Your Body Can Produce Vitamin D with a New Sunscreen

It’s long been understood sun exposure is the primary source of vitamin D and that vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency are linked to health problems affecting 40% of children and 60% of adults.

A new development, Solar D, has created a process that alters the ingredients in sunscreen and enables the body to produce vitamin D without affecting its sun protection factor (SPF).

With the increased fear of skin cancer, people are encouraged to use sunscreen with an SPF of 30. While this manages skin cancer prevention, this level of sunscreen reduces the capacity of the skin to produce vitamin D by almost 98%.

This lack of vitamin D production could lead to a slew of health issues like diabetes, memory loss, rickets, and osteoporosis.

As such, researchers removed certain chemical compounds and ingredients and compared the new “product” Solar D to a popularly commercial sunscreen — both with an SPF of 30, and discovered Solar D allowed for up to 50% more production of vitamin D, in-vitro.

Essentially, Solar D simultaneously works to block harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, but allows the vitamin D- permitting rays to permeate the skin.

According to Michael F. Holick, PhD, MD, Boston University School of Medicine, and the study’s corresponding author, remarked, “Solar D was designed with compounds with differing filter compositions to maximize vitamin D production while maintaining its sun protection for reducing erythema or burning of the skin.”

Solar D is currently available in Australia and is slated to hit the US markets summer 2016.