Air Conditioning and Vitamin D Deprivation

A more insidious effect of spending the summer indoors to escape the heat may be vitamin D deprivation. Vitamin D deficiency is usually associated with limited exposure to sunlight during winter, but people in hot-summer areas who have air conditioning are actually more susceptible to vitamin D deficiency than people who live farther north where summer sun is welcome.

Epidemiologists have found that residents of the hot and humid summer climates of the United States are at special risk for vitamin D deficiency in the summer. People who live in air conditioned homes, work in air conditioned offices, and ride around in air conditioned cars all summer don't get the sunlight exposure they need for normal immunity.

In the United States, vitamin D deficiency is especially severe in the Southeast, and especially among persons of African-American descent. The darker the skin, the less vitamin D it makes from sunlight. African-Americans in the American Southeast are not only more likely to suffer summer colds and flu, they are also more likely to suffer osteoporosis, kidney disease, and cancer, in part due to vitamin D deprivation.

What can you do to prevent the negative effects of air conditioning on your health without running the risk of heat stroke? Here are five simple remedies.

1. If you simply cannot stand the heat, stay indoors, but take a vitamin D supplement. For as little as US $0.10 a day, you can get the vitamin D your body needs to maintain the immune system and build healthy bones.

2. Make sure you clean the air filters for your air conditioner at least once a month, or as often as the manufacturer recommends. Bacteria that cause sinus infections can live in air filters, and viruses that cause colds and flu thrive in the slightly higher carbon dioxide levels that build up when outside air comes in through dirty filters.

3. Avoid dry air indoors. You don't want to create an environment conducive to the growth of mold, but neither should indoor air be so dry that your skin and sinuses dry out. Use a home humidifier or a vaporizer, like the vaporizer used to treat colds, only to prevent colds. Humidifying the air protects not just your upper respiratory tract but also your skin.

4. Dust regularly. Don't just use a dry cloth or feather duster to clean dusty surfaces. Dry cloths and feather dusters only send the dust back into the air to settle somewhere else. Dust with a product that catches dust and throw it away after use. This minimizes contact with the viruses that cause colds, the bacteria that cause sinus infections, and the allergens that can trigger hay fever and asthma.

5. Try to get at least 20 minutes of sun every day. It is OK to get sun in the morning until about 10 o'clock even without sunblock, and if you use sunblock, your skin cannot absorb the ultraviolet rays it needs to make vitamin D. Make sure at least your hands and face are exposed to the sun. If your religion requires you to cover your face when you leave your home, get some sunlight in a private location daily.