Benefits of Vitamin D from Sunlight to Prevent Skin Cancer

fadliestem (45)in #science • 6 years ago

Most people assume that the most effective way to prevent skin cancer is to use sunscreen. However, experts reveal that hiding from sunlight can also have the same negative impact on health. Then, how to prevent a safe and effective?

Be aware of the dangers and benefits of UV sunlight for skin

UV radiation can increase the risk of certain skin cancers, such as squamous cells and basal cells. But there is a difference that you need to know, the UV rays that cause cancer with beneficial sunlight. In some cases, UV rays may even be more beneficial to health.

Generally, doctors often give advice, if getting older will be better to avoid exposure to sunlight. Because the skin in old age began to show signs of damage from excessive sun exposure during previous life

But the fact is, once you avoid the sun at all, you just let the body to not work naturally as nature designs your body. Exposure to healthy sun is actually an integral part of the skin cancer prevention step.

Based on research, people who more often move outdoors turned out to have a reduced risk of melanoma cancer compared with people who work and move indoors. This shows that sun exposure actually also has a protective effect.

Then, is there any vitamin to prevent skin cancer?

Vitamin D is a vitamin produced by your body when exposed to sun exposure. Vitamin D can affect genes in the skin and prevent UV damage. Based on the working principle of this one body, avoiding sunlight precisely becomes a master weapon for you to trigger the risk of skin cancer.

In short, the vitamin D produced in the body serves to respond to UVB radiation so it can be useful as a protector of melanoma (cancer cell type), as noted in one of the Lancet studies. Unfortunately, applying sunscreen regularly can prevent the formation of vitamin D in your skin.

The American Association of Dermatologists, American Academy of Dermatology, does not recommend to make vitamin D that is formed from sun exposure as your main source of vitamin D. The risk of skin cancer from exposure to ultraviolet light makes them conclude that you should protect yourself from UV exposure and get vitamin D from food, drink, and or supplements.

How much vitamin D does the body need everyday?

Needs vitamin D people body is different. It is based on your age and your condition. According to a source of Nutritional Adequacy Ratios (AKG), the following is the vitamin D requirement that the body needs based on age

Born to 1 year - 200 IU (5 mcg / day)
1 year to 64 years - 600 IU (15 mcg / day)
Over 64 years - 800 IU (20 mcg / day)
Pregnant and lactating women - 600 IU (15 mcg / day)
In addition can be obtained from sunbathing, vitamin D to prevent skin cancer you can get from food, drinks and supplements. You can get through some food sources that contain vitamin D such as fish, egg yolks, liver organ, cheese, and dairy products.

Other sunlight benefits for skin

Not only to prevent skin cancer, vitamin D is also able to provide a variety of other health benefits, which you certainly will not get if you continue to avoid the sun. Some of the health benefits you can get from vitamin D include:

Improvement of the body's immune system
Improved kidney function
Strength of teeth and bones
Increased cardiovascular system
Improved brain function
Understand the risks and benefits of sun exposure

When talking about the risks and benefits of sunlight for human health, one of the most important things is to analyze both of these factors so you can maximize the benefits and minimize the risks in a safe way and minimize the use of sunscreen.

If what the dermatologists say about the use of sunscreen to avoid melanoma is true, then melanoma should decrease as more people use sunscreen. But the fact is over the last 30 years, along with the increasing users of sunscreen, the number of people affected by melanoma also increased.

In addition to blocking the activation of vitamin D, many sunscreen products that contain toxic substances, which is certainly the last thing you want to have in your healthy body. Furthermore, a variety of sunscreen products also contain vitamin A and its derivatives (retinol and retinyl palmitate) as well as various other harmful ingredients, such as oxybenzone, which proven to accelerate the development and spread of malignant cells of skin cancer.

Another important factor you need to remember as well, the SPF contained in most sunscreen products is usually only able to protect the skin from UVB rays, an ultraviolet light spectrum that allows your body to produce vitamin D. Though sunlight spectrum is harmful to the skin in this case causing damage and skin cancer is UVA rays. So, if you still want to use sunscreen, you should first make sure that the product you buy can protect your skin from UVA and UVB.

The most plausible and wiser way to protect the body from exposure to sunlight is to cover the exposed body with a thin cloth if you are only going to be out for a while. You can also wear a wide hat when you are outdoors for long periods of time.