Dark skin color may protect you but it can also screen the vital sun rays that your body needs to manufacture vitamin D. Statistically, people with dark skin have a higher chance of getting or dying from any of 17 different types of cancers, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, lupus, schizophrenia, and other chronic illnesses. Studies show that blacks suffer greater mortality from these diseases. Black children and adults are in great danger of having low vitamin D in their bodies and of not being able to fight off diseases
Dark Skin Color Protects Your Body
from DNA Damage but Also Blocks Beneficial UV rays. Melanin is the primary coloring agent in human skin and blacks have more of this coloring. Melanin reduces the amount of ultraviolet radiation entering the skin and by so doing helps to protect against DNA damage that may be induced by radiation from the sun. Because of its sun blocking capacity, melanin is also referred to as a natural sun block or sunscreen. Dark pigmented people who use sunscreen lotion may therefore be jeopardizing their health. The natural sun block of melanin prevents the production of vitamin D in human skin but vitamin D supplements may be taken to correct the vitamin D deficiency and prevent diseases.
Many More Blacks Visit Outpatient Facilities
More than one billion outpatient visits are made to medical facilities each year and the rate of visits by blacks to these facilities is more than twice the rate for whites. The crucial link between vitamin D deficiency in blacks and the alarmingly high rates of diseases they suffer from has been recently established. However, many people are still unaware of this potentially life-saving information about what D vitamin does to the body.
How Much Vitamin D Do You Need To Take?
Scientists believe that the average healthy adult needs about 5,000 – 8, 000 IU of vitamin D, daily to prevent and control diseases. According to recent research, daily dosage of vitamin D may be suitable in the range of 5,000 to 10,000 IU for healthy dark pigmented adults. If you are extremely deficient or you suffer from chronic diseases such as cancer or diabetes, your physician may advise you to take dosages that are higher than 10, 000 IU of vitamin D per day. The not-for-profit vitamin D Council recommends that healthy children up to 2 years get 1,000 IU of vitamin D3 per day, healthy children 2 years and above get 2,000 per day and adolescents and adults who are healthy take 5,000 IU per day. Blacks may need to take more vitamin D than the amount that is recommended for the general U.S. population. Pregnant and nursing mothers should take vitamin D because their vitamin D levels need to be kept optimized to meet their health needs and baby’s crucial development needs. When you take medication for high blood pressure, depression and other illnesses, you need to take more vitamin D because some medication cause large amounts of your vitamin D intake to go to waste. Taking vitamin D supplements have no known side effects and according to research you would have to be taking very high dosages of vitamin D for a long period of time to get overdosed. Have your vitamin D level checked and get guidance from your health care professional about vitamin D dosage that you need to take.
Ask Your Health Care Professional
to Recommend Reputable Brands of Vitamin D. The dosages in some of the brands of vitamin D available in health food stores, pharmacies and supermarkets will not meet your vitamin D needs. You may not be getting the amount of vitamin D that is written on the label. Recently, the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers carried out a test on 10 different brands of vitamin D that were bought online and at health food stores. The Consortium found that the actual dosages in the vitamin D bottles were about 1/3 of what was written on the labels. Some health professionals know about the results that patients have been getting from taking better brands of vitamins. Health care professionals may therefore be able to direct you to more reliable supplements.
