The Importance of Vitamin D: Do You Need Supplementation in Summer? 🌞
Government Advice and the importance of Supplementation 🏛💊
Government advice suggests everyone should consider taking a Vitamin D supplement during the autumn and winter months when there is less sunlight. 🌨 While foods such as oily fish and eggs contain Vitamin D, many of us still need supplementation all year round. It's common to think that we don’t need to supplement in the summer months, but there are several reasons why supplementation might still be necessary, including genetics, ethnicity, health, and weight concerns.
Vitamin D is essential for several bodily functions:
Bone Health: It promotes calcium absorption, which is crucial for maintaining strong bones 🦴
Reducing Inflammation: It helps decrease pain and inflammation 🛡️
Reducing Health Risks: Low levels of Vitamin D are linked to a higher risk of diabetes, obesity, cancer, autoimmune diseases, heart disease, osteoporosis, poor immunity, muscle injuries, and allergies 🚑
Mental Health: It can improve mood and help with depression 😁
The recommended dosage? 💊
The NHS recommends 10 micrograms (400IU) of Vitamin D daily, but some experts suggest much higher levels are optimal, such as 1,500-2,000 IU daily. Vitamin D3 supplements are more effective than D2 forms at raising blood levels, so it's best to choose D3 for supplementation. ✅
Before starting your dose, I always recommend a Vitamin D test. It’s super simple and low-cost… just a finger prick blood spot you can do at home🩸if you want more details, just email me!
Vitamin D Deficiency Scale (nmol/L) 📊
The National Osteoporosis Society (NOS) guidelines (UK, 2013) and the Institute of Medicine (US) classify vitamin D results as follows:
Less than 30 nmol/L is deficient
30-50 nmol/L may be inadequate in some people
Greater than 50 nmol/L is sufficient for almost the whole population
Above 220 nmol/L is considered high and increases the risk of vitamin D toxicity. Supplementing with 1,200 IU of Vitamin D daily can raise blood levels by about 10 units.
Vitamin D for athletes 🏃🏼♀️🏋🏼♀️
Muscle Injury in Sportsmen ⚽ In a study of footballers, 80% were found to be deficient in Vitamin D. Lower levels of Vitamin D were found in those with muscle injuries and black footballers had lower Vitamin D levels than white footballers. Recent studies have proposed that higher Vitamin D levels can improve fast-twitch muscle strength and power, reduce inflammation and stress fractures, and boost the body’s immunity. 🚀
Conclusion
While summer brings more sunlight and the potential for natural Vitamin D production, many of us still need to consider supplementation due to various factors. Ensuring you have adequate levels of Vitamin D is crucial for overall health, and regular testing can help you maintain optimal levels. If you're interested in testing your Vitamin D levels, contact me here.
Stay healthy and make sure your Vitamin D levels are where they need to be for peak performance and well-being! 🌟💪
Janie x