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Did you know that showering can decrease your body’s levels of Vitamin D? Yes, as unusual as it seems, taking a shower after exposure to the sun or a safe tanning bed can actually reduce your body’s absorption of Vitamin D through the skin.
How does this happen? To help you understand why this phenomenon occurs, Dr. Joseph Mercola, a natural health expert, explains how showering washes away Vitamin D, the powerful nutrient that strengthens your body’s protection against disease.
Showering Interferes with Your Body’s Vitamin D Absorption
Primarily, it is vital for you to know that your skin, upon exposure Ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation (from sunshine or from a safe, high quality tanning bed), produces Vitamin D3, an oil soluble steroid hormone.
“However, the vitamin D3 that is formed on the surface of your skin does not immediately penetrate into your bloodstream. It actually needs to be absorbed from the surface of your skin into your bloodstream,” clarifies Dr. Mercola.
Note that the process of Vitamin D absorption into your bloodstream does not happen quickly. It actually takes time! In fact, you’ll have to wait up to 48 hours before most of the Vitamin D that has been produced by your skin is absorbed into your system.
Thus, this explains why showering has come into the picture. Although it is a good hygiene practice for cleansing dirt off your body, showering with soap will actually strip off all the Vitamin D that your skin generated. Sadly, it will also reduce the benefits that you’re supposed to be getting from sun exposure.
Tip: Don’t Bathe with Soap for at Least Two Days to Get Optimal Vitamin D levels
In order to help you maximize absorption and health benefits of Vitamin D, Dr. Mercola’s recommendation is to postpone showering with soap after sun exposure. He suggests waiting for two full days before soaping your body. As for your hygiene issues, you can still cleanse your arms and genital areas with soap as long as you will avoid washing the other parts of your body such as arms and legs that were exposed to the sun the most.
Do you want to learn more on tanning and Vitamin D? Keep on reading this site for tanning articles and tips.
Related posts:
- How Sun Tanning & Vitamin D Affect Your Risk of Breast Cancer
- Testing for Vitamin D Levels
- The Morbid Truth: Low Vitamin D Levels May Increase Death Risks
- Having High Blood Pressure Lately? Here’s How a Tanning Bed Can Protect You
- Uncover the Truth about Sunscreen
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Tags: dr. joseph mercola, high quality tanning bed, levels of Vitamin D, safe tanning bed, showering, sun exposure, tanning and vitamin d, tanning articles, ultraviolet radiation, Vitamin D, Vitamin D absorption, vitamin d levels
