How To Get Enough Vitamin D Without Increasing Skin Cancer Risk, From A Derm 

The sun has a bad rap in the beauty space. So often you'll hear beauty experts disclosing the dangers of powerful UV rays and the importance of protecting your skin every single day, rain or shine. These warnings are well warranted, as excess sun exposure is associated with some pretty serious potential skin health concerns.

But the sun is literally a source of life! It impacts your mood and mental health! It provides you with essential vitamin D! That last point, however, isn't so cut and dried. According to board-certified dermatologist Shasa Hu, M.D., professor at the University of Miami who specializes in skin cancer detection, the link between sunlight and vitamin D is trickier than you think. 

Here's the thing: You can get vitamin D from sunlight, but for many, sun exposure alone is not enough to provide all the vitamin D that your body needs. 

Even if you're outside in the heat all day long, you still may be vitamin D deficient. "In one study, [researchers] followed migrant farmworkers in Florida, as well as farmworkers in Hawaii," Hu says on a recent episode of Clean Beauty School. "They found significant vitamin D deficiency in farmworkers who don't use sunscreen. So even if you work outside on the field eight hours a day in various sunny [conditions], you can still be vitamin D deficient." 

The question becomes: How do you get enough vitamin D without increasing your risk of skin cancer and accelerated skin aging? 

Says Hu, "It's much safer and more reliable to take a vitamin D [supplement] than go in the sun, get sunburned and potentially skin cancer because of that fear of vitamin D deficiency." 

One study even pinned supplementation and sunshine against each other, finding that those who took a modest level of oral vitamin D supplementation (1,000 IU of D3 taken daily) experienced an increase in vitamin D blood levels. Participants who chose to rely on sunlight exposure, on the other hand, had no significant increase. Another study even found that people who regularly took vitamin D supplements were less likely to have melanoma!

"There are also a lot of other studies supporting that our skin's capacity to convert vitamin D from sun exposure declines over age2, but our GI absorption stays relatively stable," Hu explains. Meaning, older adults experience a reduced capacity to produce vitamin D33 from UVB radiation (aka, sunshine). 

But a food-only approach also fails when it comes to optimal vitamin D status. That's why many health experts recommend taking a multifaceted approach4, including high-quality supplements.

Look, sun exposure is necessary for a healthy, full life. It's excess sun exposure that becomes an issue over time, so please, continue to take measures to protect your skin from UV rays.