Key Points

• Developing a personalized plan that incorporates sunshine exposure into your regular routine to maximize the benefits and make vitamin D, while being mindful not to burn, can be easily done when considering the following factors
• If the length of your shadow on the ground is shorter than your height, the sun is high enough in the sky to let UVB rays shine through and reach the ground, and your skin, which is usually mid-day between the hours of 10 am and 2 pm; early morning and early evening, when our shadows are taller than we are, only provide us with UVA sunlight (good for making nitric oxide), not UVB which is necessary for vitamin D production
• Knowing your skin type is essential for personalizing your sun exposure; darker skin contains more melanin, which acts as a natural sunscreen and decreases the likelihood of burns and skin cancer, however, the more melanin skin contains the longer it takes to produce vitamin D
• Read more for additional factors, myths about vitamin D & sunshine, and how to tell if you are getting enough vitamin D