Sunlight exposure (exposure to UV light) is your body's main source for Vitamin D - an essential vitamin for bone formation and repair, absorption of calcium and phosphorus and general good health. In many climates, the small amount of sunlight available from November to March makes it impossible to process Vitamin D naturally through outdoor sun exposure.

Sun or UV light is the fuel that permits the body to manufacture vitamin D. But the amount of vitamin D formed in a given period of exposure depends on the color of your skin-that is, how rich your skin is in melanin. Melanin absorbs UV radiation. Therefore it diminishes the production of vitamin D. The darker a person's skin, the longer he or she has to be in the sun or exposed to UVB radiation to form a significant amount of vitamin D.

Preformed vitamin D is not needed by the body, it can be synthesized by exposure to sunshine of dehydrocholesterol present in the skin. Vitamin D created this way lasts in the body for many months such that it is possible to "top-up" one's vitamin D levels over the summer for the coming winter. Excess consumption of pre- formed Vitamin D can be dangerous. The Vitamin D in cow's milk is artificially added.

All light is given off at different wavelengths. For example if you see a rainbow, you will notice that the colors are always in a specific order from red all the way to blue. You are able to see each color due to their individual wavelength. These wavelengths are part of the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. UV light is at a wavelength of 254nm (nanometers), and is not visible to the naked eye.

The body's main source (80-100%) of Vitamin D is UV Light from the sun. The brain produces more of the mood-lifting chemical serotonin on sunny days than cloudy days. Indoor tanning provides a level of control that cannot be obtained outdoors. You are 80% less likely to sunburn outdoors if you've already built up a base tan.

Some UV radiation exposure is important for vitamin D production. Vitamin D is necessary for bone, joint, muscle and neurological function. To get enough vitamin D from September to April, you only need five minutes of sun exposure to the face, arms and hands before 10 am and five minutes of exposure after 3 pm, on most days of the week. When UV radiation levels are low (1–2), expose your face, arms and hands to the sun for two to three hours per week.

You never want to expose your skin or eyes to the light from a UV system. UV light is non-visible however it can be harmful, similar to the harmful effects of UV light from the sun. UV lamps can actually cause a severe sunburn-like effect if skin is exposed for long periods of time. Always ensure that you are wearing some type of protective glasses (ie. Safety glasses or sunglasses) when working on a UV system and the lamp is exposed.

Before considering supplementation with vitamin D, it would be wise to have your vitamin D level tested. It is very important that your physician order the correct test. The advantage of having your medical doctor perform the test is that it will usually be covered by your medical insurance. There are two vitamin D tests: 1,25(OH)D and 25(OH)D. 25(OH)D is the better marker of overall D status. It is this marker that is most strongly associated with overall health.

UV does not kill microorganisms like chlorine does, but instead UV inactivates them. UV light at a specific wavelength of 254 nm is readily absorbed by the genetic material of microorganisms. The DNA strand is coded with a specific sequence of something called base pairs. The sequence of these base pairs codes for certain characteristics. UV light at 254 nm is readily absorbed at the point on the microorganism's DNA strand which codes for reproduction.

A person may feel better for a time when the bacteria are not being killed, and folks often feel better when their D metabolites are high. This is at the expense of an eventual relapse. Even the Marshall Protocol antibiotics taken during this time will not help the body to start killing the bacteria until the level of 25D is lowered. Vitamin D' is a steroid, not a vitamin.

Traditional calcium supplements are hardly absorbed in the pH medium of the small intestine. With the help of Vitamin D, their absorption rate is slightly higher. Taking traditional calcium supplements also suppress your body's ability to absorb magnesium. In the pH environment of the small intestine, inorganic minerals tend to attach themselves to one another and form magma precipitation. Once precipitated, the minerals become nonabsorbable.