The more sun it is, the easier it will be to get enough vitamin D. So when in the year is it time to stop taking vitamin D supplements?
VITAMIN D IS A VITAL VITAMIN
Vitamin D is a vital vitamin with many functions in the body. It is needed, for example, to maintain the balance between calcium and phosphate and is thus involved in the turnover of bones and teeth . Vitamin D is also a precursor to other hormones and is also needed for metabolic health. A link has also been found between low levels and the emergence of most diseases such as prostate cancer, breast cancer, MS and several infectious diseases.
IS THERE A VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY?
Vitamin D is in principle the only nutrient that we in Sweden risk getting too little of , provided that we eat a normal diet and are otherwise healthy. New research has shown that even sub-optimal levels (above the threshold for pronounced deficiency, but lower than the recommended amount) of vitamin D are negative for health, which means that it is even more important to make sure you get your vitamin D. .
The new Nordic nutritional recommendations reflect this by raising the recommendations for vitamin D from 7.5 to 10 micrograms ( µg ) per day for children and adults. Studies have shown that Swedes generally have too low levels of vitamin D in their blood.
VITAMIN D – NOT SO EASY TO GET IN VIA FOOD
The reason why we risk a deficiency in the Nordic countries is that vitamin D is not found in abundant amounts in food, but most of our vitamin D we get in us via the sun’s irradiation of the skin . In order for us to be able to produce our own vitamin D, our skin needs to be exposed to ultraviolet light of the UV-B type .
Since UV-B rays are filtered out in the atmosphere when the sun is low, it is in practice only during the summer months of April / May to August / September between 10.00 and 16.00 that we can produce our own vitamin D in significant amounts.
This means that a supplement of vitamin D during the winter is preferable, but that from April / May if you stay out regularly during the day, you will fill your depots well anyway. About 15 minutes outdoors in the sun in the middle of the day with short sleeves and shorts is enough to fill the depots if you have fair skin. In addition, there are sources of vitamin D in the food, such as oily fish, egg yolks, mackerel in tomato sauce and fortified dairy products.