Tag: vitamin d

Nudity and a lack of summer

The weather here in Europe has been appalling for naturists and nudists alike when it comes to going outside. Cold, wind, rain, all those goodies – and a lack of sunshine.

Scenes like this one have been happening here more than once over the past month. I’m probably not the only one who starts to feel vitamin D deprived, and that’s horrible. It’s sad when we have to go without our favourite source of that vitamin.

vitamin DOf course you know that one.

The sun. What else?

There are alternatives, like fish, wheat bread and such but…

nothing beats soaking up the sun with all of our skin. Unfortunately I have no good cure for a lack of sun. If however you are looking for good ways to be naked while the sun is not around…

You could meet up with naturist friends either at your home or in theirs. Get together naked, have a good time. Talk, watch a good film, interact – and leave your smartphone in the pocket of your clothes!

naked in the saunaYou might consider a visit to a sauna. Saunas are great places to be naked, at least over here in Europe.

In a sauna you can meet other naked-minded people there; perhaps even make new friends.

A great way to be nude as well is of course in your home. You may need some precautions because there are always the very curious ones who think it’s their obligation to stare into your living room and point out what’s wrong. And you bet that those are the same people who think being naked, even inside your own four walls, is wrong!

curtainsGlass curtains can be your friend here. It blocks the view from outside quite effectively and if someone is still able to peek inside an accuse you of being an exhibitionist it won’t be hard to convince others that this person is a peeping Tom. Or Tina.

 

If you don’t like having those curtains up all the time there are ways of clipping them up if you want your privacy and easily taking them down as soon as you’ve had enough of being naked. (Inserting time to laugh here.)

I hope that people who are deprived of their nudity can find some solace and tips in this post. If you can, take a vacation to a warm and sunny place where nudity is okay. This however isn’t within everyone’s reach, and for those I tried to come up with some viable and not too expensive alternatives.

Be happy, everyone. And be naked.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D? And here you are thinking that this is a blog about nudism. Well, it is. And vitamin D is an important part of nudism. Bear and bare with me. What does Wikipedia say about vitamin D?

Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids responsible for enhancing intestinal absorption of calcium and phosphate. In humans, the most important compounds in this group are vitamin D3 (also known as cholecalciferol) and vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol).

Okay, not very impressive nor clear. But when we also see this:

Although vitamin D is commonly called a vitamin, it is not actually an essential dietary vitamin in the strict sense, as it can be synthesized in adequate amounts by most mammals exposed to sunlight.

then things suddenly look different. Sunlight. A vitamin you get through sunlight? Wow, that’s easy “food” then! But – take notice. Exposed to sunlight doesn’t mean that your clothes take care of it. It’s the skin that picks up the sunlight and transforms that into vitamin D. Hey, do you see a link to nudism? The more skin is exposed to the sun, the more vitamin D you pick up without doing anything else than being out in the sun!

Working on vitamin D intake

As you see, there’s not much to taking in vitamins this way. It’s healthy, pleasurable and you can read something interesting too.

Active vitamin D intake!

You can, of course, also actively go about and enjoy the sunshine in another way.

An interesting observation in Medical News Today is: “People who are exposed to normal quantities of sunlight do not need vitamin D supplements because sunlight promotes sufficient vitamin D synthesis in the skin.” Again, this does require that the skin is exposed to take in the sunlight. The same web page also notes: “Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine found that higher vitamin D levels in healthy individuals have a significant impact on the genes that are involved in several biologic pathways associated with illnesses, including cancer, autoimmune disease, cardiovascular disease and infectious diseases.”

And since we’re talking sunshine: did you know that sunscreen is one of the reasons that people get too little vitamin D even when they’re out in the sun? Sunscreen prevents the skin to take in the sunlight because of the UV blockers that it contains. You can go out in the sun without sunscreen, but only if you’re sensible about it.

  1. Stay inside on the hot part of the day. It’s too warm to do anything anyway, so take a nap or read something.
  2. Stay out of the sun during the noon hours when the sun is hottest. Also a parasol won’t help, UV goes through that.
  3. Get used to the sun in smaller doses. Don’t go from 0 to 60 in no time, give your skin time to start absorbing UV without getting burnt.

Sunburn is the reason for most skin cancers. Skin cancer happens least with people who have outside jobs; their skin is used to sunlight and has a resistance already. When you’re pale (and I look at myself too), take care. Don’t over do it. And then you won’t need sunscreen. If you need information from another place, have a look at Realfoodforager – why I stopped using sunscreen. Enjoy the sun, and show your skin. It’s beautiful.