As many as 20 per cent of adults across the country suffer with vitamin D deficiency, according to the NHS.
In Scotland and across the rest of the UK, there is a lack of natural vitamin D sources between October and March due to decreased hours of sunlight. We only get enough of sunlight for our bodies to make vitamin D between April and September, mainly between the hours of 11am and 3pm. So it means that is it vital to fuel our bodies correctly keep our levels healthy.
Vitamin D helps with an array of important body functions - including your heart, bone and muscle health as well as playing a vital role in your immune system - with a lack of the nutrient creating potential health risks.
The essential nutrients aids calcium and phosphorus absorption from your diet, with inadequate levels often resulting in a weakened immune system. And this may present symptoms you will be able to spot, reports The Express.
According to healthcare portal Livi, becoming ill or catching infections more often can be a sign of vitamin D deficiency.
Lead GP at Livi, Dr Rhianna McClymont, said: “The vitamin plays a vital role in keeping our immune system working as it should.
“So if you’re finding yourself frequently feeling under the weather or battling a cold, it might be down to a lack of vitamin D.”
Becoming unwell with the cold or flu frequently may be cause by an inadequate level of vitamin D in the body, but this is not the only symptom of a deficiency.
According to the experts, symptoms of vitamin D deficiency may also include:
- Feeling tired or fatigued
- Hair loss
- Muscle pain
- Bone pain
- Lower back pain
- Depression
- Mood changes
- Wounds that heal slowly following surgery, infection or injury
The healthcare portal explains that a lack of vitamin D may be difficult to spot as there are sometimes no warning signs. Often if symptoms to appear they are subtle.
However, vitamin D deficiency can lead to serious issues such as bone density loss, making your bones more fragile.
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