This is how you have to sunbathe on the balcony during the coronavirus lockdown to get all the vitamin D you need

Although we are a country of sunshine, having good reserves of vitamin D is not among our virtues. In fact, in our population there is a high prevalence of deficiency of this vitamin: it is calculated that a 30% of the population have a deficit and that 90% of Spaniards (according to the ANIBES study) have less than the recommended (although they do not reach the deficit figures). The problem is that 90 to 95% of our vitamin D deposits depend on skin synthesis and the rest through diet (keep an eye on leaving foods with more vitamin D out of the shopping list during the confinement) that have vo what is the same, we get them by exposing the skin to rays of the sun … and we are less and less exposed to its rays and, in the confinement situation we are in right now, even more. ¿What can we do to prevent this deficit?

To understand the solution to the dilemma, you first have to understand how this vitamin works. Our skin is capable of producing thanks to the action of UVB rays from the sun. How much sun do you need to take to synthesize it? Well it depends on many factors; the time of year, our age, our skin type … To give you an idea, according to a study of the Polytechnic University of ValenciaIn the fall and winter we should expose 10% of our skin to the sun during 130 minutes every day to have the necessary and in the months in which the sun warms it is enough for us with a 25% of uncovered skin 10 minutes in the sun (if it is noon) and 20 if it is the first hours of the afternoon (the healthiest option for the skin).

How can we translate this solar dynamic into our confinement conditions for the coronavirus? The Professors of Nutrition and Bromotology at the Miguel Hernández University Marta Beltrá García-Calvo and Ana Belén Ropero Lara recommend taking advantage of the sun on patios and balconies even if it is cloudy. If you do not have either of these two options, look out the window but with the windows wide open because the ultraviolet rays that interest us cannot pass through them.

If you are lucky enough to live in a sunny area, with exposing legs, arms and face to the sun for 15 minutes at least three times a week On your balcony or terrace you can maintain your vitamin D levels. After that time, yes, if you want to continue sunbathing, all right, but do it using sunscreen.

Another good measure is increase consumption of the healthiest foods containing vitamin D: eggs and small blue fish taking four servings of them a week, so we will get that other 10% of vitamin D that is obtained through the diet.