Here's the map, and here's what it's actually measuring.

Vitamin D synthesis in your skin needs a very specific, narrow band of UVB light. When the sun sits low in the sky, which happens automatically at higher latitudes as we move into fall and winter, that exact wavelength gets filtered out by the atmosphere almost entirely.

That's what a UV Index below 3 means, not weaker sun, a light mix that's essentially useless for making vitamin D no matter how long you stay outside in it.

There are areas (like where I live here in Georgia) - where UVB is present year round, but the UVI doesn't go over a 3 (so meaningful vitamin D production is difficult).

Above roughly 35-37° latitude, UV Index rarely climbs above 3 from October through March. This is from Holick's 1988 research, which took actual skin samples exposed to real winter sunlight in Boston and Edmonton and found essentially zero vitamin D synthesis for months at a time.

Below about 30-35° latitude, the sun stays high enough overhead even in winter to keep the UV Index above that threshold most of the year, which is why places like Houston, Miami, and Dubai land in the year-round zone.

Find where you fall on the map. That tells you exactly how much runway you actually have left this year.

Now here's what to actually do with that information:

• Check your vitamin D. Don't guess based on the map alone, get the actual number. (here's the test I use at home with both kids)​
• Build a light plan. Not "get outside more" as a vague intention. Decide when, put it on your calendar, morning light matters most for your circadian rhythm. (download MyCircadianApp & watch the free webinars inside the app)​
• Invest in good blue blockers. You're about to rely on artificial light later into the evening whether you mean to or not. Protecting your evenings matters as much as chasing morning sun. click here for my free guide to using blue blockers with recommended brands
• Start cold adapting now, in the morning. Don't wait until it's actually cold. Building tolerance now is what makes winter mornings easier later, not harder. Get my cold therapy protocols inside PROTOCOLS (or become a paid subscriber on SUBSTACK & get it in this article)
• Get a full iron panel if you suspect low iron. Tired all the time, cold hands and feet, brittle hair, brain fog, these aren't just "winter is coming" symptoms to push through. Low vitamin D and low ferritin have a way of showing up together. (I use ulta labs)​
• You can also grab my PROTOCOLS (which has protocols to help you adapt to cold - use sauna - hydrate & more)

I will be writing a lot more articles to support you as we go into the fall - so stay tuned! (and here is my list of fall essentials & free light bulb guide)

And if you are dealing with iron dysregulation (and low ferritin) -I've GOT YOU! 

Click here to sign up for the free Ferritin Terrain Summit 

Everything I just walked through, the light, the vitamin D, the iron, the whole terrain picture, that's exactly what we go deep on together at the summit.

Can't attend live?  A VIP ticket gets you lifetime access to every recording, my full Ferritin Clarity Roadmap, and close to $1,000 in gifts from our guest speakers, medical doctors, functional medicine practitioners, Chinese medicine doctors, and quantum biology experts.

Click here for the details on VIP & hope to see you there either way!

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