It’s estimated that more than 50% of the population in Great Britain are vitamin D deficient and last year’s poor summer will have made these figures worse. A deficiency in Vitamin D can increase the risk of osteoporosis, osteomalacia (softening bones), rickets in children, musculoskeletal pain and weakness, cardiovascular disease including stroke, type two diabetes, depression, several cancers and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

Over the past 20 years our concern over skin cancer has lead many to use sun cream at the slightest hint of sunshine. The use of sunscreen prevents the body from producing Vitamin D, and is likely therefore to be one of the contributing factors to the widespread Vitamin D deficiency we are currently observing. Other factors include spending more time indoors than we might have done in the past, covering up the body and a lack of dietary sources (oily fish, eggs, fortified foods).
The exposure of the skin to sunlight is the most effective way of raising your Vitamin D levels (aside from supplementation) and it is therefore important to get some exposure to the sun. The aim is for your skin to change colour, without burning. This will therefore be entirely dependent on your skin tone, and you may have to experiment to determine how long you can sit out in the sun without protection. Aim to get some exposure every day.
The government recommends that all pregnant and breastfeeding women take a Vitamin D supplement, as well as children between 6 months and 5 years old, and people over the age of 65. My view however would be that we should all know our vitamin D status and correct any deficieny that we uncover.
If your GP is obliging you may be able to be tested for free on the NHS. Otherwise private Vitamin D testing is relatively cheap. I use a fingerprint blood test that is offered by the Birmingham NHS Trust. I regularly test my clients and have never had a client with adequate levels of Vitamin D: all have been deficient with some being severely deficient.

Call me on 07967 639347 to find out more or book your appointment