Have you been experiencing muscle or bone pain? Are you catching every bug going around? Do you have the winter blues? If you answered yes to any of these, it could be due to a Vitamin D deficiency.
Where to get more Vitamin D
The best place to source Vitamin D is the sun. Unfortunately in winter there isn’t much of it and due to it still being pretty brisk outside it’s unlikely we are going to bare enough of our skin to benefit. Unfortunately Vitamin D can’t pass through glass either, so their goes that idea! Hopefully you have a sunny spot at home out of the wind that you may be able to get some natural rays during the winter (click here for amounts of sun depending on skin colour and time of year) but if not there are some other ways to source Vitamin D. Small amounts of Vitamin D can be found in fatty fish, eggs & some types of mushrooms however the diet typically only makes up about 10% of our Vitamin D. If you are getting symptoms of deficiency the best way to is to organise a blood test with your GP to check your levels. If you are low they will usually recommend a supplement. Vitamin D is a fat soluble substance so it is recommended to take it with something like eggs or your oily fish for best absorption. As an extra side note people who exercise daily are better at producing Vitamin D, not that you needed another excuse to exercise but there you go!
Risk factors of Vitamin D deficiency
- People who cover up when outdoors
- Naturally dark skinned individuals
- People who spend a lot of time indoors or deliberately avoid sun exposure (this could be due to beauty reasons or due to increased risk of skin cancer for example)
- Elderly people
- People who wear sunscreen all the time
- Certain medications can inhibit the breakdown of Vitamin D such as anticonvulsants and rifampicin
- Breastfed babies whose mothers have low Vitamin D levels or who have other mentioned risk factors of Vitamin D deficiency
- Obesity
- Conditions that cause fat malabsorpiton such as irritable bowel disease and Coeliacs disease
Short and sweet with today’s blog. If you need more information check out this government website on Vitamin D deficiency or speak to your GP or other trusted health care practitioner about their recommendations specific to you.