Tanning Beds and Vitamin D

It gets hard, especially in areas of the country where it gets extremely cold and dreary, to get enough sun in the winter for the body to get enough sunlight to synthesize Vitamin D. Without the help of the sun, the body cannot use the Vitamin D which has been stored by it. Lack of vitamin D has been recently linking to several health problems.

Studies in the past have linked vitamin D deficiency with certain types of cancer. Recently studies have been done which point to lack of vitamin D as a reason for otherwise unexplained muscle and bone pain. A study was done in which 150 adults and children with unexplained bone and muscle pain studied. They were all found to be severely deficient in vitamin D.

In these winter months, with the readiness for spring and sunniness to arrive, it is tempting to visit a tanning bed to get what we usually get from the sun. Tanning beds may help our mood, but they don't provide us with much-needed vitamin D, and they are still harmful to our skin.

The sun emits UVA and UVB rays, and so do tanning beds. UVA rays go deep into the skin because they have very long wavelengths. UVB rays are short and effect only the top of the skin. Both types of these rays contribute to the causes of skin cancer, but UVB rays are responsible for the synthesis of vitamin D. These rays are the ones which are responsible for the health benefits of sunshine.

UVA rays are rays which do not so easily cause sunburns. These rays penetrate deep into the skin and are responsible for the tan which accompanies a few visits to the tanning salon. These rays also don't do anything for the metabolizing of vitamin D.

Tanning salons make sure that their tanning beds emit about 95% UVA rays, leaving only 5% as UVB. This way, the patrons are more likely to establish a golden tan as opposed to an unsightly burn.

The benefits which come from absorbing the UV rays from a tanning salon are highly overridden by the risks involved. The key to absorbing a healthy amount of sunlight is moderation, and the exposure created by tanning beds is anything but moderate.