Vitamin D Deficiency

The Sunshine Tonic “What vitamin deficiency affects over half of the population, is almost never diagnosed, and has been linked to depression, dementia, many cancers, autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and fibromyalgia, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, chronic muscle pain, and bone loss? What vitamin is almost totally absent from our food supply? What vitamin do we need up to twenty-five times more of than the government recommends for us to be healthy? What vitamin is the hidden cause of so much suffering that is so easy to treat? If you guessed vitamin D, you are correct”. Dr. Mark Hyman. It is that time of the year, when for several months most of us have spent the great majority of our time in doors, and when we have gone out, there is precious little sun, and if there is any it is too cold to expose more than a few square centimetres of our faces to it. February is a time when traditionally the food stored up for surviving the winter, would be getting low and possibly rotten, so in our time of great abundance we must not bemoan our lot. However, with all the advantages and wonders of our age there are bound to be a few unforeseen down sides, and perhaps our indoor life style and reduced passion for fatty fish has lead to part of the present problem we seem to be facing with Vitamin D. Most of us know that we need to get out in the sun once in a while, and many of us love to do so. Part of that health benefit is the ability of the sun on our skin to be turned into this unusual vitamin, vitamin D. 20-30 minutes of direct sunshine a day, five days a week, is necessary to maintain healthy levels of vitamin D. Any sun cream over factor eight blocks the ultra violet light the body needs to create vitamin D. But increasingly the more that is known about this unusual vitamin the more it seems that many of us may be getting rather less than our optimum amount. Try this little quiz to see how you may be doing. Answer some of these options if you are affected:

• I have a family history of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or the winter blues.
• I have experienced a loss of mental sharpness or memory.
• I have sore or weak muscles.
• I have tender bones (press on your shin bone to see if it hurts,).
• I work indoors.
• I avoid the sun.
• I wear sunblock most of the time.
• I don’t eat small, fatty fish such as mackerel, herring, or sardines (the main source of dietary vitamin D).
• I have a family history of osteoporosis.
• I have broken more than 2 bones or had a hip fracture.
• I have a family history of autoimmune disease (such as multiple sclerosis).
• I have frequent infections.
• I have a family history of prostate cancer.
• I have dark skin (any race other than Caucasian)
• I am 60 years old or older.

According to Dr. Mark Hyman (click here for more…). Chairman of the Institute for Functional Medicine, author of the excellent ‘Ultra-Mind Solution’ (I will be reviewing this book in a future month) If you scored 9 and above you many have a severely low level of vitamin D. Earlier last month, the chief medical officer for England, Dame Sally Davies, wrote to health professionals advising them to consider vitamin D supplementation for certain at risk groups, including pregnant mothers. “We know a significant proportion of people in the UK probably have inadequate levels of vitamin D in their blood. People at risk of vitamin D deficiency, including pregnant women and children under five, are already advised to take daily supplements. Our experts are clear – low levels of vitamin D can increase the risk of poor bone health, including rickets in young children,” she explained. “Many health professionals… give advice on supplements and it is crucial they continue to offer this advice as part of routine consultations and ensure disadvantaged families have access to free vitamin supplements through our Healthy Start scheme. “It is important to raise awareness of this issue, and I will be contacting health professionals on the need to prescribe and recommend vitamin D supplements to at risk groups. “The Department of Health has also asked the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition to review the important issue of current dietary recommendations on vitamin D.” Vitamin D is a generic term of cholesterol-like fat soluble substances called secosteroids, unlike other vitamins, it really also acts like a hormone. Many children who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or who were thought to have been abused by their parents have subsequently been shown to have been suffering from congenital vitamin D deficiency leading to weak bones and even Rickets. ( see BBC article) is particularly important to realize for those with more pigment in their skin may be at added risk, as this is likely to make it even harder to get sufficient vitamin D from our low sun levels at this latitutude. However, even then it is not that simple. Hazel Nunn, of Cancer Research UK, Osteopathy OxfordImprove Your MindFighting Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)