#immunityenhance

Vitamin D is one of the oldest hormones that has been produced on this planet for more than 750 million years. Yet today, it’s insufficiency affects almost 50% of the population worldwide (1,2). This sun vitamin is believed to be essential for healthy bones, teeth and muscles. Without this, the body can't absorb the calcium it ingests, so it steals calcium from bones, increasing the risk of osteoporosis and fractures. Solving the problem of rickets was only the beginning of research into vitamin D. Research results suggest that vitamin D may have a role in other aspects of human health.

Vitamin D Benefits beyond bone health:

Immunity:

The presence of vitamin D receptors in other tissues and organs suggest that vitamin D function extends beyond bone homeostasis (3).Vitamin D deficiency may affect the immune system as it plays an immunomodulatory role (4), enhancing innate immunity by up-regulating the expression and secretion of antimicrobial peptides (5–6), which boosts mucosal defences. Furthermore, recent meta-analyses have reported a protective effect of vitamin D supplementation on respiratory tract infections (7–9). This makes it evident how important it is to boost our Vitamin D levels during the Novel coronavirus pandemic where immunity plays the key role against COVID-19. In a retrospective study of patients tested for COVID-19, researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine found an association between vitamin D deficiency and the likelihood of becoming infected with coronavirus disease (9a).

The Hair and Vitamin D Connection:

Healthy, long and vibrant hair helps a lot in the improvement of personality. Therefore, keeping hair in a healthy state is entirely important for human-being, because just like the face, hair is also a mirror of a healthy state of the body. Ayurveda, one of the world's oldest holistic healing systems, has clearly stated in its age-old texts that hair is a byproduct of the bone tissue (asthi dhatu). Meaning any nutrient such as  Vitamin that increases bones health will consequently help to improve the quality of hair. By looking at an individual’s hair, one can tell much about the health of bones. This age-old wisdom of Ayurveda clearly explained thousands of years ago why Vitamin D is essential for maintaining healthy hair which has been discovered now by modern researchers (10-12). In ancient Vedas, the Sun was commonly seen as a source of healing, light and inner transformation. Ayurveda believed that sunbathing in the morning when the light is orange in colour is an effective way to keep the body healthy.  The ancient Rishis in India used to worship the sun and realized that sunrays could help one regain lost health. Rigveda states - All living beings of the creation depend on the sun. The sun removes physical, mental and spiritual weaknesses and makes one healthy and long-lived. 

Cancer and other diseases: 

Furthermore, Researchers have discovered that Chronic vitamin D deficiency may have serious adverse consequences, including increased risk of hypertension, cardiovascular diseases (13, 13a), multiple sclerosis (14), cancers of the colon (15), prostate (16), breast (17-18), and ovary (19), and type 1 diabetes (20). There needs to be a better appreciation of the importance of vitamin D for overall health and well being.

Hos your body makes Vitamin D

To prevent vitamin D deficiency, one should spend 15 to 20 minutes daily in the sunshine with 40% of the skin surface exposed. When human skin is exposed to sunlight, the solar ultraviolet-B (UVB) (290 to 315 nm) photons penetrate into the skin (epidermis) and are absorbed by 7-dehydrocholesterol, and converts it into vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 travels to the liver, where it picks up extra oxygen and hydrogen molecules to become 25-hydroxyvitamin D, or 25(OH)D. This is the chemical that doctors usually measure in blood to diagnose vitamin D deficiencies. But although 25(OH)D is used for diagnosis, it can't function until it travels to the kidney. There it acquires a final pair of oxygen and hydrogen molecules to become 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D; this active form of the vitamin is known as 1,25(OH)2D, or calcitriol.

Timing:

In summer the sunlight is intense, so bask in the early morning sun, not in the afternoon heat as it leads to diseases of pitta (bile) and induces fatigue. The significance of the morning sunbathing to achieve better health has been accepted worldwide. Many Ayurveda experts believe that sunbathing in the morning when the light is orange is an effective way to keep the heart-healthy.  However, during cold weather, one can bask in the afternoon heat too, as the intensity is not as strong as summer. One should start off with a small duration of 5-10 minutes for a week and gradually increase it to 15-20 minutes maximum. Always stay out only as long as you feel comfortable. 

