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Here at the Forbes Clinic we believe in empowering you to care for your health. So, we’re bringing you a series of articles highlighting some of the nutrients commonly deficient in the UK today.
Let’s start with Vitamin D.
What are Vitamins?
Vitamins are substances your body can’t do without. They’re needed for essential functions and cannot be made by your body in the quantities it requires. Therefore, they need to be obtained regularly from your diet.
There are thirteen essential vitamins. Vitamin D is a little different from its siblings because not a great deal is found in food. Instead, your skin uses sunshine to make vitamin D.
However, the problem nowadays is many people live indoors most of the time. When they do go outside, they cover themselves with clothes or sunscreen to shield from the harmful effects of sunlight. The net result is many people don’t make enough vitamin D for their needs.
In fact, NICE estimates around a third of people in the UK are deficient in vitamin D. The UK Department of Health recommends everyone take a vitamin D supplement between October and March.
Why You Need Vitamin D
Every single one of your body’s cells needs vitamin D. It stimulates special receptors influencing how your genes instruct your cells to function. In total, vitamin D affects the behaviour of more than two hundred genes.
- Bone Health
Vitamin D helps your body absorb and use calcium. So, low levels can lead to weak bones and osteoporosis in adults. On the other hand, a childhood deficiency of vitamin D causes rickets. This disease was common in the seventeenth century and Victorian times, but cases have risen again in recent years.
- Brain Function and Mental Health
Vitamin D helps brain cells develop during childhood. Furthermore, it’s involved in the process by which brain cells communicate with their neighbours, as it’s needed for the manufacture and regulation of mood-boosting brain chemicals like serotonin.
Deficiency of vitamin D is connected with an increased risk for dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
- Immune Function
Vitamin D regulates immune system function. It supports it if it’s under-functioning while preventing your immune system from becoming hypersensitive. Therefore, it’s important both for maintaining your defence against infections and protecting against autoimmune issues like type 1 diabetes (1), rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and MS (2).
- Blood Sugar Regulation
Vitamin D is needed for insulin production, and to enable your cells to recognise to the hormone and act on its message to allow sugar to enter. Deficiency in vitamin D is linked with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
- Cardiovascular Health
People with lower levels of vitamin D have been found in research to have an increased risk of heart disease and heart attack (3).
- Cell Growth and Division
Vitamin D helps regulate healthy cell growth and division. Low levels have been observed in some cancers (4).
- Inflammation
Vitamin D deficiency is linked with elevated levels of chronic inflammation. It’s believed it inhibits the production of inflammatory substances while encouraging the release of anti-inflammatory ones. This type of ongoing inflammation has been implicated in the development of almost all chronic diseases.
Symptoms of Low Vitamin D
Because you need vitamin D for so many wide-ranging functions within your body, symptoms of deficiency are many and varied. Therefore, they might be put down to other causes.
Some symptoms include fatigue, bone pain, low mood, frequent infections, hormone imbalances, muscle weakness and pain, allergies, migraines, and hair loss.
Sources of Vitamin D
Vitamin D is actually a family of nutrients and exists in two main forms. Vitamin D2 or ergocalciferol is found in certain plant foods. Meanwhile, vitamin D3 or cholecalciferol comes from animal sources. This form seems to be more effective at raising blood levels of vitamin D than does D2.
Only a few foods contain vitamin D. These include fatty fish, like salmon, mackerel, and sardines, egg yolks, organ meats, and mushrooms. Some foods have vitamin D added, but these tend to be heavily processed foods like plant oil spreads and breakfast cereals.
Most of your body’s vitamin D will therefore come from UVB rays in sunlight. Little and often sun exposure is best, ensuring the dose of UV light is below the level causing your skin to redden. Unfortunately, exposing your skin to the sun is often impossible or impractical in the UK climate. This is where a vitamin D supplement can be invaluable. However, supplements vary in purity and potency.
Understanding Your Need for Vitamin D
The level of vitamin D in your blood is assessed by examining a substance called 25-hydroxyvitamin D. This is a biomarker for the amount of vitamin D in your body, because it’s the precursor to the active form of vitamin D.
Current UK guidelines state that if your blood levels are lower than 25mnol/L of 25-hydroxyvitamin D you are deficient. Levels of between 25 and 50mnol/L are deemed insufficient.
However, bear in mind even a level of 50mnol/L might not reflect your optimum levels of vitamin D – your requirements may be far higher. The minimum amount of a nutrient required to avoid a deficiency can be quite different to the optimum levels needed to promote good health.
Requirements vary with age and lifestyle, while vitamin D works in tandem with other nutrients including vitamins K and A. Therefore, your levels of these nutrients will affect how vitamin D behaves in your body. Everyone is an individual as regards their nutrient requirements.
As with everything in life, however, more is not necessarily better. Vitamin D is fat-soluble, meaning your body can store it. This means it’s a good idea to monitor your blood levels of vitamin D if you’re taking a supplement.
Personalised Support for Optimum Nutrition
Your journey starts with an Integrative Health Assessment. This includes an expert-led test to establish your nutritional status and identify any deficiencies. Following this, our nutritionists will recommend dietary modifications along with supplements where appropriate, depending on your health status and goals. They can advise how best to monitor your vitamin D levels and the most effective supplement to take for your circumstances.
However, if you’re looking for a convenient way to assess your nutrient levels, we also offer at-home self-test kits delivered to your door. This means you can measure not only vitamin D but also iron, folate, vitamin B12 and magnesium, alongside cholesterol and inflammation markers, in the comfort of your own home.
Vitamin D is only one tool when it comes to supporting optimal health, but it’s a powerful and often overlooked one. Contact us today to explore the power of vitamin D.
