Okay, here's a good one, just to challenge you all ...

(I relish trying to stump the incredible Mrs. D



Does anyone know (or know someone who would really know) whether you get Vitamin D during winter in northern latitudes by going up altitude?

Nutritionists and scientist agree that everything above the latitude of Los Angeles in the Northern Hemisphere (i.e. most of North America and Europe), because of the latitude on earth relative to sun position, inhabitants will not receive Vitamin D from October through April or even after 2pm during the rest of the year.

Thus, most Europeans have low vitamin D and subsequent health problems. One can plot diseases on the globe (such as MS or ovarian cancer) and see that there is a definite north-south gradient, meaning more disease where less Vitamin D.

I once said this to a nutritionist and this person said that if you live in a mountainous region, during winter months one could go up in altitude (have a sunny day high up skiing or walking) and that would change the person's position relative to the sun and they could get vitamin D during winter.

However, this person said it in a way that made me believe they didn't really know this to be scientifically true and was just guessing.

Does anyone know scientifically if this is really true or just one of those hazy myths?

Has anyone heard anything similar or know of any studies?

Thanks for any thoughts,

Natalie

Interesting. Thanks for posting this.

--while this is intriguing, I don't know if one could go up enough in altitude to make a significant difference, given that the thinning of the atmosphere that blocks solar radiation is progressive with altitude but not THAT progressive--in other words, it thins but not hugely.

It would seem to have to thin a LOT to match the effect of the Earth's tilt away from the sun, which is what really decreases the solar radiation during winter months.

Thanks for giving this question a stab.

I live in Switzerland with loads of cable cars nearby. When people get sick of the cold and grey, it is very common to just jump on a train or cable car nearby and pop above the clouds within 30 minutes and be in brilliant sun and blue sky. Then spend the day walking out in the sun before descending back below under the bad weather.

I thought perhaps this might pertain equally to people who go skiing in the Rockies.

The question for people badly Vita D deficient, are you really getting Vita D by planning a winter trip to the mountains in the Northern Hemisphere?