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I’m trying something a little different. I went to a tanning salon today. I read in my Science News that all forms of cancer except skin cancer are reduced the closer a person lives to the equator. It is thought this is due to the increased amount of vitamin D one gets from being exposed to the sun. There are several studies that indicate that vitamin D can help prevent cancer.
Although one can take vitamin D supplements, my feeling the body probably does best making it from sunshine. A half hour of exposure to the sun can generate 10,000 to 12,000 IU of vitamin D. The government recommends a minimum of 400 IU per day. That’s a large difference.
I thought I would try a tanning salon to boost my vitamin D intake. There is one only about two miles from my house. I went in and told the manager what I was trying to do. I told her I was fair skinned and that my chemo treatments may make me for sensitive to sunburn.
She set me up for a five minute session. She explained it in detail and I went in and turned on the machine.
It was HOT – brutally hot! Now I like warm but this was much hotter than I anticipated. It felt like 150 degrees in the booth – even with the high volume fan they have to keep you cool. For a minute or so I didn’t know if I could last the whole five minutes. But I toughed it out and the machine shut itself down after five minutes.
I don’t know if it’ll help or not, but at least I should LOOK healthy.
Posted by The Vorlon at December 5, 2005 7:22 PMLet's hope this works. It sounds like it was very hot in there. I didn't know that it got that hot in a tanning bed.
Posted by: Reb Orrell at December 6, 2005 12:19 PMThe booth was a standup one. A high throughput fan sucks air from the bottom and exhausts it through the top. When I go back, I'll better know what to expect and it will be more bearable. The high velocity air helps, but it is still very hot. Fortunately it only lasted five minutes.
Posted by: Ted at December 6, 2005 2:26 PM