No doubt sun exposure is important, and is more than just Vitamin D (especially Red and Infrared light), but Vitamin D itself is a very useful vitamin/prohormone/nutrient. Beyond supplements, it can be found in foods like mushrooms, and also foods made from blood, like blood sausages. It was never gotten exclusively from sunlight, although that was and is a significant source.
Dr. Coimbra and the Coimbra Protocol has found benefits to those with so called “Autoimmune” conditions, by taking massive doses of Vitamin D, sometimes up to 300,000 IU per day. These are doses that could never be achieved by sun exposure alone, and has shown reversal of conditions like MS, Psoriasis, Lupus and Vitiligo.
Of course, the choice to supplement should be left up to the individual. I agree with Cari, that D and Sunlight are not the same, and neither are milk and Calcium supplements. But even Ray Peat told stories of people who benefitted from calcium supplementation, like the pitcher with fragile bones who ate a teaspoon of eggshells a day for six months, and didn’t have an issue with broken bones after that.
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