We take the ginormous ball of fire that gives us life for granted…I’m talking about the sun.
Not to state the obvious, but the sun gives us light, warmth, and Vitamin D. You need vitamin D for clear skin and much more than that…
We were put on this planet to roam naked and free under the bright sun, making all the Vitamin D our bodies need. But is that what we do? Naaaaah, because that would be kinda weird…
Today, I write to you from a box, otherwise known as a house, from a country where there’s about 6-7 hours of sun a day in the winter. I haven’t even seen the sun today because it’s so cold, that I haven’t left the house.
In the summer, I wear protective clothing (hats, sunglasses) and sunscreen! I hide in the shade or indoors to avoid the sunshine.
This is a recipe for a vitamin D deficiency, wherein lies the problem. It’s said that about 50% of the world’s population is vitamin D deficient!!
Why Do I Need Vitamin D?
Vitamin D is actually a steroid hormone — just like estrogen and testosterone. It isn’t actually a vitamin, because it is produced in the body while vitamins are acquired through diet or supplementation. It can be made in the skin with exposure to direct sunlight (UVB rays).
Vitamin D is produced when sunlight converts cholesterol on the skin into calciol (vitamin D3). The kidneys then convert calcidiol into the active form of vitamin D, called calcitriol.
Vitamin D can also be found in some foods in very small quantities like in wild-caught fish, organ meats, and eggs. But you need to eat crazy amounts of these foods to get adequate amounts of vitamin D.
Basically, vitamin D is responsible for solving the real issues responsible for pimples: namely, insulin resistance, chronic inflammation, and helps you manufacture your own antioxidants!
Adequate amounts of vitamin D help improve your skin by balancing insulin levels, lowering inflammation, and improving immune function…This helps pimples come and go more easily without the horrible experience of redness and swelling that makes the appearance of a pimple MUCH worse.
But you and I don’t get enough Vitamin D.
Spending too much time indoors is one aspect of the problem. People with darker skin and people who live at higher latitudes also get MUCH LESS vitamin D.
Want to see how much Vitamin D you get based on location?
I’m north of where it says unlikely!
I was shocked to see that Canada pretty much gets 4-5 months of very moderate vitamin D synthesis, never getting past the middle of the range. This is also true for Northern European countries like England and Sweden.
The skin needs to be directly exposed to sunlight (UVB rays) to be able to produce Vitamin D. Wearing SPF 30 sunscreen can reduce vitamin D production by a whopping 95%!
You also produce less vitamin D in your skin with age. A study showed that a 70 year old produces 4 times less vitamin D than a 20 year-old.
Drinking out of plastic bottles containing BPA is another factor that disrupts hormones, including Vitamin D. The results of one study showed that people who were exposed to higher amounts of phthalates and BPA were more likely to have lower levels of vitamin D than those exposed to lower amounts of these chemicals.
I think it’s time for you to kick that plastic water bottle habit…
Vitamin D regulates countless important processes in the body and a deficiency can result in dangerous consequences including the following:
- acne
- chronic fatigue
- greater inflammation
- candida
- weight gain
- depression, anxiety, and mood disorders
- hormonal imbalances
- weak teeth and bones
- higher blood sugar, resistance to insulin, diabetes
- irritable bowel syndrome
- autoimmune conditions like MS and Crohn’s Disease
Vitamin deficiencies are no small thing and should be taken extremely seriously – especially a Vitamin D deficiency.
Here’s some encouraging results…Individuals with highest blood serum levels of Vitamin D have been found to have LONGER lifespans.
Vitamin D is anti-aging too! It regulates the aging process by lengthening telomeres. Telomeres are the ends of DNA, kind of like the ends of a shoelace. Telomeres shorten every year, so it’s kind of important to try to slow down or even reverse the shortening of telomeres.
Inflammation doesn’t just cause the red, painful pimples and cysts, it is also said to shorten telomeres, another reason why vitamin D is so important.
How Much Vitamin D Is Enough?
All my research suggests that you need about 5,000-10,000 IU of vitamin D on days when you do not see the sun. Consider taking it in either capsule or drop form paired with healthy fats like coconut oil for even better absorption given that vitamin D is fat-soluble.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) has suggested that vitamin D toxicity is unlikely at daily intakes below 10,000 IU/day.
Considering that a fair-skinned person can produce up to 20,000IUs of Vitamin D in 20 minutes, I usually take between 5,000-10,000 IU of vitamin D3 in oil capsules daily – 10,000 IU in the winter in Canada, where I sadly don’t get any vitamin D at all.
Anything below 5,000 IU is too conservative to make a difference.
Make sure to supplement with vitamin D3, not Vitamin D2. Vitamin D3 is more bioavailable, and lasts longer in the body. D2 is synthetic, and frankly sucks.
Keep in mind that context matters. If you live in sunny, warm climate then you might not need to supplement with vitamin D at all. But to be sure, it’s important to get your vitamin D levels tested occasionally!
Are you convinced that you need more D?
Love,
Olena
P.S. Don’t miss a single one of my best 28 hacks for clear skin — sign up to get them in your inbox!
