Michael Holick: Vitamin D & Leveraging Sunlight For Health

Michael Holick, MD, PhD, is an American endocrinologist and world’s leading expert on Vitamin D. He is known for his discovery of the active form of Vitamin D and the development of the assay for the circulating form - one of the most ordered assays ever generated. Michael has specialised in conditions including psoriasis, osteomalacia and hypermobility syndromes. He is the author of several popular books including “The Vitamin D Solution” and “The UV Advantage”.

Michael’s work has had a huge impact on medicine and is the recipient of many awards including the Linus Pauling Prize in Human Nutrition, the Robert H. Herman Award from the American Society for Clinical Nutrition and NIH’s General Clinical Research Centre's Program Award for Excellence in Clinical Research. He has battled myopic and biased dermatologists essentially because his work brings a broader context to the conversation of health and sun-exposure; a topic that has become very controversial because of the doubling-down of both professionals and institutions on the idea that sunlight is harmful, which is undeniably false. Michael continues to preach the message of sensible sun-exposure as well as working with patients and researching to further understand the role of Vitamin D and its related compounds in human health.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:22 - Michael's Background in Vitamin D Research

00:31:24 - Evolutionary Considerations & Optimal Ranges

00:34:21 - Dietary vs. Sun-Derived Vitamin D

00:35:42 - Where Is Pre-D Made & Scatter Dynamics

00:40:15 - Artificial Light, UVA/UVB & Immune Tolerance

00:46:56 - POMC Regulation

00:49:09 - Vitamin D Hydroxyderivatives

00:51:05 - Tradeoffs With Sun Exposure

00:55:52 - Beneficial Non-Vitamin D Effects

00:57:02 - Michael's Current Projects

00:58:18 - Outro