Direct Sunlight Source of Essential Vitamin D

Everyone knows these days that you should be extremely careful in the sun, as over expose to the sun can cause real damage to your skin. Research has shown that teenage girls should be particularly careful in the sun, since melanoma, a potentially fatal skin cancer, is the most common cancer in young women between the ages of 25 and 29.

But recent research has left people confused as a lack of sunshine appears to be a contributing factor in a number of illnesses such as obesity, osteoporosis and depression. Too little sun exposure can lead to a lack of vitamin D, and up to 90 per cent of the vitamin D we need comes from being exposed to sunlight. The research has also shown that the sunshine we need to stay healthy has to be direct, strong sunlight that has not had the UVB rays filtered out by sun cream. In Britain, the sunlight is only strong enough to do this between March and September. Luckily Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is stored in the body, but by the end of the winter, research suggests that many adults don't have enough. According to recent research in the British Medical Journal, more than half of British adults do not have sufficient levels of vitamin D and 16 per cent suffer a severe deficiency during winter.

Our brains don't do well without regular exposure to sunlight, and can lead to things like Seasonal Affective Disorder. Full-strength daylight regulates the production of serotonin -the happy hormone - and melatonin, the hormone that controls our body clock. Among teenagers, the effects of a lack of sunlight on the brain and body clock can be even more obvious.

But for how long should you sunbathe for? The effects of sunshine on the body are so pronounced that you don't need much to get your daily dose of vitamin D. For a light-skinned person, 30 minutes of full-body exposure to summer sun at noon triggers the release of 20,000 IU of vitamin D into the circulation. Most doctors seem to think that if you should expose a fifth of your body to the sun for 20 minutes, three or four times a week, without sun cream then you should be able to get a healthy amount of vitamin D.

Stefanie Williams, medical director of the European Dermatology Clinic in London explains that: 'The amount of vitamin D you are able to make depends on many factors, including your skin colour, age, weight, where you are in the world and the season.”

Unfortunately, it is the burning UVB rays in sunlight that create the vitamin D in your skin, and as soon as you put on your sunscreen, your blocking the skin's ability to create vitamin D because the SPF that prevents burning gets in the way.

Understanding things like the UV forecast is helpful for understanding when and when not to get a bit of sun. The Met Office gives the UV forecast on its website as a number from 1 to 11. The higher the UV reading gets, the more precautions you should take with sun protection.

Your face, neck and hands are probably the easiest parts of your body to expose to the sun to get some vitamin D, but these are also the areas that show the signs of ageing which is accelerated by sunlight. So maybe the answer is to protect your face, while letting a small amount of sun get to your arms and legs a couple of times a week on days with a relatively low UV forecast to get yourself your healthy dose of vitamin D.

However you should still be particularly careful, and going out in the sun for 20 minutes without sun protection to be able to top up your vitamin D levels is very different to sunbathing all day to top up your tan without even looking at the sun cream. So here are some Oy! tips to help you stay healthy and protected in the sun!

•Use self-tanning creams. Tanning beds are not good for anyone. Teenagers and young adults looking to get that perfect tan should use tanning creams to get a safe summer glow. Try the Oy! soft glow gradual tan for gorgeously tanned, silky soft skin that smells delicious too!

•Be wary of freckles. If you develop freckles on your skin, this may be a sign of sustained sun damage. Freckles generally develop in sun-exposed areas such as the face, chest, and arms, and are more likely to develop in fair-skinned people with blonde or red hair.

•When you are out in high UV sunlight or out for longer than 20 minutes in the sun, apply sunscreen generously about 30 minutes before going outside; if you’re swimming, then you should reapply once you’re out of the water. Try our Oy! Face the Sun SPF 15 specifically for the more sensitive skin on your face, and Green People’s Sunlotion for the rest of your body giving you great sun protection.