Tanning bed for winter vitamin D

[Remy]

We all know that vitamin D levels are important...but what to do when it is winter and the sun is limited?

Taking a Vit D3 supplement seems like the easy and obvious solution, but the problem is that we cannot sulfate oral vitamin D very well at all. Cod liver oil works, but to get it without synthetic vitamins common in cheaper products is expensive too.

Sperti light boxes are an option, but they are also expensive.

Enter the tanning bed! Note that this is not a typical cosmetic tanning procedure. The modern tanning beds don't produce very much UVB so you have to find the older style beds with the long tubes (not the round ones). Ask them for a bed that produces the most %age of UVB, take the time suggested for a cosmetic tan and cut it in half. NEVER BURN!

I go an extra step and cover my face and neck with a towel as I can make plenty of vitamin D on my body without exposing my face.

I find this method works well as long as one can get out to the tanning salon, of course, and is much cheaper. I find it improves my mood as well as my D level. It is no replacement for true AM sunlight, but in a pinch, it will do!

http://www.thetanningguru.com/tanning-advice-2/healthy-indoor-tanning-for-vitamin-d/

 

[Not dead yet!]

I like this method too. Every tanning salon I've ever been in (since around 2003) has instantly understood the "For Vitamin D" request. I've never had to explain it. Many places will limit your exposure quite severely though. So it's up to you if you'd rather not say why and just pretend to tan. My husband and I actually do better on D2. Whenever we try to eat enough Vitamin D3 (that is, 10k IU or above), our vitamin D tests always flop until we re-add the Vitamin D2. My weekly pills of D2 are 50k! And there's evidence that that isn't enough actually. But it is well absorbed.

Mushrooms have D2 as well, as long as they were given a UV treatment. Many of them advertise that they have lots of Vitamin D if they've used UV on them.

I don't find Carlson Cod Liver oil to be exhorbitant, not in comparison to 10 sessions of tanning, but options are good because we don't all heal the same.