As we hurtle headlong into autumn and winter, the nights become longer. Sunlight begins to wane. For those of use living in the Northern hemisphere the changing of seasons can have dramatic affects on our health. Not only are we assaulted by a barrage of viruses that are often kept at bay during the spring and summer months, we have colder weather and our capacity to get vitamin D from sunlight drastically reduces.
Over recent years, vitamin D has continuously hit the headlines, scientists are discovering new functions for it on a regular basis. Any traditional health text book will tell you that its function in bone health and the fight against osteoporosis. But research is now uncovering its pivotal role in the fights against obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, aging, migraines, stress and cancer.
Vitamin D Uncovered
Vitamin D isn’t really a vitamin. It is a generic name for a family of cholesterol-like fat-soluble substances called ‘secosteroids’. They essentially function as a ‘pro-hormone’ and can function across the hormonal pathways in our bodies, and have been found to be active in over 50 different functions.
The main source of vitamin D is the sunshine, with the help of the liver and kidneys, the body converts UVB rays into the active form of vitamin D for use in the body. It can be absorbed from food, but there are limited sources – namely egg yolk and oily fish. And if you have poor digestion then absorption maybe limited further.
A Global Risk of Deficiency?
Research is showing that deficiency of vitamin D is increasing at an alarming rate. In the past, it was solely the domain of the elderly, those with darker skin or children who were exclusively breastfed by vitamin D deficient mothers. Unfortunately this is no longer the case. It is claimed that in Germany, vitamin D insufficiency reaches 40-45% with a further 15-30% reaching a true deficiency state. As Germany lies on a similar latitude to the UK, it wouldn’t be silly to presume that this could be applied to Northern Europe as a whole. Even sun-drenched locations such as Australia are reporting a resurgence of rickets – a childhood disease linked to low vitamin D levels. Why? Sunscreen.
The UK Food Standards agency released a report in June 2010 stating that enough vitamin D can be produced when the skin is exposed to the sunlight at midday for twenty minutes when the sun is at its strongest. However, how many people have moisturisers without a SPF? And as sunscreen blocks UVB rays, it also blocks vitamin D metabolism meaning we may need to think differently about exposing our skin between that 11am-3pm window we’ve been warned about for so many years.
How can we get more vitamin D?
Sun advice for the last twenty years has banged on about not leaving the house without sunscreen and insofar as much, if you looked at your moisturiser, I bet you’d see that there is an inbuilt sunscreen in it. In the winter when it’s only our faces that see the sun, as weak as it may be, the importance of vitamin D escalates as we do not have enough stores from the summer months to take us through till spring.
The joke is that the beauty industry have told us that sunlight damages the skin and ages it. Now how about if I told you that a LACK of vitamin D ages you, far more than the sun ever will. Of course, if you burn your face then, yes the skin is going to become different in tone and texture, as when you burn yourself with anything, be it the oven, iron or hot water. Yes, the skin on the face is delicate, but it’s hardier than the skin that is constantly covered up.
Vitamin D and Ageing
On the end of each chromosome, we have these tips called Telomeres, which look a bit like shoelace ends. The shorter these become, the faster we age. Studies show the correlation between vitamin D insufficiency and ageing. Think about women in Southern Europe and the vitality that spring out of them, rather than looking old beyond their years, many look incredibly young for their age.
Now I’m not asking you to suddenly ditch your expensive skin care regimes and bake in the midday sun, but…
Do you need a moisturiser with sunscreen in the winter?
Do you need one if you’re sitting in an office 90% of the day in the summer? Glass also blocks UVB, so there’ll be no chance of you getting sunburn. Think about how much better getting out in the sunshine makes you feel. Vitamin D works with serotonin, one of the happy chemicals in the brain, if we have lots of it, we have better moods. So no more seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and also, serotonin can also help with weight loss.
Supplementation
There is lots of evidence to suggest that supplementation of vitamin D is important, however, this is not a carte blanche to run to your nearest health food store to stock up. Vitamin D, like many other nutrients, has an upper safety limit. It is important to select the right form of vitamin D as well as the correct dosage.
If you do choose the supplement route, and you don’t want to engage with an nutritional expert, follow these suggestions:
1) Test your levels through your GP and re-test after 3 months of supplementation.
2) Choose the plant-form, vitamin D3 as it is 50% more affective than D2.
3) Take 400 – 800 i.u. for 3 months
4) Do not choose the cheapest supplement available, use a reputable brand such as Biocare or Nutri
5) After the three months, use a multi-vitamin with vitamin D3.
6) Expose SPF-free skin to the sunshine daily, 20 minutes at lunchtime.
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