Vitamin D… Six useful facts

* Vitamin D is a hormone and is measured by assessing levels of 25-OH Vitamin D (the active form of vitamin D) in the blood. A healthy amount is 50-100 ng/mL. A deficiency is considered to be < 20 ng/mL and “insufficiency” is considered to be 20-49 ng/mL

* An optimal intake of Vitamin D (taking into account the latest science and vitamin D recommendations) we need to aim for is approximately 2000iu per day.

* Vitamin D is produced when exposed skin has a photochemical reaction to ultraviolet light rays from the sun. Practically all vitamin D that circulates in the body is made this way. To give you an idea of how much you can get via sun exposure (our best and most natural source of Vitamin D), 20 minutes of full sun exposure will provide up to 20,000iu. Darker skinned people produce less than this as the melanin in their skin acts as a sunscreen against UVB rays.

* Foods that naturally contain vitamin D include – a 4oz (120g) salmon steak, which contains approximately 739iu Vitamin D, eggs (25iu), sardines (600iu), and cod liver oil (up to 1300iu per tablespoon). Vitamin D is also found in foods such as seaweeds (which also contains calcium and phosphorous), algaes such as chlorella, and shiitake mushrooms.

* During winter and early spring the sun is thought to be too weak in the UK to photosynthesise adequate vitamin D – or when the UV index is below 3

* Hypovitaminosis D (i.e. chronically low vitamin D) increases the risk of infection, cancer, autoimmune disease, hypertension, arteriosclerosis, diabetes and/or insulin resistance, musculoskeletal pain, epilepsy, and migraine.

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