Vitamin D, good. Cholesterol, bad. Sun, bad.
If I had to reduce the Big Medicine’s perspective on Vitamin D, Cholesterol and Sun, this is what you’d get: Vitamin D is good, cholesterol is bad, sun exposure is bad because you’ll get skin cancer. Sound familiar?
This is complete and utter baloney. Baloney, I tell you. I decided to write this article because I wanted to flesh out some of the important considerations for Vitamin D and Cholesterol.
First, what is Vitamin D?
Vitamin D is an umbrella term for several different chemicals classified as “Vitamin D”. The most common form is Vitamin D3, which is what you’ll find on most supplement bottles.
It’s important to know that Vitamin D is not so much a vitamin as it is a hormone. It is a fat-soluble chemical that is produced in a complicated process involving the skin, circulatory system, liver, and kidneys.
Most people make Vitamin D through regular exposure to sun, but many people have begun to supplement with Vitamin D3 because of growing awareness that we are deficient in this important chemical.
Vitamin D deficiency is a real concern because it’s involved in so many biological process in the human body.
Consequences of Vitamin D Deficiency:
Regular exposure to sunlight and proper Vitamin D production is absolutely critical to overall health. Vitamin D is involved in a huge number of metabolic processes that can effect everything from mood to sleep to weight and beyond. Some of the possible risks involved with Vitamin D deficiency include (link, link)…
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Cardiovascular Disease
- Breast Cancer
- Thyroid Cancer
- Alzheimer’s
- Asthma
- Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome
- Depression
- Infertility
- Decrease in testosterone
- Decrease in bone density
- Increase in cholesterol
The list could do on. Vitamin D is a critical component to healthy life. So the natural question is: “how do I make more Vitamin D?”
How Do I Get More Vitamin D?
Vitamin D is good. But Cholesterol is still bad, right? And sun exposure is bad, right?
Nonsense my friend! Cholesterol is a precursor to Vitamin D, this critical chemical we’ve been talking about. Cholesterol is essential to the natural formation of Vitamin D in your body, and natural sunlight is necessary for this Vitamin D formation to happen.
Dr. Chris Masterjon has an excellent article about the creation of Vitamin D from Cholesterol here. He explains that Vitamin D3 is created from a substance called 7-dehydrocholesterol, a form of cholesterol.
You can create anywhere from 10,000 IUs for 20,000 IUs of Vitamin D3 with about 30 minutes of sun exposure without clothes or sunscreen. During this sun exposure, your cholesterol levels will drop. Why? Your cholesterol is literally being transformed into Vitamin D3.
Want more Vitamin D? Get outside in the sun for 30 minutes to an hour. Enjoy the sun without sunscreen.
I enjoy eating a snack of eggs cooked in butter before getting out in the sun. This will give me plenty of circulating cholesterol to be converted into Vitamin D.
Your risk of burning increases as the sun gets higher in the sky, so try to limit your mid-day exposure. Make sure to get plenty of morning sun and late afternoon sun.
Conclusion: What is Vitamin D?
Vitamin D is a critical hormone produced from cholesterol when sunlight strikes the skin. You can make plenty of it with just 30 minutes of sun exposure per day without sunscreen. It’s best to expose your skin to the sun in the mornings and in the late afternoon to prevent sunburns. Because cholesterol is a requirement for the natural production of Vitamin D, consider including a couple of eggs in your breakfast before heading outside to get some sun.
Enjoy yourself. Natural sunlight is a cheap, enjoyable, and powerful health tool.