UK Sunlight & Vitamin D: What You Need to Know
If you live in the UK, you might have caught a few sunny spring days and suddenly everyone seemed alive again! And then… back to cold, misty, rainy reality (and today so windy!).
We’re also told it’s that time of year when we can technically make vitamin D. Well, yes, but where’s the sun?
Although I love the Buckinghamshire walks in the mist, I also love the sun!
Vitamin D isn’t just about bones – it’s essential for:
Immune support (low levels increase infection risk)
Muscle and cardiovascular function
Mood and energy regulation
Nearly half of people globally are insufficient in vitamin D, which is a crazy number! Even when the sun is out, factors like skin type, age, body fat and cloud cover affect how much we actually make.
So from next month, when the sun is out (yes, I have faith!) – make sure you go outside every day for some sun exposure on your arms and face. Have some vitamin D-rich foods in your diet, including oily fish, eggs, and whole milk.
If you don’t get much sun and your intake of these foods is low, it might be worth thinking about supplementing. We only store vitamin D in our blood for about 3 months, meaning that your blood levels mostly depend on what happened in the previous 8–12 weeks.
Make sure you don’t supplement more than 4,000 IU per day (the upper tolerable limit) without testing, as it can be harmful. The NHS recommends 400 IU (10 mcg) of vitamin D supplement every day between October and March. However, some people may need to take it for longer, especially if the summer isn’t as sunny as it should be.
Also, don’t assume you’re fully covered if you take a vitamin D supplement. We always need to look at the bigger picture: a healthy diet and lifestyle play a big role. We can’t think about one vitamin in isolation. For example, you also need enough magnesium, vitamin K2 and zinc to support vitamin D’s role in the body.
If you’re always craving the sun and are often low in vitamin D, you might have the vitamin D receptor gene (VDR) (like me!), which is not uncommon. You would then need to be even more conscious about your levels.
Don’t supplement blindly – do a simple blood test (25(OH)D) to understand where you’re at!