Get your vitamins safely

RE: 90% OF CANADIANS VITAMIN D DEFICIENT (SEPT. 18)

During the fall and winter months, the sun’s rays are weaker and many Canadians spend more time indoors, away from direct sunlight. Tanning beds are not a safe way to get your vitamin D. It is safer to get it from your diet and by taking vitamin supplements.

It’s important that Canadians know the facts about the dangers of indoor tanning. Tanning beds and sun lamps release UV rays — just like the sun. There is a great deal of scientific evidence that has proven indoor tanning causes cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies UV-emitting devices, such as tanning beds, as known cancer-causing substances. This is the highest rating they can give in terms of whether the evidence shows that something causes cancer.

When you expose your skin to UV rays — whether from the sun, tanning beds or sun lamps — you increase your chances of getting skin cancer. In fact, research shows that being exposed to UV rays from indoor tanning equipment before the age of 35 greatly increases your risk of skin cancer.

Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer. It’s also one of the most preventable. To reduce your risk of getting skin cancer you should not use indoor tanning beds or sun lamps.

At the Canadian Cancer Society, we recommend that people talk to their doctors about whether taking 1,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D a day in the fall and winter is right for them.

Karen Viersen, senior manager, Canadian Cancer Society Hamilton Community Office