WHEN you think of vitamins, chances are you think about taking a vitamin C to help prevent colds and flu, or a vitamin B for a quick energy hit, but it’s far less likely that you think about vitamin D.
Yet of all the nutrient deficiencies Australians are most likely to have, vitamin D deficiency is one of the most common. `
In fact, it is thought that up to 30 per cent of Australian adults have low vitamin D levels, especially throughout Winter.
So
here are some of the reasons vitamin D is so important, why we are at
high risk of deficiencies and the signs and symptoms your levels may be
on the low side.
Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that has a key
role in helping calcium be absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract to
support the growth
and maintenance of our bones, as well as controlling
calcium levels in the blood.
The signs for low vitamin D levels include low mood, feelings of fatigue, joint and muscle pain and muscle weakness.
Low
vitamin D levels has also been linked to a number of other health
issues including neurological dysfunction, heart disease, diabetes and
some types of cancers although research into these associated disease
states is in its early stages.
The biggest issue with low levels
of vitamin D over time is that it puts our bone health at considerable
risk. Low vitamin D results in high bone turnover, reduced bone density
and an increased risk of fractures over time, especially in older
people.
While we can get vitamin D from a few specific foods
including egg yolks, oily fish including sardines and salmon, fortified
milks and some types of mushrooms, the amounts of vitamin D we get from
food is relatively small, estimated at just 5-10 per cent of the total
amount we require.
For this reason, sunshine is the primary source of vitamin D for most
people. Vitamin D is produced in the body when our skin cells are
exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) light that we get from the sun.
And you don’t need to sit in the sun for hours to get the amounts of vitamin D you need.
Rather it depends on how dark your skin is, and the parts of skin on the body that are actually exposed to the sunlight.
The
average person will need between 5-10 minutes of sunlight exposure in
Summer, versus up to 30 minutes in Winter, while darker skin types may
require more. While we often expose our arms, larger parts of our body
such as our chest, tummy or back will benefit from sun exposure thanks
to their larger surface areas.
The down side of sun awareness in
Australia is that many more of us are now at risk of having low vitamin D
levels. Those at particular risk include older Australians who do not
get out much, office and shift workers, those who cover their body for
religious reasons and babies of mothers who have low vitamin D levels
themselves.
And while no one is encouraging hours and hours spent
in the blazing Summer sun, the reality is we all need some sunlight to
hit our skin most days to get the vitamin D we need.
You cannot
diagnose your own vitamin D deficiency. Rather you will need a blood
test from your GP who will determine what your vitamin D levels are. Low
levels of vitamin D can easily be fixed via an oral supplements which
is best taken at night, along with some fat such as avocado, nuts or
cheese to help support its absorption.
It is important to know
that there are two types of vitamin D, Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is
produced by the human body in response to sunlight compared to vitamin
D2 (ergocalciferol) which is not produced in the human body, but is
created by exposing certain plant-derived materials to ultraviolet light
and is not as well absorbed in the body as Vitamin D3. So make sure you
purchase Vitamin D3 if you do need a supplement.
Bumping up your
dietary intake of vitamin D by consuming oily fish regularly, seeking
out the special vitamin D rich mushrooms in supermarkets which have
already been exposed to sunlight, and via fortified milks is another way
to top up your intake, especially during Winter.
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