Vitamin D for Shorter Days
As the days grow shorter and winter casts its longer shadows, the importance of Vitamin D for our health becomes increasingly apparent. Vitamin D plays a crucial role in maintaining various aspects of our well-being. In this blog post, we’ll delve into the significance of Vitamin D, how you can obtain it, and why it’s particularly vital during the colder, darker months.
What is Vitamin D?
Vitamin D is considered a pro-hormone and not truly a vitamin. While vitamins are nutrients that cannot be produced by the body and must be obtained through diet or supplements, the body is capable of producing its own vitamin D through the action of sunlight on the skin.
How do you get vitamin D?
The short answer is from food, the sun or supplements. There are two main kinds of vitamin D—D2 and D3—which you can get from (and occur naturally in) certain foods like salmon, tuna, mackerel, beef liver, and egg yolks. But because we don’t consume large enough quantities of these foods, they can’t be our sole source of vitamin D. That’s why foods like milk, cereal and some orange juices are fortified. It is also known as the sunshine vitamin. Regular sun exposure can stimulate human skin to produce adequate quantities of vitamin D. Sunlight is the largest single source of vitamin D for most people. Another avenue to get vitamin D is by taking supplements. These come in both pill and liquid form.
Is that enough?
A daily dose of 1000 IU is recommended to ward off chronic disease. To get enough Vitamin D, it is estimated that sensible sun exposure on bare skin for 5-10 minutes 2-3 times per week allows the body the ability to produce enough vitamin D. However, Vitamin D can stay stored in the body’s fats for up to one month, meaning that stores can run low, especially in winter. Things like pollution, use of sunscreen, spending more time indoors, working long hours in offices and away from a window or living in big cities where buildings block sunlight can greatly impede your body’s ability to produce Vitamin D.
A study conducted by the University of Maine has shown that people living above the 44th parallel (North of Philadelphia) are more likely to be deficient in vitamin D by the end of the winter, even with a good diet.
What does Vitamin D do?
Vitamin D promotes healthy bones by helping the absorption of calcium in bones. A vitamin D deficiency as an older adult could lead to osteoporosis. This vitamin is also a great supporter of the health of the immune system, brain, and nervous system. Children given 1,200 IU of vitamin D per day for 4 months during the winter reduced their risk of influenza A infection by over 40% (source). It is also shown to reduce your risk of multiple sclerosis, according to a 2006 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Furthermore, it is shown to decrease your chance of developing heart disease, according to 2008 findings published in Circulation.
Should you supplement?
If you are living in Canada, chances are you’re not getting enough Vitamin D in the winter. As the days get shorter, it becomes harder and harder to get the minimum requirements to keep a strong immune system and more people get sick. Talk to your chiropractor, naturopath or family doctor about what kind of supplements would be best for you and what quantities you should be taking.