From recurring colds to constant fatigue – symptoms of vitamin D deficiency are those common, pesky niggles most of us live with every single day.  But a straightforward test and complement could help

It’s often called the sunshine vitamin because unlike other nutrients, vitamin D just isn’t provided by food but made when our skin is exposed to the sun.

But, even with the summer we’re had, Brits are dangerously deficient in this important vitamin. The truth is, it’s estimated that a staggering one in five adults and one in six children should not have adequate levels of vitamin D.

Children now not play outside like they used to and so lots of us work inside, so we’re seeing a rising problem of vitamin D deficiency

‘Not only have we got the British weather to take care of but we’re living an increasingly indoor life,’ says nutritionist Kim Pearson.

‘Children now not play outside like they used to, choosing iPads and games indoors and so lots of us work inside all day, so we’re seeing a rising problem of vitamin D deficiency.’

Those in danger, she explains, include anyone with darker skin types, because the darker your skin, the harder you will see it to synthesise vitamin D. Others in danger include pregnant and breastfeeding women and those that cover their skin for religious purposes.

‘I frequently test my client’s vitamin D levels and of the last 20 clients that I even have tested, six were deficient, six had suboptimal levels and just eight had optimal levels. Those with optimal levels were normally either supplementing, or spent a major period of time abroad in sunnier places’.

It is a serious public health issue as a scarcity of vitamin D long-term has been found to extend risk of cardiovascular diseases and even cancer.  On a more on a regular basis level, most of the symptoms that confound doctors could possibly be signs of vitamin D deficiency.

Listed below are the important thing signs and symptoms…

#1 You get frequent infections

Vitamin D is significant to the health of the immune system. ‘Without sufficient amounts, our immune cells are unable to react appropriately leaving us more prone to infection,’ says Pearson.

‘Vitamin D is important to the function of two essential parts of the immune system, adaptive and innate immunity.’

Adaptive immunity is that which remembers viruses you may have had – for instance, chicken pox – and ensures you don’t get them again. Your innate immune system is present in places like inside your nose and is there to protect against on a regular basis infections. Each are essential and each need adequate levels of vitamin D to operate, says Pearson.

When you feel such as you’re all the time catching any infection going and/or it takes you longer than most to shake it, get tested.

Now, scientists are studying the role played by vitamin D deficiency in an increased risk of cancer, particularly colorectal, breast, pancreatic and prostate cancers.

#2 You get depressed

‘Vitamin D is known to play a key role in maintaining healthy levels of serotonin within the brain,’ says Pearson.

‘These are neurotransmitters within the brain which are essential to mood and deficiencies have been related to depression.’

In 2014, researched published within the journal Medical Hypotheses checked out 100 scientific papers on vitamin D and located a particular link between vitamin D deficiency and Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD which happens when people experience low mood in the course of the winter months, due to a scarcity of sunshine and sunshine.

‘Vitamin D levels fluctuate within the body seasonally, in direct relation to seasonally available sunlight,’ said research Alan Stewart of the University of Georgia College of Education.

‘For instance, studies show there may be a lag of about eight weeks between the height in intensity of ultraviolet radiation and the onset of SAD, and this correlates with the time it takes for UV radiation to be processed by the body into vitamin D’.

#3 You’re literally ALWAYS drained

‘Vitamin D is important for converting food into energy,’ says Pearson. ‘When you’re all the time drained, a scarcity of this vitamin could mean you’re not assimilating nutrients out of your food and your body’s cellular ability to make energy from what you eat is compromised due to a scarcity of vitamin D’.

This vitamin she explains, is important to the functioning  and the efficiency of mitochondria (referred to as cell batteries) inside the muscles.

The excellent news is, this might be quickly remedied by supplementation. A double-blind placebo controlled randomized clinical trial published last 12 months within the journal Medicine found that vitamin D supplementation significantly improved fatigue levels.

