[loudtieblahblah]

it should also be noted that consumption of certain antioxidants protect against skin cancer (most notably sulforaphane found in Cruciferous Vegetables).

>Nonsystematic reviews of observational studies suggest that use in real life does not cause vitamin D deficiency.

yeah, but that's an observational study.

I'm not anti-sunscreen and if you burn or get dark/deep freckles easily, I'm even more "pro" sunscreen for you.

But when looked at the number of diseases and problems correlated to Vitamin D deficiency and looking at the relatively low risk of contracting melanoma (as scary as that cancer can be if caught late), to me it's a balancing act.

Consuming mass amounts of VitaminD over long periods of time, orally, can cause kidney problems.

If you look at auto-immune issues globally, the percentage of the populations that have them sky rocket the further you get away from the equator. Depression, anxiety, even certain cancers themselves all have some relation to low vitamin d.

Sunlight, the type that allows UV-B to penetrate your skin, is a human necessity.

And like a lot of things we need (Vitamin C and E, or polyunsaturated fats, carbohydrates, etc), too much of it will cause you problems and/or kill you, not enough of it will cause you problems and/or kill you. And trying to anecdotally perform some balancing act without constantly running tests on yourself, is difficult.

My rule of thumb is put on sunscreen if you are out long enough to risk a burn, re-apply when necessary. Otherwise, soak up the rays.

[pmoriarty]

"Consuming mass amounts of VitaminD over long periods of time, orally, can cause kidney problems."

What counts as massive?

And is consuming massive amounts of Vitamin D necessary to prevent deficiency?

[loudtieblahblah]

if you're like most of the western world, especially if you have an indoor job and indoor hobbies (we spend an awful lot of time binging tv shows, playing video games, working on computers, etc..), you're not outside all that much unless it's to hop in the car and go to another indoor place.

and chances are you have a deficiency.

Most vitamins tell you to take 2,000 IU. Upper limits are typically stated to be 4,000 IU. But there's been no established harmful upper limit either.

This leads a lot of people into thinking more is better, this is doubly true if they have some kind of pre-existing condition that's linked to low VitaminD and they're desperate to heal themselves. They read quack stories on the internet about how 10,000 IU doses help cure MS and they do it too.

It's also made worse by so-called "smart" and "qualified" people like Dr Rhonda Patrick essentially turning herself into some pop-health guru and when she tells people what she supplements with (5,000-6,000 IU), many people feel she knows what she's talking about and copies her. But the reality is, she takes A LOT of supplements and she has zero idea how they all mix with each other, especially at the supplementation levels in which she's consuming them.

of vitamins that can be abused, VitaminD is mostly safe. But a lot of folks go a bit crazy with it and have hurt themselves.

VitD supplements are also, often, in soybean oil, which is horrible for you. VitD needs to be consumed with a fat, so If you're going to supplement, you spend the extra money for it suspended in coconut oil instead.