With soaring temperatures and weeks of sun tempting people outdoors, it is easier than ever to get your body its vitamin D fix. But while most people should be able to make up all the vitamin D they need from sunlight, there are some people who are deficient in the key nutrient
The body creates vitamin D from direct sunlight on the skin when outdoors, meaning through the winter it's harder to get enough of it. And with the vitamin helping to regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body, it is important to try and maintain the correct levels.
These nutrients are needed to keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy and according to the NHS a lack of them can lead to bone deformities such as rickets in children, and bone pain caused by a condition called osteomalacia in adults.
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Government advice is that everyone should consider taking a daily vitamin D supplement during the autumn and winter. People at high risk of not getting enough vitamin D, all children aged 1 to 4, and all babies (unless they're having more than 500ml of infant formula a day) should take a daily supplement throughout the year.
What are good sources of vitamin D?
Other than taking supplements to get that added vitamin D, there are plenty of natural ways to boost your consumption. As stated on the NHS website, these include:
- oily fish – such as salmon, sardines, herring and mackerel
- red meat
- liver
- egg yolks
- fortified foods – such as some fat spreads and breakfast cereals
Cows’ milk is not a good source of vitamin D in the UK as it is typically not fortified with it.
9 signs you may be vitamin D deficient
1. Aching muscles
Vitamin D is a nutrient that is key to keeping your muscles healthy. If you are deficient in the vitamin it is not uncommon to experience aching and sore muscles.
2. Bone and back pain
Vitamin D helps maintain bone health by improving your body’s absorption of calcium. As a result, bone pain - particularly in areas such as the lower back - can be a tell-tale sign of vitamin D deficiency.
3. Fatigue
Fatigue can be a sign of vitamin D deficiency because the nutrient is essential for cell metabolism. Without it, you may feel tired and run down all the time.
Low vitamin D leads to bone abnormalities which directly causes reduced muscle growth and strength. As well as this, the deficiency causes reduced functioning across the body. The results of which leave you feeling tired faster
4. Depression / low mood
Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to depression, especially in older adults — although more research is needed to fully understand the relationship.
The effects of vitamin D supplements have been mixed, but some reviews have found that they helped relieve symptoms of depression.
Vitamin D is also thought to have a role in neurotransmitter metabolism such as serotonin which affects people's moods.
5. Hair loss
According to medicinenet, hair loss can be a sign of vitamin D deficiency because this nutrient is essential for the follicular cycle in the hair. Without adequate vitamin D, the new hair does not emerge from the hair follicles.
6. Weight gain
Obesity is one risk factor for vitamin D deficiency because this nutrient is essential for keeping your metabolism stable. Without vitamin D, your metabolism may slow down, and you may find it difficult to lose weight.
7. Impaired wound healing and increased infections
A sign of low levels of vitamin D in the body includes the fact that your wounds heal slowly. Vitamin D’s role in controlling inflammation and addressing infections is important for proper healing because it is essential for immune system functions.
One of the most important roles of vitamin D is supporting immune health, which helps you ward off viruses and bacteria that cause illness. Vitamin D directly interacts with the cells that are responsible for addressing infections making them difficult to fight off.
8. Dizziness
While vitamin d doesn't cause dizziness alone, deficiency in the vitamin has an impact on bone structure which in turn affects dizziness.
9. Heart problems
Low levels of vitamin D can lead to an increased risk of heart disease because this nutrient is essential for keeping your heart cells healthy.
Several studies have also reported that vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, including hypertension, heart failure, and ischemic heart disease. Initial
People at risk of vitamin D deficiency
According to the NHS, Some people will not make enough vitamin D from sunlight because they have very little or no sunshine exposure.
The Department of Health and Social Care recommends that adults and children over 4 take a daily supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D throughout the year if they:
- are not often outdoors – for example, if they're frail or housebound
- are in an institution like a care home
- usually wear clothes that cover up most of their skin when outdoors
- If you have dark skin – for example you have an African, African-Caribbean or south Asian background – you may also not make enough vitamin D from sunlight.
You should consider taking a daily supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D throughout the year.
How can sunlight help?
Vitamin D is made in the skin when it’s exposed to sunlight. The easiest way to boost vitamin D levels is through the sun, and most people get enough just by going out and about in the summer.
Most people know there’s a balance to be struck when it comes to spending time out in the sun. Its UV rays that are the main cause of skin cancer, but we also need some sunshine to generate vitamin D.
Although the number of children getting rickets from low vitamin D levels is still relatively small, in recent years it has increased slightly, suggesting some people may not be spending enough time outside. However, Cancer Research UK say skin cancer is also on the increase, for example almost 16,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma every year.
Research by Professor Lesley Rhodes, at the University of Manchester and Professor Ann Webb, a physicist with expertise in the atmosphere and sunlight modelled the level needed by the end of summer for most people to have enough vitamin D throughout winter, when the sun isn’t strong enough for us to make vitamin D in the UK.
They estimated that 9 minutes of lunchtime sunlight each day would be enough for Caucasians to stay above the ‘deficient’ category of vitamin D level throughout the year. This figure assumes that people would be in shorts and t-shirts for June to August, while only having their hands and faces exposed from March to June and for September.
Our bodies start to break down vitamin D when we’re generating a lot of it so you can’t do a week all in one go. Little and often does seem to be the key.
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