Factors affecting Vitamin D production

Under the right circumstances, 15 to 20 minutes of sun on the arms and legs a few times a week can generate nearly all the vitamin D we need. Unfortunately, the "right circumstances" are elusive: the season, the time of day, where you live, cloud cover, and even pollution affect the amount of UVB (5% of sunshine) that reaches your skin. What's more, your skin's production of vitamin D is influenced by age, skin colour, and sunscreen use. Use of sunblock, common window glass in homes or cars and clothing, all effectively block UVB radiation – even in the summer. It’s also believed that oil massage enhances vitamin D production and its distribution as it's a fat-soluble vitamin. Indian Mothers often massage their babies with oil prior to exposing their skin in sunlight for vitamin D production!

Vitamin D deficiency: An ignored pandemic

Vitamin D deficiency is a global health problem. Over a billion people worldwide are vitamin D deficient or insufficient. Half of Americans are deficient in vitamin D, with much higher rates seen in African Americans, Hispanics and other individuals living in areas where it is difficult to get enough sun exposure in winter.This pandemic of hypovitaminosis D can mainly be attributed to fear of having skin cancer, lifestyle (for example, reduced outdoor activities) and environmental (for example, air pollution) factors that reduce exposure to sunlight, which is required for UVB (5% of the sunshine)-induced vitamin D production in the skin.

Creating a balanced message: The Vitamin D Solution 

The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer recommends avoiding outdoor activities at midday, wearing clothing to cover the whole body, and daily use of sunscreen on usually exposed skin (21) . The American Cancer Society advocates Slip! Slop! Slap! and Wrap! to make sure skin is covered in clothing or sunscreen and to avoid exposure to the sun between 10 am and 4 pm (22).

These recommendations are understandable from the viewpoint of preventing the 3.5 million new cases of and 2000 deaths from nonmelanoma skin cancer in the United States each year (23), but they neglect the fact that we have a long cultural history of appreciation of the sun and use of UV radiation for healing purposes (24). Even in Australia, the skin cancer capital of the world, it is now recognized that the slip, slap, slop message has led to more than 40% of the population being vitamin D deficient (25-26).

Sensible sun exposure which is free, eating foods that naturally contain vitamin D or are fortified with vitamin D as well as taking a vitamin D supplement should eliminate vitamin D sufficiency (27-28). Constructing public health messages that highlight the pros and cons of sun exposure in a balanced way is indeed a good direction to end this pandemic.

Caution:

Keep changing your body position while taking sunlight. Do not take a sunbath immediately after meals. Ultraviolet rays dehydrate the skin, so after sunlight, you need to nourish and moisturize it with the help of oil or cream. The person concerned with sun-skin infection should adopt sunbathe only after consulting the doctor. Look for supplements for the areas  that are not close to the equator and deprived of sunlight in winter or rainy season. You can’t do anything about it. 

References:

1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3356951/

2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21310306/

3. https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/80/6/1689S/4690513

4a https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4488782/

5a https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2807280/

6a https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15985530/

7 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27826955/

8 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3543548/

9 https://www.bmj.com/content/356/bmj.i6583

9ahttps://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.08.20095893v1

10https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23428658/

11https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28994020/

12 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30547302/

13 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9260973/

13a https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1969518/

14 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28619429/

15 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26811638/

16 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29667615/

17https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18422861/ 

18 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24705652/

19 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30157901/

20 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18548227/

21 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1098301511035303

22 https://www.cancer.org/cancer/skin-cancer.html

23. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/basal-and-squamous-cell-skin-cancer/about/key-statistics.html

24 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4536937/#cit0004

25 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21592422/

26 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22442274/

27 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17634462/