The Sun: Pros & Cons

(This blog post is based on the article
Catch 22: "People Who Aviod the Sun Lack Vitamin D" by Christopher Wanjek.
http://www.livescience.com/health/sun-exposure-vitamin-d-deficiency-101018.htmlcience.com/health/sun-exposure-vitamin-d-deficiency-101018.html)

In a recent study, doctors advised patients, who were inclined to developing skin cancer, to stay out of the sun and put sun-screen on whenever they were exposed to the sun. As a result, this group had drastically lower levels of vitamin D than another controlled group in the study. This shows that avoiding and being overprotective from the sun, results in lower levels of vitamin D. This could result in illnesses like bone fractures, heart disease, and other forms of cancers. On the other hand, unsafe exposure to the sun can also cause skin cancer.
Now this can be a perplexing situation. If you have fair skin, then you should avoid too much exposure to the sun. However, if you are going to turn away from the sun, then you have to make sure you are recieving a healthy amount of vitamin D in your diet or through supplementation. This can become a convoluted situation because there are not many foods which provide vitamin D. According to livescience.com, "no one is can determine the precise dividing line between healthy and dangerous sun exposure."

Foods that provide a source of vitamin D