Ray of hope Summary: Study shows the benefits of sun exposure outweigh the risks Try as I might, I can never seem to get Dr. Wright to say "I told you so." Which is why I take it upon myself to do it for him whenever I can. And a recent study on vitamin D and sun exposure gave me yet another opportunity. Apparently mainstream medicine is starting to come around to the idea that the sun may not be such a deadly enemy after all. In fact, according to this particular study "Sun exposure may outweigh the cancer risks for vitamin D deficient people." The researchers found that while people in sunnier areas of the world -- places like Australia and New Zealand -- do have higher rates of cancer, their survival rates are also higher than people who live in darker, northern-latitude areas like Great Britain and Scandinavia. They attributed the increased odds to the fact that, thanks to the abundant sun exposure, people in the southern latitudes produce much more vitamin D than people in the north. In fact, they found that Australians produce almost five times as much vitamin D as Scandinavians. The sun-induced vitamin D offered significant enough protection against breast, colon, lung, and prostate cancer that the researchers concluded that these benefits outweigh the potential skin cancer risk that has put a damper on the sun's reputation for so long. As you know, Dr. Wright has been talking about the importance of this essential nutrient for years -- well before it started making headlines in more mainstream news outlets. And he's always firmly believed that the best source of vitamin D is the one Mother Nature intended: the sun. While supplements are an invaluable resource for those of us that may not get enough sun exposure year-round, Dr. Wright always recommends them in combination with giving your body a chance to produce its own vitamin D supply the natural way -- by soaking up some sunshine. Sources:
"Sun exposure may outweigh the cancer risks for vitamin D deficient people," YahooNews (www.yahoo.com), 1/7/08
"Addressing the health benefits and risks, involving vitamin D or skin cancer, of increased sun exposure," Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 2008; 105(2): 668-673 | 
