Vitamin D - This Will Suprise You

Vitamin D is without doubt one of the most poorly understood and widely deficient nutrients in the world.  In a report presented to the House of Commons in November 2005, authored by some of the greatest health experts in Europe, it was stated "Some 60% of people in the UK have serum levels of vitamin D that are insufficient and some 12% have levels that are actually deficient. This statement was based upon the following national data.

National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) data 1994-2004

14% of adult men and 11% of adult women are deficient in vitamin D (measured as blood levels of less than 25nmol/l).

Between the ages of 25-34, however, this rose to 16% of men and 28% of women who were deficient.

57% of adult men and 60% of adult women  have insufficient levels of vitamin D (measured as blood levls of less than 50nmol/l)

It has been known for some time, that diet alone can not satisfy our long term vitamin D requirements, and though 2-3 hours of weekly exposure to sunlight is the optimal way of topping up, it's hard to do when most of our daily life is indoors, behind glass or covered-up! Not to mention the joys of the British weather. In fact we've evolved lighter skins to attempt to cope with the poor sun exposure.

Even when we're on a beach holiday the use of suncream will block the UVB rays, so blocking our ability to produce vitamin D! Certainly a windy afternoon in Sheffield is hardly going to leave us replete in this vital nutrient.

So what exactly is all the fuss about? Well, you may be interested to know that it isn’t really a vitamin at all, but actually an activated form of a hormone. This discovery has led us to understand that vitamin D plays vital roles in functions that were previously believed to be unrelated.

I urge you read Oliver Gillie's research report →. It forms the basic of much of today's and tomorrows vitamin D medical initiatives. I promise you, once you start you wont stop until the end!