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This post is sort of a survey -- interested what others have experienced.
A couple of weeks ago we had a warm day - 20C (almost 70F for those using legacy units) - and sunshine. (One of the nice things about Kansas vs Wisconsin is that the weather is variable - it is not winter everyday - in winter). So I took my shirt off when the sun was high and sat with my back to the sun for about 20 min. I seemed to feel better for the next couple of days.
I take 5,000IU of D3 - and I think it really changed my life - no longer got seasonal depression - BUT: I don’t do the correlation=causation bit that is so popular with the narrative spinning bloggers. The studies I’ve seen with vit-D are very poorly designed - almost all of the vit-D papers are looking at simple correlations of vit-D with some health issue - don’t do the "try to prove yourself wrong" bit that real science is supposed to do. The correlations do not prove that vit-D prevents any diseases - for instance - sick people tend to not go outside as much - get less sun - have lower levels(arrow of causation is backwards). So I can not assume that vit-D is curative from a mere correlation. It could also be that other substances produced in the skin that we don’t know about yet should get the credit? ( What I’m saying isn’t that vit-D doesn’t matter - but we don’t actually "know" much of what the narratives are claiming - I would expect that the story is more complex than it seems at first - a repeating theme in biological medicine. I suspect there is a calcium effect that is real - but the list of claimed benefits is quite long these days).
The big question in my mind is other than vit-D and melanin - there is about zero research looking at other photo-chemicals produced in the skin. I think it is very probable that other chemicals are made - and not all would be produced via the UV light - but other frequencies.
Anyway - I’m wondering if people here notice that sunshine changes how you feel? Or any health effect? (I suspect 50-80 levels of vit-D if supplementing - so list your level if you know it)
Post away - don’t look at the other posts first - there are no wrong answers - just like to get others impresions.
Vit-D is an interesting story.
There was early Russian research that was highly questioned in the west at the time - disregarded out of bigotry - it may not have been great research, but it should have opened minds here - but didn’t. So Vit-D was/is ignored here. There were even early Russian theories about a cardiovascular effect. I remember seeing pictures of Russian children in a circle around a mercury discharge lamp - getting UV for vit-D.
This is a later image - 1977 - but similar to ones I saw.
Google translated: Children of power engineers of the Kola NPP in polar nights sunbathe under an artificial sun in the village of Polyarnye Zori, Murmansk Region, 1977
The work here stopped at vit-D - no one looked further that I can find if other photo-chemicals are formed. We now have mass-spec equipment that could easily look for other chemicals in the bloodstream after sun exposure. ( Real sun - mercury lamps are not the same )..
I feel energized with rain of all things! Irish heritage? While I like sun on warm--not hot--days, I don’t like sunbathing at all. Enjoy short walks in sun, but would take a ramble or long hike through Muir Woods any day!
Jan