Vitamin D supplements: The reason why redheads need MORE vitamin D

You’d think that pale skin means you’re less likely to get enough vitamin D, but that’s not true.

Less melanin in the skin means ginger people actually get a sufficient concentration of vitamin D under low light conditions.

However, pale skin also puts you at higher risk of skin cancer because there is less melanin to provide sun protection.

That’s why people with ginger hair, fair skin and perhaps freckles need to use more sun protection than others and be more careful in the sun.

Those with dark skin (of African, African-Caribbean or South Asian background especially), on the other hand, might not make enough vitamin D from sunlight.