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As we have said more than once, despite what you may read in the media about the ease of getting vitamin D from the sun, if you don't spend enough time out in the sun between the hours of 10 am to 2 pm without sunscreen, or if you live where there is a lot of air pollution on a consistent basis, or take anti-convulsant drugs, you are likely to become deficient in vitamin D. Also, the farther north you live (if you are in the northern hemisphere), the fewer months out of the year that your body will be able to produce D from the sun in adequate quantities. Unfortunately, vitamin D deficiency seems to be widespread in America today.
We are told to not consume some of the foods that are the most palatable sources of vitamin D in today's world: shellfish, pork lard & bacon, eggs and butter. Even when we do consume these foods, they probably have less vitamin D in them because most animals are now raised in confinement and not fed their natural diet. As far as fish and seafood are concerned, some of us eat less of these foods because we are worried about high levels of mercury, and rightly so. In addition, much of the seafood is farmed today, which drastically reduces the D levels.
Many of us are scared to consume too much vitamin D because of the reports of toxicity, and avoid things like cod liver oil exactly for that reason. We are also told to avoid sunlight precisely between the hours of 10 to 2 because of increased cancer risks. This is exactly when the sun is strong enough in the summer to make vitamin D in our bodies! Studies have actually found that those living closer to the equator have lower levels of cancer overall.
Less Cancer In Those Closer To the Equator
More Sun, More Vitamin D, Less Cancer
In the July 2003 Journal of Nutrition, JoEllen Welsh of the University of Notre Dame and her colleagues reviewed laboratory evidence on vitamin D, and found that it signals breast, prostate and colon cells to mature, stop growing, and to eventually succumb to programmed cell death. This is in contrast to cancer cells, which stay immature, keep growing and rapidly dividing, and do not die their natural death.
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More on D Deficiency & Absorption
Vitamin D Supplementation
D Toxicity
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