How to you top up your Vitamin D?

Are you feeling like I do...?
I am sure many of you in the UK do too.

I am talking about the sun!
Where has it been hiding for more of the past year?
Where are the warm summer days gone?
​Will the crisp, dry, sunny winter days ever come back? 

I believe there has not been better time to talk about the weather.
As the Golf Stream becomes weaker and weaker, evaporated waters from the warm seas are now spiralling over the United Kingdom and bring as much rain in a couple of hours than in a month. Flooding as never seen before on such scale in many parts of the countries. Trains severally delayed. Road and motorways closed to the circulation. The Growth of fungi has exploded exponentially. Bacteria are bathing in what has become their paradise.
BUT... Walls impregnated with incessant rain are now so damp, the growth of fungi and mycotoxin exposure are reached a critical level. 

Did you know that mycotoxin toxicity is a great concern to health?
Because many people are exposed to these toxins every single day of their life, even during their sleep -- unless the problem is tackled hands on, which often involves grand-scale DIY (e.g. removing the contaminated walls or parts of, removing and replacing contaminated insulation or actually insulating damp walls or roofs in many cases, paying specialists to assess the level of contamination in your home and find the spots where fungi and bacteria and thriving, which more often than not, are tucked away behind partition walls, skirt boards, curtains, potentially anywhere in a bathroom, away from sight). 

Back to Vitamin D...
Are you going away for a summer vacation? 
What about a winter sun holiday?

Planning to..?

If not, you may be deficient in Vitamin D and even more so during the darker winter months. 
Time to top up your vitamin D as much as you can, especially in the early hours of the morning. Better yet, walk barefoot on the grass, weather permitting (also known as grounding). 
​If you are in a country where the sun only blesses you with a just a couple of hours each day in winter, you may benefit from supplementing with Vitamin D. It is also important to note that not everyone is exposed to the sun in the same way. Depending on your geographic position, sun rays may hit your skin at a different angle, and the angle is important in the way that it dictate how long you can stay in the sun. According to the Vitamin D Council, considering location is vital: "In the southern United States, in places like Florida, your body can produce vitamin D most of the year, while in more northern places, like New York City or Boston, you can’t produce much vitamin D from November through March. If you live even further north, like in Edmonton, Canada, you can’t produce vitamin D from October through April. These times are even longer (by a month or two) if you’re skin type is darker." This is also applicable to the UK, particularly Scotland and Ireland, and other northern countries such as Sweden, Norway and more.1
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Only buy from a trusted company and follow dosage given on label.
​Many companies offer vegan alternative and also convenient sublingual sprays, which means you spray once under your tongue for greater assimilation, bypassing the digestion altogether. 

Vitamin D promotes calcium absorption in the digestive tract and maintains adequate serum calcium and phosphate concentrations for normal mineralisation of bones. Vitamin D is also needed for bone growth and bone remodelling. Deficiency in vitamin D may become a real problem. Bones can become thin, brittle, or misshapen.
Vitamin D can help prevent rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults, and osteoporosis in elderly people (together with calcium).

Vitamin D plays many other roles in the body, such as modulation of cell growth, neuromuscular and immune function, and has a direct effect on inflammatory processes.
​Many genes encoding proteins that regulate cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis are modulated in part by vitamin D.2
Many cells have vitamin D receptors, but many people may have faulty genes and may, therefore, require a better approach to vitamin D and how to maximise intake and use by the body by discussing DNA test results with a qualified health practitioner. 


It is often recommended to take 10 micrograms (400IU) per day to prevent deficiency during the winter month.3 


DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE ROLE THAT VITAMIN D PLAYS IN ALMOST EVERY PATHWAY IN THE BODY.

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References:

​1. https://www.vitamindcouncil.org/about-vitamin-d/how-do-i-get-the-vitamin-d-my-body-needs/#.Xcf-DC2cbUI
2. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/
3. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-d

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