The importance of vitamin D for our health has long been discussed by many experts.

Vitamin D is very beneficial for the body, and a deficiency of it can result in a variety of ailments, including hypertension and diabetes, said a senior health expert.

While vitamin D can be obtained from healthy sunbathing, exposure to horizontal sun rays impairs vitamin D production, Dr. Sedat Üstündağ, dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Trakya University in the northwestern province of Edirne, warned on Wednesday.

Üstündağ told Anadolu Agency (AA) that Turkey has an advantage in terms of healthy sunbathing because of its geographical location. However, he warned that exposure to horizontal sun rays disrupts vitamin D formation, and unprotected sunbathing can raise the risk of skin cancer.

He added that vitamin D is formed when the veins in the arms are exposed to ultraviolet-B rays from the sunlight. "Vitamin D is formed only in the presence of sunlight as well as healthy livers and kidneys," he said.

While pointing out that the hours dense in ultraviolet-B rays are appropriate for sunbathing, Ustundag also warned that unprotected and irresponsible sunbathing is detrimental to the body.

He suggested that it is critical to calculate the hours of UV-B rays in a certain place, which can be easily done by using certain websites online.