#117 Give Vitamin D credit for sunlight!

[Anonymous]

A legitimate source of Vitamin D is sunlight, yet there is no way to "consume" such here. It would be good if "Sunlight" was added as a food. Enter the time exposed, and select from a range of environments (eg "European winter", "Australasian summer")

Not having this capability throws out my figures, always showing me as Vitamin deficient...even though my exposure should put me over.

Also, foodstuff suggestions for Vitamin and Minerals when double-clicking on the vitamin or mineral. eg. What can provide me the B12 I need? Suggested amounts required to get required dose, too, would be good...

[Nobody/Anonymous]

I feel that this is impractical to add: Too much depends on the specific conditions of a person's exposure to sunlight (i.e., direct sunlight vs. clouds vs. shade, each of which gives a different rate of vitamin-D synthesis) and on the height of the sun above the horizon (I still am not clear on this; does vitamin-D synthesis begin when the sun is 30 degrees above the horizon or 45 degrees?).

As a vegan vegetarian, I take daily vitamin D2 supplements which are vegan (vitamin D3 is extracted from lanolin and is not vegan) whenever I am not sure that I will get enough sunlight. I also take a weekly multivitamin supplement that contains a lot of vitamin B12. (In case it helps the poster, the products are "Botanic Choice Vitamin D2 90 400IU Tablets" and "Deva Vegan Multivitamin and Mineral Supplement 90 Tablets Iron-Free," but I have no commercial connection with either product.)

I hope this helps someone.

CRON-o-Meter is a great product!

[dan c]

I too think sunlight should be added somehow. Even if you under estimated the benefit from sunlight it would still help users monitor their levels of a very important vitamin.