In this video, Dr. Huntoon discusses the reason WHY we get sunburn, the physiology of what happens when we get sunburn and what we can do to Prevent Sunburn and still make adequate vitamin D levels for our health.

The Sunshine Vitamin

Vitamin D is such an important vitamin for our health.  It is actually a hormone precursor and we should not be using sunscreens and sunblocks.  If we do, we are destines to suffer from health concerns.

If you have questions about sunburn and using sunscreens, read the article below and contact Dr. Huntoon so he can help you understand how to protect your skin and have adequate vitamin D levels.

We look forward to serving you.

Why Do I Get Sunburn?

Chiropractic care is an essential ingredient of any nutrition-focused wellness program. Ensuring that you're getting your "five to stay alive" daily servings of fresh fruits and vegetables is a very important component of such a program. For many of us, daily vitamin supplementation is also important. And as we've seen in the accompanying article, getting sufficient doses of real-world, actual sunshine is an often-overlooked and misunderstood aspect of wellness care.

A healthy diet combined with vitamin supplementation (as needed) is a very good beginning, and chiropractic care helps make all your good efforts pay off. Chiropractic care helps your body to make good use of what you're putting into it. Chiropractic care helps ensure that your digestive system is working properly so that your body will keep what it needs and eliminate what it doesn't. Chiropractic care helps your muscles use nutrients efficiently, so you're able to feel energized and do work effectively. Chiropractic care helps your immune system make good use of nutrients so you can reduce inflammation and fight off potential microbial invaders.

Chiropractic care and good nutrition go together to help you maintain vibrant physical health.

What Purpose Does Vitamin D Serve

We all know that Vitamin D is a critically important component in building strong bones and strong teeth. It turns out that Vitamin D has a vast number of additional functions.

For example, recent research shows that

• low Vitamin D levels is related to increased risk for diabetes as well as cardiovascular disease.¹
• Insufficient Vitamin D during pregnancy can lead to gestational diabetes as well as pre-eclampsia² (pregnancy-induced hypertension), which may be life-threatening.
• Links between low Vitamin D levels and development of cancer have been studied for many years.³

Vitamin D insufficiency has been associated with

• mild depression,
• Alzheimer's disease, and
• stroke, as well as with
• peripheral neuropathy,
• lupus, and
• fibromyalgia.

It seems that Vitamin D has a huge impact on almost every aspect of our physical health. It makes sense for everyone to ensure they are getting enough Vitamin D on a daily basis.

How to Get Enough Vitamin D?

The best source of this powerful vitamin is sunlight.

The sun's rays stimulate skin cells to produce the activated form of Vitamin D, cholecalciferol (Vitamin D₃).

Activated Vitamin D helps regulate

• levels of calcium and phosphate in the blood stream,
• helps maintain normal bone mineralization,
• helps regulate nerve function,
• the immune response,
• and genes responsible for cell growth, differentiation, and cell death.

These genetic regulatory functions are associated with Vitamin D's role in cancer prevention.

How Things Used To Be

Back in the day, people were outdoors much more than they are in the 21st century. There were no text messages, no multiplayer games, no social networking sites (people actually "networked" by meeting each other in physical space), and definitely no computers that occupied less than entire room's worth of square feet.

We also used to eat real food made from real, natural ingredients, there was less pollution and there was far less additives and preservatives.  And all of this changed after World War II.  

And Today

Our modern lifestyle causes us to stay indoors, far away from the healthful rays of the sun. This has lead to a chronic vitamin D deficiency in our society and has lead to many of the health concerns listed above. 

What the authorities story is, "Oh wait - the sun's rays aren't that healthful anymore because of pollution and radical degradation of the ozone layer by excessive accumulations of free radicals in the atmosphere. The resulting increased exposure to ultraviolet-B radiation from the sun can cause skin cancer in those who are susceptible and do not protect themselves with sunscreens."

This is leading to many health issues around being deficient in vitamin D.  And it is only getting worse.

To balance the daily requirement for Vitamin D with the opposing need to avoid undue exposure, most studies recommend getting 15 to 30 minutes of unprotected sunlight several times per week (two to four such expeditions each week are sufficient). Importantly, studies demonstrate that three out of four Americans have Vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency affects more than one billion people worldwide.

