home use (one that allows you to make vitamin D), you have several choices.
One choice is Dr. Mercola’s D-Lite UVB sun lamps: D-Lite stand up system Another much less expensive system is Sperti’s FDA approved vitamin D lamp: Vitamin D Lamp, model D/UV-F The Vitamin D Council approves both manufacturers. However, UVB lights can burn the skin so be careful to follow the manufacturers’ recommendations.Vitamin D from UVB lamps UVB 4 bulb $425 5 minutes UVB 1 bulb $150 (with shipping) 5 minutes There have been many papers indicating that UV is better than just vitamin D - such as: Easy and cheap way to get vitamin D all year long = Bulb at home Costs and minutes vary 3 to 1 due to: skin color, amount of skin exposed, purchase price, bulb life, etc 1 Law requires reduction of UVB Typically 3% of tanning bed output ==> 12% of sun 2 Full-spectrum light does not need eye protection - the eye avoids and squints in bright light 3 Vitamin D bulb has 1/20 of the UVA per minute of UVB than tanning bed - and very low intensity - so very unlikely to get skin cancer
4 Minutes to get 2,000 IU of vitamin D. Tanning beds often have less UVB than sunIntensity is relative to the sun = 1.0; UVB is needed to produce vitamin D 6 SAD lamps are required by law to have ZERO UV (A or B ) 7 Assumes 2000 uses till source needs to be replaced - except salon - where you also must pay for staff - building - etc The bulbs are very low cost. - and far less expensive/troublesome than going to a tanning salon many times a month Some places to buy UV bulbs are Amazon Pet store and Reptile UV store http://uvguide.co.uk/ and as well as Google Shopping The instructions on the bulb (but not on internet?) say that it must be mounted VERTICALLY to operate properly Note1 - It does not appear to work if you have recently moved it. Seems like waiting for 5 minutes works Note2 - It also turns itself off when it overheats. Unplug it and wait for perhaps 30 minutes Takes too long to download as a thumbnail example: fullsepectrumsolutions emphasize that their lights contain NO UV
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Update 1 year later (Nov 2011) Amazon has many UV bulbs to choose from. I wanted a light which had visible as well as UVB wavelengths so that my eyes would squint and I would not look into the light much. This type of bulb was also much lower cost that the UV-only bulbs. I am considering a UV-only bulb for a phase II design, but have not figured where to put it in our RV I wanted to get more UV per minute just so I could spend less time in bed. I will probably stick to existing design which is much very close to true sunshine. I selected a brand popular with owners of pet reptiles = documented as actually found to contain UV, have a long life, etc. I then selected the maximum wattage which they made = 160 watts to reduce the amount of time needed to get my vitamin D. Note: There are many ways to increase the amount of vitamin D you can get from the bulb. I purchased a Flucker - which currently has poor reviews on Amazon.
The Zoo Med product has better reviews but is more expensive. The bulb purchased has worked well. Have tended to use it about 30 minutes a day at noon during the winter. Found that using it late at night kept me awake too long. I estimate that with a home-made reflector the bulb to concentrate the light onto my skin gives about 1/10 of the UVB that I would get from the summer sun at noon in Seattle. This estimation is based on calculation, the perceived heat, a small UV detection card which I purchased, and a very slight tan after about 10 sessions. The reflector (not shown in the photo) also reduces bothering my wife as well as possible bleaching out of the cloth and woodwork. The mercury vapor inside of the bulb are totally enclosed, just as mercury vapors are inside of standard or compact fluorescent bi;bs There is no health danger from any of those bulbs unless they break, and even then it is very minor: see WikiPedia. In the 17 months since the page was initially posted:
4000 people have looked at it 300 have downloaded some of the attached files. 7 people have contacted me for more information. I have found it is not cost effective I estimate that I get less than 500 IU per hour from the use of the lamp. (This is when I was using the 160 watt lamp, having the lamp closer than shown in the photo, and using a deflector to concentrate the light onto my skin) Since a 5,000 IU capsule of vitamin D costs just 3 cents, the value of my time under the sunlamp is about 1/3 one cent per hour. So, I no longer use it I am considering an alternate design - a low power UVB LED which would shine on my face and arms while using a computer Found a 1 watt UVB LED - but very new on the market - costs aobut $500!! Vitamin D from UVB lamps Exo Terra Repti-Glo 10.0 Compact Fluorescent Desert Terrarium Lamp Amazon $17 26 watt, 10% of output in UVB Measured UVB light with Vitamin D meter With good reflector, young skin, and if able to illuminate 10% of body area it should produce per minute: 15 IU at 5 inches and 50 IU at 2.5"
Since it is difficult to imagine illuminating 10% of body area at 2.5",I will assume about 30 IU per minute when the lamp is near, or about 2,000 IU per hour Since 2,000 IU vitamin D supplement costs about 2 cents, you have to ask yourself "is my time worth 2 cents per hour". Thoughts for use in the livingroom/office It could be mounted in a ceiling fixture with several other bare bulbs: Example 1. The fixture must have no glass between the bulb and your skin - Glass absorbs ALL UVB The other bulbs would provide visible light. You would probably need to wear glasses to keep the UVB from damaging your eyes. The following is a wild guess at the output, with lots of assumptions It appears that ReptileUV Zoo (below) has 1919 microwatts/cm2 @ 12" and 147 microwatts per cm2 @48" = 65 IU/minute Since this bulb has about 1/5 the output of ReptileUV Zoo (400 instead of 2000 microwatts) - assuming the same 12" Then this bulb will have about 65/5 = 13 IU/minute - we assume this is per cm2
Assuming you have 100 cm2 of skin exposed (in office/home setting, wearing lots of clothes), you will get 1300 IU per minute This seems far too large - one or more of the assumptions must be in error The following is a fuzzy spectra from a PDF at their website from Minutes in the Sun for 1000 IU Skin percentages: Face 3.5%, neck 2%, trunk 26%, hands 6%, arms 14%, legs 14%, thighs 18%. Have added reflectors to increase the light getting to the skin Average distance from bulb to body = 30" You can decrease by about 40% the amount of 'bulb time" needed by using suntan oil Based on my fear/ignorance I have decided to not use that low intensity light source. Also, the 18' tubes would have required much much longer time to get the same amount of vitamin D, assuming that it produced enough to generate any. There have been several questions about the smaller, lower cost tubes Checked the Zilla bulb (PDF at bottom of page) as an example, It has just 50 microwatts/square cm at 12", which is less UVB than the bulbs have at 48"