Menopause Discussion > Alternative Therapies
Vit D
dahliagirl:
I don't like the 'only get vitamin D from sunlight between April and September' .......... has anyone actually measured this? What about people that are out doors most of the year, after all we get lovely sunshine earlier and later than expected across the UK.
The sunlight that you need to make vitamin D is at the short end of the spectrum - beyond violet.
The shorter wavelengths get absorbed on the way through the earth's atmosphere.
If you draw the earth as a circle, put another circle around it for the atmosphere, and mark a spot on the earth's surface for you, then if the sun is directly above you then that is the shortest distance through the atmosphere. If it comes from an angle (like it does when the sun is lower at the beginning and the end of the day and in the winter) then the light will have to go a longer distance through the atmosphere until it reaches you and will lose more light at the short end of the spectrum.
This is why the sky and the sun go red in the evening.
As a rule of thumb, if your shadow is shorter than you are, then the sun is at the right angle to get enough UVB rays.
10-20 minutes or so is enough, depending on your skin colour. It is the same part of the spectrum that causes cancer, so don't stay there long enough to burn!
CLKD:
WOW we are a Mine of Info on here, that's for sure. :thankyou: now, is that physics, biology ......
I've nipped in and out several times to our garden but it is really cold!! Sun is out, stiff breeze.
dahliagirl:
Physics, geography, environmental science, biology - they all cover it from different angles ;D
It is too cold here too and the wind makes my house colder BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR :sunny:
CLKD:
:D put another jumper on?
Sun is pouring into the lounge but the wind is sharp. Straight from the Urals :o. :o
At least the sky is blue. Laundry inside, no need to go out any more today but I may have another wander round B4 dusk.
dahliagirl:
I have some flowers to plant in a tub, but I may leave it another day ::)
Not the best of weather for vitamin D production :-\
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