Second Thoughts about Sun and Sunscreen

Memorial Day weekend is the customary kickoff to the summer season. And so in keeping with the theme of sun and fun, chew on this:

Dr. Edward Giovannucci, a Harvard University professor of medicine and nutrition thinks that some of us are not getting enough Vitamin D.

And so ... he recommends that we get some sun.

The vitamin is D, nicknamed the "sunshine vitamin" because the skin makes it from ultraviolet rays. Because sunscreen blocks vitamin D's production, some scientists are questioning the long-standing advice to always use it.

The reason is that vitamin D increasingly seems important for preventing and even treating many types of cancer. In the last three months alone, four separate studies found it helped protect against lymphoma and cancers of the prostate, lung and, ironically, the skin. The strongest evidence is for colon cancer.

Apparently, it's difficult to get Vitamin D from food and fortified milk; supplements are problematic.

So the thinking is this: Even if too much sun leads to skin cancer, which is rarely deadly, too little sun may be worse.

No one is suggesting that people fry on a beach, but many scientists believe that "safe sun" — 15 minutes a few times a week without sunscreen — is a healthy thing to do. Read more.