Vitamin D and why it is important

I want to talk about supplementing with Vitamin D. Our daily diet should be what ultimately gives us all the nutrients we need, however in 21st Century life the food we're now consuming no longer contains enough nutrients to support our bodies given the extra stress and the increased toxicity that we are exposed to on a daily basis.   So a little supplementation can be really helpful. 

The one supplement I believe everyone should be taking is Vitamin D.

Vitamin D used to be thought of as a nutrient that was important for bone health and whilst this is still the case,  it is now apparent that vitamin D has a much bigger role to play all the way across the body. From good mental health, to good hormone balance, better immunity, to more effective muscle firing in exercise, vitamin D is key.

Vitamin D is the sunlight hormone, it forms under our skin when we are exposed to sunlight on a daily basis. I know we have had a lot of sun this summer, so you might be thinking why would I need to take it? But in the UK between the months of October and April the sun is at the wrong angle in the sky for vitamin D to form so it's really important that we supplement with a minimum of 2000ius a day.   This is why in January so many people suffer with SAD, because their Vitamin D stores have depleted.

Food sources of vitamin D are also fairly limited.  Eggs contain a little and some mushrooms do, but in the main we need to have our face, shoulders and arms exposed to 20 minutes of sunshine a day in order to form enough vitamin D.  And this is in the Winter time too.

The best time to start building your Vitamin D reserves is early September. So if supplementation is not your thing - at least think about taking Vitamin D as a minimum. There are some really good ones on the market and they are not too expensive. Just let me know if you want some recommendations.