Study: Tanning may limit skin's ability to produce vitamin D

Recife, Brazil (IINA) - While the sun helps the body make vitamin D, a new study says that too much exposure might lower the levels of the essential vitamin, UPI reported.
Tan skin may provide some protection against the sun's harmful UV rays, but this increase in pigment blocks vitamin D synthesis and limits the skin's ability to produce vitamin D, according to researchers in Brazil.
"Our findings suggest that skin tanning, which is a natural protection against the harmful effects of UV irradiation, limits the progressive rise in serum vitamin D towards optimal concentrations", said study author Dr. Francisco Bandeira, of the University of Pernambuco Medical School in Recife, Brazil.
For the study, researchers examined nearly 1,000 males and females from Recife, all had significant daily sun exposure, and none routinely used sunscreen or took vitamin D supplements.
The researchers compared the participants' hours of sun exposure and skin type with their blood level of vitamin D. Most of the participants with very high daily exposure to the sun had lower-than-normal serum vitamin D levels.
Overall, 72 percent of the participants were deficient in vitamin D. Those lacking this nutrient tended to be older and have lower sun index values, the study found.
"Our research showed that, in a large sample of individuals living in a tropical region located 8 degrees south of the equator with very high rates of sun exposure and extremely high UV irradiation, most people had serum vitamin D below 30 ng/ml [nanograms per milliliter], the cutoff for normal", Bandeira said in a news release.
AG/IINA

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