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| Tanning gets the all clear |
Health journalist tells us sunbathing
provides vital vitamin D to fight illness
SUNBATHE whenever you can, wear as few clothes as possible,
but take care not to bake or burn.
Contrary to government advice, human beings need regular exposure
to sunlight so they can make vitamin D that is vital for health,
according to a leading medical correspondent.
Olliver Gillie – who lives in Whitehall Park Road, Holloway
– has effectively committed his life to a one-man crusade on
sunlight issues.
Mr Gillie, was due to lobby MPs at a meeting in the House of Commons
yesterday (Wednesday), about his ideas for a new government policy
on sunlight, vitamin D and health.
Mr Gillie – once a staff writer for The Sunday Times and The
Observer – believes the government’s drive to “cover
up” in summer time may have adverse effects on health.
He argues that sort of advice is only valid in tropical climates.
He said: “Faulty calculations made by the National Radiological
Protection Laboratory have misled UK government advisers into thinking
that casual exposure of hands and face to the sun in the UK will
provide sufficient vitamin D for health.
“In fact casual exposure does not provide enough vitamin D
in the British Isles and the majority of people in the UK have an
insufficient level of vitamin in the blood, particularly in winter.”
This does not mean having a double sunbed session every day, but
Mr Gillie said the risk of skin cancer from sun exposure was much
smaller than the public has been led to believe.
He said: “Insufficient vitamin D at crucial times of life or
for prolonged periods appears to increase the risk of several cancers,
including breast and bowel cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure,
schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis and many other chronic diseases
including even tooth decay.”
“People who have a deep tan are less likely to get melanoma,
the most serious form of skin cancer. While people who get sunburnt,
an indication of extensive exposure to the sun, are less likely
to get multiple sclerosis or prostate cancer.”
Earlier this year, Mr Gillie opposed plans to build a six-storey
block next to Christoper Hatton Primary School, in Holborn, because
it would have blocked sunlight from the playground. In May, Camden
Council refused planning permission. Mr Gillie said: “It is
very important for children to produce vitamin D. If the playground
had been overshadowed it would deprive children of crucial sunlight.”
n Oliver Gillie is the author of Sunlight Robbery, published by
the Health Research Forum. |
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