I sure hope you find this article as interesting as we did... I think it is true... and I hope you will take the time to read it and give us your opinion..!

"Using Sunshine as a Prescription"

New evidence: 'Safe sun' exposure may reduce cancer... build vitamin D..!

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Scientists are excited about a vitamin again. But unlike fads that sizzled and fizzled... the evidence this time is strong and keeps growing.

If it bears out... it will challenge one of medicine's most fundamental beliefs: that people need to coat themselves with sunscreen whenever they're in the sun. Doing that may actually contribute to far more cancer deaths than it prevents... some researchers think.

The vitamin is D... nicknamed the "Sunshine Vitamin" because the skin makes it from ultraviolet rays. Sunscreen blocks its production... but dermatologists and health agencies have long preached that such lotions are needed to prevent skin cancer..!

"Now some scientists are questioning that advice"

Many people aren't getting enough vitamin D. It's hard to do from food and fortified milk alone... and supplements are problematic.

So the thinking is this: Even if too much sun leads to skin cancer... which is rarely deadly... too little sun may be worse.

No one is suggesting that people fry on a beach. But many scientists believe that "safe sun" - - 15 minutes or so a few times a week without sunscreen -- is not only possible but helpful to health.

One is Dr. Edward Giovannucci... a Harvard University professor of medicine and nutrition who laid out his case in a keynote lecture at a recent American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Anaheim.

His research suggests that vitamin D might help prevent 30 deaths for each one caused by skin cancer.

"I would challenge anyone to find an area or nutrient or any factor that has such consistent anti-cancer benefits as vitamin D..." Giovannucci told the cancer scientists. "The data are really quite remarkable."

The talk so impressed the American Cancer Society's chief epidemiologist... Dr. Michael Thun... that the society is reviewing its sun protection guidelines. "There is now intriguing evidence that vitamin D may have a role in the prevention as well as treatment of certain cancers..." Thun said.

Even some dermatologists may be coming around. "I find the evidence to be mounting and increasingly compelling..." said Dr. Allan Halpern... dermatology chief at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The dilemma... he said... is a lack of consensus on how much vitamin D is needed or the best way to get it.

No source is ideal. Even if sunshine were to be recommended... the amount needed would depend on the season... time of day... where a person lives... skin color and other factors.

"People tend to go overboard with even a hint of encouragement to get more sun exposure..." Thun said... adding that he'd prefer people get more of the nutrient from food or pills.

But this is difficult. Vitamin D occurs naturally in salmon... tuna and other oily fish... and is routinely added to milk. However... diet accounts for very little of the vitamin D circulating in blood... Giovannucci said.

Supplements contain the nutrient... but most use an old form -- D-2 -- that is far less potent than the more desirable D-3.

Multivitamins typically contain only small amounts of D-2 and include vitamin A... which offsets many of D's benefits.

As a result... pills might not raise vitamin D levels very much.

Government advisers can't even agree on an RDA... or recommended daily allowance for vitamin D. Instead... they say "adequate intake" is 200 international units a day up to age 50... 400 IUs for ages 50 to 70... and 600 IUs for people over 70.

Many scientists think adults need 1,000 IUs a day. Giovannucci's research suggests 1,500 IUs might be needed to significantly curb cancer.

How vitamin D may do this is still under study... but there are lots of reasons to think it can:

Several studies observing large groups of people found that those with higher vitamin D levels also had lower rates of cancer.

For some of these studies... doctors had blood samples to measure vitamin D... making the findings particularly strong. Even so... these studies aren't the gold standard of medical research. In the past... the best research has deflated health claims involving other nutrients... including vitamin E and beta carotene.

Lab and animal studies show that vitamin D stifles abnormal cell growth... helps cells die when they are supposed to... and curbs formation of blood vessels that feed tumors.

Cancer is more common in the elderly... and the skin makes less vitamin D as people age.

Blacks have higher rates of cancer than whites and more pigment in their skin... which prevents them from making much vitamin D.

Vitamin D gets trapped in fat... so obese people have lower blood levels of D. They also have higher rates of cancer.

Diabetics... too... are prone to cancer... and their damaged kidneys have trouble converting vitamin D into a form the body can use.

People in the northeastern United States and northerly regions of the globe like Scandinavia have higher cancer rates than those who get more sunshine year- round.

During short winter days... the sun's rays come in at too oblique an angle to spur the skin to make vitamin D. That is why nutrition experts think vitamin D-3 supplements may be especially helpful during winter... and for dark-skinned people all the time.

Skin cancer is rarely fatal... he notes. The most deadly form... melanoma... accounts for only 7,770 of the 570,280 cancer deaths expected to occur in the United States this year.

"The statement that 'no sun exposure is good' I don't think is correct anymore..." said Dr. Henry Lim... chairman of dermatology at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and an academy vice president.

Some wonder if vitamin D may turn out to be like another vitamin... folate. High intake of it was once thought to be important mostly for pregnant women... to prevent birth defects. However... since food makers began adding extra folate to flour in 1998... heart disease... stroke... colon cancer and osteoporosis have all fallen... suggesting the general public may have been folate-deficient after all.

About a dozen major studies are under way to test vitamin D's ability to ward off cancer... said Dr. Peter Greenwald... chief of cancer prevention for the National Cancer Institute. Several others are testing its potential to treat the disease. Two recent studies reported encouraging signs in prostate and lung cancer.

As for sunshine... experts recommend moderation until more evidence is in hand.

"The skin can handle it... just like the liver can handle alcohol..." said Dr. James Leyden... professor emeritus of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania... who has consulted for sunscreen makers. "I like to have wine with dinner... but I don't think I should drink four bottles a day."

Please take a moment to Click Here and let us know what you think about being in the sun now after having read this article... won't you..?

As always.... if you have a healthy interest in naturism or social nudism and you would like to Join the Sun Devils... or if I may answer any questions or be of service in any way... please don't hesitate to contact me.

Vera... the Sun Devil