Vitamin D, sometimes called the sunshine vitamin because the skin makes it from ultraviolet rays, is critical to goodhealth. Sunscreen blocks the production of vitamin D, and dermatologists and other health professionals have long preached that such lotions are needed to prevent skin cancer. Now some scientists are questioning this advice.

The reason is that vitamin D is important for preventing and even treating many types of cancer. Four recent studies found that vitamin D helps protect against lymphoma and cancers of the prostate, colon, lung and, ironically, the skin.

Many people can't get enough vitamin D because it’s hard to get from food and supplements alone. So the new thought is this: Even if too much sun leads to skin cancer, which is rarely deadly, too little sun may be worse and is more likely to cause a more deadlier cancer.

No one is suggesting that people fry on a beach. But many scientists believe that the sun is safe for about 15 to 30 minutes or a few times a week without sunscreen. The amount of sun also needed for good health also depends on the season, time of day, where a person lives, skin color and other factors.

Most health experts think adults need 1,000 to 1,500 IUs to vitamin D a day to significantly curb cancer. How vitamin D does this is still being studied, but reseach so far has indicated that vitamin D can to the followng:

• Several studies observing large groups of people found that those with higher vitamin D levels also had lower rates of cancer. For some of these studies, doctors had blood samples to measure vitamin D, making the findings particularly strong. Even so, these studies aren’t the gold standard of medical research — a comparison over many years of a large group of people who were given the vitamin with a large group who didn’t take it. In the past, the best research has deflated health claims involving other nutrients, including vitamin E and beta carotene.
• Lab and animal studies show that vitamin D stifles abnormal cell growth, helps cells die when they are supposed to, and curbs formation of blood vessels that feed tumors.
• Cancer is more common in the elderly, and the skin makes less vitamin D as people age.
• Blacks have higher rates of cancer than whites and more pigment in their skin, which prevents them from making much vitamin D.
• Vitamin D gets trapped in fat, so obese people have lower blood levels of D. They also have higher rates of cancer.
• Diabetics, too, are prone to cancer, and their damaged kidneys have trouble converting vitamin D into a form the body can use.
• People in the northeastern United States and northerly regions of the globe like Scandinavia have higher cancer rates than those who get more sunshine year-round.

When going on in the sun, it's important to follow a few rules. First of all, try not to stay out for too long. Too much of it, however, can result in varying degrees of sunburn, which should be avoided as this damages the skin and can lead to certain types of skin cancer down the road. Prevention is, as with so much else, much better than looking for a cure after the damage has been done. But if you do sunburn, I hope the above natural remedies help you to minimize the problem.

Here are some tips to help you prevent sunburns while still getting your daily dose of sunlight:

• Reduce your exposure to the sun particularly during the hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. when the sun is the strongest.
• At the beginning of the season, limit your exposure to the sun to as little as 10 minutes a day. Progressively increase the time in the sun so that in a few weeks, you will be able to have normal sun exposure with little risk of skin cancer.
• Consuming many whole vegetables will increase antioxidant levels in your body, which will provide protection against any sun-induced radiation damage. It is frequently low levels of antioxidant in your skin that is one of the primary reasons why you get a sunburn.