Vitamin D can help against diabetes risk

Fri, 17 Dec 2010
Contrary to received wisdom, a new study has reported that sunbathing might actually be good for you, as the body needs the vitamin D it helps provide. Many people in the UK are not getting enough of the vitamin, and such a deficiency can result in a range of health problems .

A group of leading health groups and charities, Diabetes UK, Cancer Research UK, the National Heart Forum, the British Association of Dermatologists, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, the National Osteoporosis Society and the Primary Care Dermatology Society have issued a statement to try to end the confusion about the levels of sunlight that it is safe to be exposed to.

The groups argue that you should go out in the sun for 10 minutes about midday during the summer months when the sun is strongest and can trigger the body into making vitamin D. However, they did emphasis that you shouldn’t stay out too long and get burnt.

Concerns about too much sunlight and skin cancer has led many people to avoid the sun at all costs, so much so that there has been a re-emergence of the bone disease, rickets, which was last seen in the early 20th Century.

Peter Johnson, chief clinician at Cancer Research UK, said "It is important to strike the right balance with the risk of skin cancer and vitamin D deficiency. This statement is designed to bring some sort of clarity." The message, then, is little and frequent sun exposure is a good thing.

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