How Can We Get Enough Vitamin D in Winter?

Dec 14, 2017

Fleur Brown

Dec 14, 2017

Vitamin D is now considered a "super-nutrient" as it has a vital role in many important functions in the body. It is no longer just considered a vitamin to keep our bones healthy, as research has now found that a deficiency of this nutrient may be linked to a wide range of health issues, including most chronic illnesses. The winter days mean our most obvious source of vitamin D, sunlight, is lacking from our day-to-day life; so, how can we ensure we are still giving our bodies the right amount of vitamin D?

What does vitamin D do?

It contributes to numerous functions in the body including:

keeping our bones in good condition
keeping our immune system strong
aiding he absorption of vital minerals from our diet, such as calcium and phosphorous for healthy bones , zinc for good immune protection and iron for energy
helping our cardiovascular system to function optimally
keeping our brains working well, thereby reducing the risk of mental health issues

It is thought that vitamin D regulates around 1000 different physiological processes in our bodies. Low vitamin D can contribute to a myriad of chronic illnesses - ones that have been going on for months or years without improvement or resolution such as depression, SAD, osteoporosis, autoimmune diseases e.g. lupus, colitis, Crohn's disease, fibromyalgia, diabetes Type 1, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis , as well as high blood pressure, diabetes Type 2, arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome, psoriasis, and repeated infections.

Deficiency of vitamin D is also thought to be a contributing factor in many cancers such as breast, kidney, prostate, pancreatic and ovarian cancer - diseases caused by poor immunity and disruption of certain cells in the body.

How do we get our daily dose of vitamin D?

Our main source of vitamin D between 80% and 100% is through exposure of our skin to the sun. This process is very dependent on the following factors:

whether there is adequate and regular sunshine in our daily environment
whether we expose our bodies to good amounts of sunshine daily without the use of sunscreens
and whether we have we have good levels of cholesterol in our blood. When sunshine in the UV-B spectrum strikes the skin, it converts a substance called 7-dehydrocholesterol into Vitamin D3. People on statin drugs run a higher risk of becoming Vitamin D deficient if their cholesterol drops too low.

Article tags

Fleur Brown

Fleur Brown is a nutritional therapist based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. She studied at the Institute For Optimum Nutrition in London. A member of the British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy BANT , The Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council CNHC and the Nutrition Therapy Council NTC , Fleur is also a senior associate of The Royal Society of Medicine in London. She is the author of Beat Chronic Disease: The Nutrition Solution.