Amazing Article from The Daily Mail on Vitamin D
Bring us sunshine! Nine out of ten of Brits are deficient in vitamin D (and it’s not even winter yet!)
- Vitamin D, dubbed the sunshine vitamin, is generated by sunlight
- Over 70% of people in the UK spend most of their day indoors
- Deficiency can cause rickets, migraines, depression and joint pain
Feeling sniffly? A bit down in the dumps? Low on energy? If so, you could be suffering from a deficiency from the sunshine vitamin – vitamin D.
New figures have revealed the true extent of what the UK’s so-called vitamin D deficiency ‘epidemic’, with one in nine people classed as ‘deficient’ and two thirds as ‘severely lacking’.
Vitamin D is generated by sunlight (90 per cent) and diet (10 per cent).
But the survey by BetterYou found that 77 per cent of adults spend most of their day indoors in office jobs, seldom seeing the sunshine.
Vitamin D boosts the immune system, and without sufficient intake, the body’s cells are not able to react and fight off serious infections in the body.
Common medical conditions associated with vitamin D deficiency include fatigue, bone pain, muscle pain, joint pain, migraines, skin pigmentation problems and even rickets.
Many people with a vitamin D deficiency develop Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and become depressed.
Almost half of those surveyed also said they regularly suffer with low energy levels, and 40 per cent experienced regular aches and pains in their bones and joints. Both are key symptoms of deficiency.
The findings, announced ahead of a National Vitamin D Awareness Week, suggest a massive proportion of the UK population are at risk of these debilitating symptoms.
Of those diagnosed as severely deficient, 71 per cent do not take any form of supplement – highlighting a clear link between deficiency and supplementation.
The findings come from a survey by health pioneers BetterYou, who are supporting National Vitamin D Awareness Week, which aims to raise public understanding of the dangers of deficiency.
Andrew Thomas, founder and managing director at BetterYou, said: ‘Our findings further confirm what we have long suspected, that our nation is far more deficient in vitamin D than we would care to admit.
‘Almost ninety per cent of people interviewed provided either classic symptoms of advanced vitamin D deficiency or listed multiple lifestyle conditions which would predispose them to be deficient.
‘These include a combination of having darker skin pigmentation, spending daylight hours indoors and excessive use of UV sun cream.
‘These findings simply reinforce our support of the UK’s first National Vitamin D Awareness Week.
The subject has been discussed in the House of Commons, leading to “at risk” groups being identified and supplementation recommendations made by our Department of Health.
‘The awareness week is the natural next step to raise understanding with the general public.’
Earlier this year the Chief Medical Officer for England, Dame Sally Davies announced her concerns to health professionals regarding a rise in vitamin D-related conditions, asking them to consider vitamin D supplementation for at risk groups, including pregnant mothers.
Following this, it was announced by Labour MP Kate Green in September, that cases of rickets have increased more than 400 per cent since 1996.
SPOTTING THE SYMPTOMS OF A VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY
- Weak immune system, including frequent coughs and colds.
- Fatigue, bone ache, joint and muscle pain
- SAD or depression
- Headaches and migraines
TIPS FOR COMBATTING A VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY THIS WINTER
- DLux range of daily vitamin D oral sprays
- Eat oily fish and take cod liver oil
- On holiday, apply sunscreen only after you’ve soaked up 10-15 minutes of rays
- Use sunlamps and full spectrum lights to produce vitamin D and combat SAD
National Vitamin D Awareness Week runs from Monday 29 October to Sunday 4 November