No, not if there is glass in the window!Vitamin D is made by UV B which is blocked quite well by standard soda-lime silica glass. Even half of UV A is blocked by such glass. For the same reason you’ll find it impossible to burn through such glass, and all you get is the short-term “UV-A” tan from oxidized melanin that lasts only a few weeks, and that you get at tanning salons.UV-B makes it through pure “fused-quartz” or “fused-silica” glass (ie, no soda or lime) but that stuff is expensive because the temperatures needed to work with pure molten SiO2 are extreme (duh— this is the reason they add the soda and lime!). I’ve heard rumors of ultra-rich people with tanning solarium windows made of the stuff, so they can get tanning rays. I suppose that would work if you’re a zillionaire. You can google “quartz plate glass.”Fused quartz glass is used in all optical applications where UV transmission is needed, but it’s super expensive even there.Apparently it will be less effective than direct exposure.
Vitamin D is primarily synthesized through contact of Ultraviolet B rays with your skin. Glass filters out UVB but not UVA radiation. As such, as far as I understand, light through a window will cause less Vitamin D to be produced than unfiltered light.Vitamin D produced from UVB: How do I get the vitamin D my body needs?Windows block UVB: Do UV Sun Rays Go Through Windows?Exposure to Sun thru glass just isn’t the same as direct exposure.UVB rays are the triggers for vitamin D production in our bodies.Glass blocks the shorter-wave UVB rays while allowing most of the longer UVA rays to pass through. In short, we’re receiving the more damaging rays without the normal protective benefit of vitamin D production. This PDF is available to Subscribers Only View Article Abstract & Purchase OptionsVitamin D deficiencies lead to sleep disorders. And to correct vitamin D-related sleep disorders, you have to be careful about the amount of vitamin D you take and when you take it.Take 1000 IUs of Vitamin D-3 per 25 pounds of body weight, but not more than 10,000 IU’s.
Get a blood test to make sure this amount of vitamin D is sufficient for you. Just as too little vitamin D is bad, so is too much.Take it in the morning. Vitamin D temporarily pauses the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone, so don’t take it at night.Sufficient vitamin D can also help reduce pain and control inflammation, among an assortment of other health benefits.Although subtle, more than half of the world population is vitamin D deficient! This is a big problem because sleep disorders are an epidemic due to vitamin D deficiency. (2) This hurts the amount of sleep you get, the quality of your sleep, and your mood upon waking up.We have this deficiency because of the way we live. We work inside, wear clothes, and use sunscreen. These are all realities of modern life, and they all take away from our vitamin D synthesis.This is important to note, because you do not soak up D from the sun, per se. Rather, the interaction with UVB light and a cholesterol derivative in the skin causes D to be synthesized in the body.
While many of us wish we could quit our jobs and move to the Bahamas to soak in the rays we need, that is not realistic for most. As biohackers, it is our job to find a solution.Eating foods rich in vitamin D, and supplementing with D3 is a necessary part of life to maintain adequate D levels. D3 supplements can be found here.However, simply taking a ton of vitamin D is not the complete answer in the long run for preventing vitamin D deficiency. Too much or too little can have side effects, including reducing the quality of your sleep. The amount of International Units (IU) you take and time of day are important aspects in upgrading the amount and quality of your sleep.According to the Vitamin D Council, 1000 IU’s per 25lbs are recommended each day, although using a blood test is the best way to know your ideal dose. A healthy human body utilizes about 3000-5000 IU of vitamin D per day. These amounts are adjusted according to your age, weight, absorption, skin color and normal sun exposure.
So when you are outside with adequate sun exposure, use no sunscreen but put on a shirt or a hat if you start to get burned, and leave the Vitamin D supplements at home. More is not always better.Too much vitamin D can cause headaches and inflammation in the body. The US Government’s upper intake level (UL) for vitamin D is set at 4,000 IU per day. Other experts disagree, the current consensus states it should be 10,000 IU. (7,8,9) This is the amount your skin would naturally produce from maximum exposure from the sun. (10) An even better way to figure out what your optimal vitamin D levels are, is through testing your body’s responses.As more research is being done on D, we are just beginning to find out the importance of the dosage of vitamin D. Additionally with the amount you take, the time you take vitamin D is a crucial factor in upgrading your sleep.Are You Taking Vitamin D at the Right Time?Vitamin D is inversely related to melatonin, your sleep hormone, so it makes sense that taking it at night disrupts sleep.
I’ve noticed this effect personally. For this reason, there is no reason to take vitamin D at night.An n=1 experiment done by gwern.net also concludes that taking vitamin D in the morning is best. Using a ZEO, his morning dose of D increased REM, deep sleep, and number of hours increased. He looked at taking the same dosage at night, and his sleep quality plummeted. My biohacking experiments have similar results. When I’ve taken D in the morning I had my usual great sleep. When I’ve taken D at night, I had a restless night.In our busy worlds, healthy sleep is gold. If we do not receive the right amounts of vitamin D, sleep suffers. If you live a stressful life, sleep is even more important.There are other reasons to take it too. In a study with chronic pain patients, vitamin D helped reduce pain, improve quality of life, and increase sleep.(4) Having adequate levels of D may protect against cancer, control inflammation, heart disease, poor mood, and may help regulate the immune system.
Most people are vitamin D deficient, and do not know how it can help improve their lives.If you are unsure of where to start, there are a few options. You might go to your doctor and find out where your vitamin D levels are right now. Better yet, use WellnessFX for testing and advice. You can search online for other self testing labs.If your level is below 30 ng/ml then you are vitamin D deficient. Increasing intake will help sleep and other health parameters, including bone health and decreased depression.Getting a better night’s rest is an upgraded away.What are some of the ways that you hack your sleep? Do you have a vitamin D story? Share it in the comments!Click to read the complete list of references.Prentice, A. Vitamin D deficiency: a global perspective. Nutr Rev. 2008 Oct; 66 (10 Suppl 2): S153-64.Gominak SC, Stumpf WE. The world epidemic of sleep disorders is linked to vitamin D deficiency. Epub 2012 May 13. PubMed PMID: 22583560.Relationships among dietary nutrients and subjective sleep, objective sleep, and napping in women.