Vitamin D - the sunshine vitamin

22 Vitamin D – the sunshine vitamin

Isn’t it lovely to feel the warmer weather slowly encroaching upon us? Getting out of bed without your toes freezing is certainly a plus, and the thought of all the delicious summer fruits to come… yum! Leaving behind all the comfort foods of winter and embracing the delights that spring has to offer. I’m looking forward to being able to be outdoors more, enjoying the warm sunshine and getting my veggie garden planted for summer. While many of us are aware of the dangers of over-exposure to the sun, less well known is the fact that exposure to the sun is one of the primary ways our bodies obtain vitamin D. Our skin has the ability to produce vitamin D when exposed to UVB rays. Vitamin D is crucial to the health of our bones, as it helps our bodies absorb the calcium from our food that our bones need to maintain their strength. It’s also important for healthy muscle function.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many foods that contain vitamin D and those that do only have small amounts. Some of these include oily fish such as canned tuna and salmon, eggs, dairy and liver. Who remembers being given cod liver oil as a child? Severely low levels of vitamin D can cause rickets (a bone softening condition, causing bow legs and knock knees) in children, osteomalacia (soft but easily broken bones), osteoporosis and bone and muscle pain in adults. Rickets is very rare these days, as most of us get enough vitamin D to prevent it, but according to the NZ Nutrition surveys, about one third of the population has less than the recommended levels of vitamin D. So: we’re doing a great job of ‘slip, slop, slap’, but a little exposure to the sun each day, without sunscreen on, is important – 5 to 15 minutes may be all that you need. Unfortunately, sitting by a sunny window doesn’t do the job as glass stops UVB rays, so enjoy the outdoors before 10am and after 4pm this spring (Cancer Society recommendation) and top up your vitamin D levels.

You can find me on Facebook as Nutritionsense, for regular posts on health related topics and recipes. By Paula Southworth Nutritionist & Health Coach (BSc Human Nutrition and Sports Science)

www.nutritionsense.co.nz http://www.facebook.com/nutritionsense?ref=hl

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September school holiday programme Junior summer soccer Senior summer soccer Elite Academy training Coerver Academy (ages 5 to 12 years) Monday nights (starts mid-October) Friday nights (starts late-October) Term 4, 2015 Term 1, 2016

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