Ninety percent of the United Kingdom are deficient in Vitamin D according to The National Diet and Nutrition Survey.

Many of us know that Vitamin D deficiency is associated with Ricketts and SAD syndrome but did you also know that it is associated with an increase risk of death from common cancers, heart disease, high blood pressure, autoimmune disease, depression, and infectious disease?  A couple of studies that caught my eye included one which showed that post-menopausal women taking vitamin D over 4 years experienced a 60% reduction in the risk of all cancers while another one showed that women taking vitamin D had over 40% reduction in the risk of multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

So, what is the cause of this deficiency?

Most of us are deficient simply because we are not getting enough sunshine on our skin.  Firstly, we are spending far more time than ever inside and secondly, we are plastering ourselves in sun-cream for fear of skin cancer.

Certain groups of people are at higher risk than others.  These include those who are older, overweight, eating a poor diet, pregnant and bearing children, darker skin pigmentation, suffering from an inflammatory bowel disease and using medication which interferes with vitamin D metabolism.

You might ask but what about food sources?  In order to avoid deficiency we would need to eat between 200-800g salmon daily (which is one of the best sources of vitamin D) but is this really feasible on a daily basis.

How can you prevent a deficiency?

Book in for a consultation and we can discuss your individual needs.