Vitamin D isn’t just a winter nutrient, playing a critical role in immune resilience during cold and flu season…

The ‘sunshine hormone’ is needed all year round.

Produced in your skin in response to sunlight exposure, vitamin D, while called a ‘vitamin’, acts more like a hormone, influencing over 200 processes in the body.

Most of us are spending more and more time inside, and the sun has become something we’re a little frightened of, getting a pretty bad wrap these days. Public health messages continue to promote sun-protection to prevent skin cancer.

While it is necessary to take sensible precautions to protect your skin, over-compensatory behaviour also poses a health risk from reduced vitamin D levels.

Modern lifestyles and sunscreen use have led to widespread deficiency in New Zealand and worldwide.

From a naturopathic perspective there’s a further problem in that ‘normal’ lab ranges do not represent ‘optimal’ ranges for immune health, vitality, and overall health and wellbeing.

At least a third of New Zealanders have deficient or insufficient levels of vitamin D.

Why do we need vitamin D? ☀️

Health benefits of vitamin D are wide and varied:

• Immune system resilience – supporting healthy immunity – boosting immune cell production, essential for fighting respiratory infections during the winter cold and flu season, and helping to regulate immune responses, potentially reducing the risk of auto-immune diseases.
• Strong bones and teeth – aids calcium absorption to keep bones and teeth strong – prevents osteoporosis, fracture, and a re-emerging disease called rickets involving weak bones and bowed legs.
• Muscle strength and endurance – benefits stable posture and mobility, helping to reduce the risk of falls in the elderly.
• Mental health and mood – supports cognitive performance, helps regulate serotonin and promote a sunny outlook to help manage low mood and anxiety.
• Energy boosting – supports the energy producing ‘mitochondria’ within our cells providing energy and vitality.
• Metabolic health – supports healthy blood pressure, healthy heart muscle, arteries, cardiovascular function, healthy blood sugar regulation and insulin sensitivity for healthy weight management.
• Great sleep – the sleep hormone melatonin requires adequate vitamin D for its production to support restful sleep.
• Gut health – helps support healthy gut microbiome composition, healthy intestinal barrier integrity (prevents ‘leaky gut’).
• Chronic disease prevention – key roles in reducing inflammation, protecting gut health, helping prevent heart disease, diabetes, and prevents abnormal cell changes which may increase the risk of some cancers.

Signs you may be deficient 🙁

• Constant fatigue or lack of energy
• Bone aches and pain
• Muscle weakness
• Frequent colds or flu
• Low mood or seasonal affective disorder (a type of depression typically occurring in autumn and winter caused by reduced sunlight)
• Hair loss.

How to get enough: A naturopathic approach

• Sensible sun exposure – the best natural source of vitamin D. Your body converts ultraviolet light from the sun into active vitamin D hormone via your skin, liver, and kidneys. Aim for 10 – 30 minutes of direct sunlight, exposing skin on arms/legs, without wearing sunscreen if you have fair to medium toned skin, while avoiding burning. If you have dark skin, up to 40 minutes in the sun will likely be needed as your skin has more protection against the sun’s effects. In winter, sun exposure will be most beneficial in the middle of the day, whereas in summer it will be safer to aim for sun exposure before 10am and after 4pm when the sun is not so harsh. Individuals vary greatly in their sensitivity to the sun. It is important to gain just enough sun not to burn. If getting burnt is a possibility, you’ll need to cover up with clothes or protect your skin with sunscreen.
• Dietary sources – can provide around 20% of our vitamin D needs, so are not considered enough on their own. Include foods such as fatty fish (salmon, tuna, sardines), cod liver oil, eggs, and mushrooms. (If you slice up your mushrooms and pop them in the sun for 15 – 60 minutes before pan-frying in a little olive oil or butter, you’ll maximise the amount of bioavailable vitamin D!)
• Supplementation – When sunlight exposure and dietary intake is low, supplemental sources of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol or calcifediol) can be used to help raise our vitamin D levels. As a fat-soluble vitamin, vitamin D is best taken with a meal, especially one containing healthy fats (such as olive oil, avocado, nuts etc), for optimal absorption. Dosage should be based on individual needs, informed by a blood test.

How do I know if I’m deficient? 🤔

Do you:

• Spend most of your time inside?
• Always use sunscreen before going outside?
• Wear covering or concealing clothing?
• Avoid the sun?
• Live far away from the equator or are in the winter season?
• Have naturally darker skin (people with darker skin have more melanin pigment – absorbs ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and protects against skin damage, but also reduces the UVR available for vitamin D synthesis)
• Do shift work?
• Have chronic health issues?

 If you answered yes to any of these questions, you have a higher likelihood of being deficient in vitamin D.

Testing is important

Don’t guess, test. The only way to know for certain that you are deficient in vitamin D is to have a blood test to determine your baseline vitamin D status. A naturopath can refer you for a 25 hydroxy vitamin D blood test.

Work with your naturopath to interpret your blood test result and figure out whether you need to supplement, and if so, which form of supplement is best for your individual needs, and how long to take it for.

Naturopaths will usually aim for higher levels (upper end of the normal reference range), than the conventional minimums.

Supplementing vitamin D can be dangerous when it’s not warranted or consumed in excessive amounts over a long period of time without professional supervision. Vitamin D can build up in the body creating toxicity which can lead to serious health issues.

Key takeaways

Vitamin D is essential for health and wellbeing, playing a vital role in immune function, bone strength and health, maintaining muscle strength, heart function, blood pressure regulation, blood glucose control, brain function, as well as prevention of depression, autoimmune conditions and cancer.

Our bodies make vitamin D by converting sunshine into active vitamin D hormone.

The amount of time you need to spend in the sun for your skin to make sufficient vitamin D will vary according to personal factors, but in general, between 10 and 40 minutes of daily sunshine is best. In summer, mid-morning or mid-afternoon sun exposure is recommended to support vitamin D levels, and in winter you can include some midday sun.

Between 80% and 100% of our vitamin D needs can be met through adequate, safe sun exposure, with dietary intake required only to meet any shortfall.

When sunlight exposure and dietary intake is low, supplemental sources can be used to help raise our vitamin D levels.

Always test, don’t guess. Supplementation should be initiated and monitored by a suitable healthcare professional to ensure safety and individualised dosing.

Your naturopath can refer you for a vitamin D test to determine whether supplementation is warranted, as well as provide advice on which form is best, the correct dosage for you, and how long you should take it for.

Naturopaths will aim to build and maintain optimal vitamin D status for immune resilience, musculoskeletal, metabolic and mental health, energy, vitality, and overall wellbeing – long-term outcomes that reach well beyond cold and flu season.

Care in the sun is sensible to protect our skin, but we do need to feel the sun on our skin for short periods each day to thrive. In fact, it is essential for our mental and physical health.

Next steps

If you’d like to check on your vitamin D levels and get further advice on the best, tailored approach for you to ensure optimal vitamin D status to support your health and wellness, I’d love to help!

Book an initial consultation with me today.