Vitamin D Testing

Made Easy

If you want to get a Vitamin D Blood Test you can do at home and participate in an international study, join the D*action Campaign and get your Vitamin D Blood levels tested: JoinDAction.org

Find out why optimum Vitamin D blood levels are so important.
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Welcome to the JCTA's Tan Awareness Week web site

Tan Awareness Week June 1-8th, 2009

Our goal is to increase awareness of responsible sun exposure and vitamin D production. It is our goal to educate the public in how to achieve a balance between sunburn avoidance and vitamin D production. This is our second year of advancing this message.

Each year we will encourage Canadians to have their vitamin D levels checked to ensure they are maintaining healthy levels. The Canadian Cancer Society recommends taking 1000 international units per day. A typical indoor tanning session in a tanning bed emitting UVB will produce up to 10,000 IUs.

Take the Tan Awareness Quiz

Has sunscreen use caused vitamin D deficiency?

In its second year Tan Awareness Week looks to spread the truth about sunlight exposure and tanning. As summer approaches we will be bombarded with advertising to SLOP on sunscreen and essentially abstain from UV exposure. At the very most, insignificant amounts of sun exposure will be suggested simply to ensure the sunscreen industry and the dermatology community limit the liability they may face as a result of the anti sun messaging they have promoted for decades. The UVB in sunlight is the principal source for vitamin D in humans. The truth is that the messages we have heard for the past 20 years regarding sun exposure and sunscreen use have contributed to vitamin D deficiency.

In a recent Toronto test 83% of toddlers were found to have too little vitamin D. This shouldn't be interpreted to mean that all toddlers should overexpose themselves to the sun but it certainly should bring attention to the fact that the message regarding UV exposure needs to be adjusted before the conditions that result from vitamin D deficiency surface later in life.

Order a vitamin D testing kit from GrassRoots Health NOW!

Our Vision

Sun exposure, like air, water, and food, is natural and necessary to human life. The JCTA's vision is that all Canadians learn to correctly embrace ultraviolet and sunshine as part of a healthy lifestyle - one which acknowledges that moderate ultraviolet light exposure, when experienced in a non-burning fashion, is the smartest way to maximize the potential benefits of UV light while minimizing the manageable potential risks associated with either too much or too little sunlight.