“Come, calla y ponte al sol”. Del refrán popular al conocimiento de la vitamina D

The Spanish language is rich in proverbs, many of which are related with food and health. The purpose in this paper is to evaluate the accuracy of some of those popular proverbs linking health and disease with the sun exposure. We describe the current knowledge about vitamin D, synthesis and mechanisms of action. The nurse should identify subjects at risk of hypovitaminosis D, and prevent nutrient solutions, since sun exposure is not an appropriate measure because of the side effects of ultraviolet radiation, which contradicts the knowledge derived from some classic Spanish proverbs and sayings.