Vitamin D supplementation may also be recommended, particularly for those who live in sun-deprived climates and for most people in winter. Two thousand IU of Vitamin D₃ is typical daily dose.

Why We Have The Problem?

After World War II, we began using chemical fertilizers and added a whole bunch of preservatives, artificial ingredients and moved away from real food.  This move away from healthy, natural ingredients caused a change in our digestive system and began creating deficiencies in our required nutrition in order to maintain being healthy. 

Compound that with the other Digestive System Disruptors , and you have the reason why we get conditions like sunburn and feel we need to lather up with chemical lotions that use a toxic heavy metal, titanium dioxide, in addition to the other non-natural ingredients found in the sunscreens and sun blocks.  And by applying these lotions and sprays and creams to our largest organ in our body, this tends to STOP the normal production of vitamin D, thus leading to the epidemic we have in the United States.     

What Nature Has Done For Us

Nature is so wonderful.  It has the ability to maintain homeostasis at all times, even when things have gone awry. 

In the spring-time, when the sun begins to shine and the hours of day-light increase and we would normally be exposed to more sunlight, nature provides an answer.  The leaves on the trees begin to bloom and this increases a natural defense to the sunlight increase.  It is called shade.  Also, within the increased leaf production is a specific ingredient found within the leaves called vitamin F.  Vitamin F is a component found in the whole food vitamin E molecule and it helps to counterbalance the body’s natural response to the sun.

The Mechanism

When sunlight hits the skin, it combines with the natural oils of the skin to begin formulating vitamin D.  As the vitamin D passes through the tissues and into the bloodstream, it pulls with it calcium to help support the health and maintenance of the bones and Immune System.  Without this mechanism, the person would begin to develop osteoporosis and osteopenia, along with a malfunctioning Immune System and more. 

The Problem at a Tissue Level

When the vitamin D combines with the calcium in the tissues, as the increase in vitamin D production occurs (due to the sun exposure of the skin) it will deplete the tissues of their required calcium levels, causing the cells of the skin to become weak and sets the skin up for developing damage.  What results when the tissues become deficient in calcium is the thing we want to avoid – sunburn. 

Natures Solution

In a healthy balanced diet, to include many leafy green vegetables, is the counterbalance to vitamin D production, the vitamin F we spoke of earlier.  Vitamin F combines with calcium within the blood and carries it back to the tissues.  This is its function.  The challenge we have run into is twofold:

• We don’t tend to eat enough leafy green vegetables to support adequate vitamin F levels sufficiently to maintain balance between vitamin D production and vitamin F consumption. What results in excess sun exposure is sunburn.
• Wanting to stop sunburn, we lather up with sun blocking lotions and sprays that block the vitamin D production and we develop the consequences of that mentioned above.

The Solution

The following formula has worked well with me for the past 20 years:

• Eat Real Food and Lots of It
• Restore Balance To Your Digestive System
• Take a Vitamin F Supplement and a Calcium Supplement Daily
• Increase your Vitamin F and Calcium before going into the sun and maintain an increase in both while in the sun
• Apply Shea Butter lotion to your skin after being in the sun, as Shea Butter Lotion provides the skin with vitamin F, as it is found in the Shea Butter naturally.

Your Next Step

If you suspect you could have a Vitamin D Deficiency, This is something you do not want to neglect.  Instead of going to the store and buying a bunch of synthetic/fake vitamin D, why not have a proper evaluation and support your health by having a conversation with Dr. Huntoon about what else you may be deficient in.  If you are deficient in vitamin F, calcium or even vitamin D, this may be the reason why you get sunburn when you spend time in the sun.  This will help you go forward in the most healthful way possible.  Call 845-561-2225 (his cell phone) and discuss what your health concerns are and the two of you can come up with a plan to remedy them.

We look forward to serving you.

¹Swales HH, Wang TJ: Vitamin D and cardiovascular disease risk: emerging evidence. Curr Opin Cardiol July 7, 2010 (Epub ahead of print)

²Lapillonne A: Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy may impair maternal and fetal outcomes. Med Hypotheses 74(1):71-75, 2010

³Edlich R, et al: Scientific documentation of the relationship of vitamin D deficiency and the development of cancer. J Environ Pathol Toxicol Oncol 28(2):133-141, 2009