vinegarThe health benefits of Vitamin D are so great that official NHS guidelines recommend taking ‘the sunshine vitamin’ from September through to April, but even with the sun finally peeking out, many of us aren’t getting enough, even in summer. It seems that more than half of us are deficient in Vitamin D – even during mini heatwaves.
It’s a tricky balance to protect your skin from harmful UV rays while still getting enough vitamin D from the sun (our primary source) for the recommended 5 to 30 minutes without sunscreen.
You definitely don’t want to be outside in the hot summer sun for even 30 minutes without sunscreen. The problem of vitamin D deficiency is exacerbated by the fact that our bodies can’t store it.
This vitamin is important because it supports many bodily functions, including maintaining healthy teeth, improving bone strength, heart function, and muscle function, as well as supporting your immune system (which can help ward off those office colds).
If you are pregnant and work indoors, Vitamin D helps in the development of your baby.
Vitamin D accomplishes all this by enabling our bodies to absorb and utilize the minerals phosphorus and calcium, both essential for health. Signs of Vitamin D deficiency include constipation, periodontal disease, joint and bone pain, and in the most severe cases, conditions such as rickets and osteomalacia.
The problem is that properly protecting your skin from the sun’s harmful rays with an SPF will hinder your body’s production of Vitamin D, because you need direct sunlight to make it (it won’t work through glass), and it takes longer to synthesize enough Vitamin D before 11am and after 3pm, although your risk of sunburn is lower.
Different skin types absorb Vitamin D at significantly different rates, so the lighter your skin is, the more Vitamin D you produce and the less time you need to be exposed to sunlight.
People with darker skin need to be in the sun for longer to get the same vitamin D benefits.
Many of us work indoors, which means our opportunities to get healthy amounts of sunlight are even more limited. So what can we do? First, look at our diet. Ideally, we should be eating enough good quality, healthy foods rich in Vitamin D. Good sources of Vitamin D are lean meat, seafood, eggs, dairy products, tofu, soy milk, and almond milk.
Instead of skimping on SPF, which has many health benefits, it’s better to take a supplement – the NHS recommends adults take 400 iu when sunlight is limited.
So vitamin D supplements are a way to prevent wrinkles while still enjoying the benefits of sunlight — a win-win situation.
Nicola Elliott is the founder of wellness brand NEOM and her book, 4 Ways to Health: Better Sleep. Less Stress. More Energy. Better Mood, is published by Penguin.
