While I knew this already, an article I was reading in the September/October 2009 issue of AARP Magazine highlights just how true this is: One example, to get the vitamin D value of just ten minutes in the sun you would have to eat 6 1/2 pounds of shitake mushrooms!
According to the article, some doctors are recommending 10 to 15 minutes of sun exposure, a few times a week. With the weather we are having here (Indiana) I can start working this into my day a little more often. I have pseudo-exacerbations in any kind of heat at all, so I wasn't able to get much sun this summer. With temperatures moderating now it should be do-able.
There was another interesting article in that same issue I will go ahead and mention, about a man who was diagnosed with abdominal cancer in 1970 and given a year at most to live. He returned to his native Greece, and is still alive today, having outlived his doctors. A team of researchers is looking into why so many on the Greek island of Ikaria live so long- a third of the islands inhabitants are 90 years of age or older, and dementia is unheard of. It was an interesting read.
Ok, I just went and looked it up and the article is available here:
http://www.aarpmagazine.org/health/more_good_years.html
