First off - full disclosure - I am not a doctor. Second, yeah, this is a long post and it doesn't have anything to do with getting what we all want - 4 more years of MAGA. If that bugs you, I humbly suggest you move on to another post, post haste. We all know about the virus. Nobody gets the regular flu anymore (duhhhh), but supposedly COVID is rampant (it isn't). Even so, whether or not you're worried about COVID, this very likely applies equally well to plain old regular flu and in general, good health. There's lots of evidence that says if you get your blood level of vitamin D up around 33 ng/ml or higher, your chances of getting the coronavirus are substantially lower. Also, you could easily take 10k iu D3 2x/day with a miniscule risk of toxicity and be done with it. (But why stop there? Take a little Zn w/ Cu and extra C too.) Doctors may tell you that D levels over 100ng/ml is a dangerously high level. However, it seems that is probably unlikely. Believe it or not, that view is probably more related to the lab test range that is normally used which maxes out at 100ng/ml rather than any actual clinical data. Is that dumb or what? Actual reported cases of D toxicity according to the Dr in this vid are extremely rare. The one case cited was over 300ng/ml. That is a massively high level, which was related to a Calcium issue. Also, D2 is what doctors used to prescribe to raise blood levels of D. D3 is what you should take because D3 toxicity is on the order of 100X less than D2. Watch the vid below to see what this doc has to say - or don't - it's 1 hour long. He gets into the toxicity of D towards the end. One other notable tidbit. High fructose corn syrup increases a reaction in humans that inactivates a portion of the vitamin D circulating in your blood stream. I wonder why it's so widely used in prepared foods? (sarcasm level increases) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha2mLz-Xdpg Now, if you live above the 35th parallel like I do and your interested in looking into having your body manufacture D naturally (eventually it will self regulate at an optimum level, probably around 60 ng/ml), then you will require an artificial source of UVB light during the 'vitamin D winter'. Optimally, the artificial light source would have it's highest power at 293nm to minimize burning (reddening of the skin) while maximizing D3 production in human skin tissue. There is all kinds of scientific research to back this up. All you have to do is search a little. BTW - here's a simple test to determine if the sun is strong enough to manufacture vitamin D. In the mid point of daylight, stand outside and note how tall your shadow is. If it is taller or the same as you, then your out of luck because it's not strong enough. If it's shorter than you, then your good to go. 15 or 20 minutes with about 60% of your skin is great for one day for lighter complexions - more for darker ones. Now, back the artificial light. So you want to buy one optimized to 293nm like the literature says is best, right? Well, good luck, pede. There is a company (Rayvio) that makes an LED optimized to produce UVB @ 293nm - but I found no place to buy them. There is one company that makes UVB light for seasonal affected disorder (AKA SAD - product @ serpti.com). It's $450, it's not optimized for 293nm, and oh, BTW - it's currently out of stock - or you could try this company: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/290nm-293nm-295nm-300nm-305nm-310nm_60810390880.html (China - no thanks) It's almost like 'they' don't want us to have a light that is properly optimized for humans to naturally produce vitamin D or something. Like, maybe, 'they' would rather we get sick, so 'they' can make money off of us. Noooo, that can't be right! (sarcasm increases again) But, hey, wait a minute: If you have a lizard that needs a strong source of UVB light, there's no problem at all. Well, how about that? I guess pet lizards are more important than we are. (sarcasm level exceeds max and has transitioned to disgust and anger) Here's a couple of examples of said lizard lights: https://www.thatpetplace.com/reptisun-aluminum-terrarium-hood-48-in https://www.thatpetplace.com/reptisun-10-high-output-uvb-lamp-32w-48in-t8 https://www.thatpetplace.com/zoo-med-reptisun-t5-ho-terrarium-hood-48in https://www.thatpetplace.com/zoo-med-reptisun-t5-ho-10-0-uvb-lamp-54w-46in That's a 48" long whole setup for under $100, shipping is free on supply orders over $75 from this particular vendor, if that applies to these items. The T5 is ~2x as strong as the T8 and recommended distance for the T5 is 20" instead of 12" (for your pet reptile, of course - don't want to burn the little guy, right? - or that other little guy if you happen to be a buck naked male pede! - yeah, I wasn't talking about you, big Mike. You're the opposite of a pede, anyhow, so move along.) In case you're wondering, no, I have absolutely nothing to do with this company so nothing to lose or gain here. I'm just sharing what I was looking into today. If you do purchase one of the lizard light setups and go to use it on something that isn't cold blooded, wear eye protection, maintain the proper distance away from the light, start off with a short amount of time for skin exposure - like 1 minute per side and only1 time the 1st week. If you don't have any skin reddening or pinkish color at all the next day, you should increase the time of exposure for the next session. If you have a little excessive color or tenderness the next day, decrease by 1/3. After getting accustomed and dialed in a little, increase to 2x per week and max out at 3x per week. Might want to be a little careful where the light projects as well. It can cause color fading, e.g. don't use it to light up that Picasso you have over there on the wall. This is all based on what I've read, not personal experience. (Gleaned from the next link reference further below and other readings.) For my darker skinned pedes, you will require longer periods of exposure to the UVB light somewhat proportional to how dark your skin is or how well you tan, but you still need to be careful. Conversely, if you are someone who always burns in the sun, you need to be extra careful - might want to reconsider relying mainly on D3 supplementation. If you want to know what wavelength the lizard light has peak power at, which would be extremely useful to know - I have no idea. There is no easily found data on what the spectra produced from these reptile UVB bulbs looks like other than it is in the UVB range. I do have the spectra from a G15T8E. It was apparently optimized for 308nm, which means it will produce more reddening with less D production than a light source optimized for 293nm, but it will produce D. In the past, I've also come across other UV lamps for skin diseases (eczema/psoriasis). In those lights, the wavelength wasn't any better for D. Here's the article I mentioned a little earlier: https://vitamindwiki.com/Vitamin+D+from+low-cost+UVB+lamps The lights in the article above seem to be mostly meant for sanitization, not vitamin D like the lizard lights are, but they will work somewhat because they are also in the UVB range. Also, notice the UVB meter in that article. Even though I have no spectral data on the lizard lights, we know that they work for those scaly critters otherwise people wouldn't buy them and there is no reason I know of to believe that the wavelength reptiles require for manufacturing D is significantly different that what humans require. Yes we are different then reptiles, but the chemistry producing D in reptiles is probably very similar to the chemistry in humans that makes D. That's all folks - MAGA bigly, pedes!