Do you spend all day, every day inside or smothered with sunscreen?  If the answer is yes, you like I, could have a vitamin D deficiency. According to The Medical Journal of Australia, 31% of adults have low vitamin D levels. Low vitamin D levels can cause serious health complications that include high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, depression, infections, muscle weakness, heart disease, cancer as well as osteoporosis. During the winter month, the number of people with a vitamin D deficiency increases due to less and weaker sunlight hours.

Vitamin D is a hormone that controls calcium and phosphate levels in the blood. It is second only to iron, as the most influential steroid hormone in a functioning healthy body. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that is not found in many foods .It is produced when the skin is directly exposed to the ultra violet rays in sunlight and interacts with the melanin. Sunscreen and shirts, although they protect against skin cancer, put a barrier between your skin and the ultra violet rays therefore, they do not allow your body to produce vitamin D.

People particularly prone to vitamin D deficiency include:

• Dark skinned people, as they require approximately 6 times the amount of sunlight to create the same amount of vitamin D
• Obese people
• The older population
• The sick
• The very young

To increase your vitamin D levels there are a few things you can do.

• Eat oily fish and eggs as they contain vitamin D naturally
• Margarine and some milk has had vitamin D added to it
• Spend 6-8 minutes a day in summer and 26-28 minutes a day in winter, directly exposured to the sun, outside the hours of 10 am and 2 pm.
• Exercise daily as this increases vitamin D absorption .

Should you have a low vitamin D levels, treatment is simple.  Your doctor will check your levels with a blood test and prescribe the appropriate number of vitamin D3 tablets.You will take these for several months or longer. You may possibly need to continue taking vitamin D3 longer term to ensure your body continues to function well.

Don’t risk your health. Take a walk in the sunshine daily, and have your vitamin D levels checked regularly.