#4 You will have joint pains or weak bones

Vitamin D is important to assist regulate calcium and phosphate levels within the body, giving it a key role within the functioning of joints, muscles and teeth and adequate levels help ward off osteomalacia (soft bones) and osteoporosis (lack of bone density) in later life.

‘While you’re running low on vitamin D, your bones can weaken increasing your risk of stress fractures,’ says Pearson.

‘This is expounded to vitamin D’s essential role in regulating calcium uptake. People often take into consideration calcium for bones, but they’re rarely aware that vitamin D is important to calcium’s absorption.’

One study in 2014 predicted that adults with a vitamin D deficiency who’re older than 50 usually tend to develop pain of their hip and knee joints and in addition noted that the pain is more more likely to worsen if the deficiency isn’t treated with supplementation.

#5 Your muscles hurt

Vitamin D supports muscle function because receptors for it are positioned all around the body, including within the muscles.  ‘Having a lot of general muscle aches is usually the primary tell tale sign of a deficiency’, says Pearson.

Vitamin D enters muscle cells when it’s metabolized, enhancing muscle contractions, which is significant for stopping falls and for constructing muscle strength and bones through exercise.

The truth is, researchers have found links between chronic pain that doesn’t reply to treatment and vitamin D deficiency and supplementation has been shown to assist.

Are you getting enough Vitamin D?

Having optimal vitamin D levels relies on your skin’s ability to supply enough once you’re exposed to the sun.

Those with darker skins naturally produce less vitamin D, because the melanin of their skin naturally provides more protection against UV rays.

This implies those with lighter skins must spend more time within the sun than those with lighter skins to get adequate amounts. Others vulnerable to deficiency include:

• Elderly people who find themselves housebound and in care homes
• Office staff who spend most of their days inside
• Individuals who cover up for religious purposes
• Individuals who work night shifts and sleep in the course of the day
• Anyone whose lifestyle prevents them from getting outside frequently

One study showed that nurses who had worked night shifts for over 20 years had the next incidence of wrist and hip fractures over an 8-year follow up period.

The overwhelming evidence prompted the researchers to link the nurses’ lack of sun exposure and due to this fact vitamin D levels with a discount in bone and muscle strength.

Getting tested

Your GP can test your vitamin D levels.

But when that’s an excessive amount of hassle, a straightforward at-home test can even do the trick. Reputable vitamin company BetterYou distributes a Vitamin D at home test kit on behalf of the NHS which might enable you determine your vitamin D levels and supply advice on how best to optimise your levels, based in your results.

In addition they offer a complimentary vitamin D every day oral spray product to everyone who uses the house test kit. Buy the BetterYou Vitamin D Testing Service £34.95 from the BetterYou website.

The way to increase your vitamin D levels

Most individuals could make enough vitamin D from being out within the sun every day for brief periods of about 20 minutes at a time with their forearms, hands or lower legs uncovered and without sunscreen from late March or early April to the tip of September, especially from 11am to 3pm, says Pearson.

Individuals with dark skin, akin to those of African, African-Caribbean or south Asian origin, might want to spend longer within the sun to supply the identical amount of vitamin D as someone with lighter skin.

Some foods are wealthy in vitamin D – though they won’t provide anywhere near what you get from sunlight –   and these include fatty fish akin to salmon, mackerel and tuna in addition to egg yolks, cheese, liver and foods fortified with vitamin D akin to some cereals, dairy products, soy milks and cereals.

What about supplements?

BetterYou DLux3000 oral vitamin D spray is a high dose vitamin D complement which is efficiently absorbed through the inner cheek and doesn’t need food or water to take. (Also available to buy on Amazon within the US).

A study published in The Dietary Journal showed that vitamin absorption via an oral spray was 2.5 times simpler than vitamin capsules.

Furthermore, in 2012 researchers at Cardiff University, when testing BetterYou’s DLux vitamin D oral sprays, found that absorption inside the inner cheek was far superior to the more traditional digestive route of tablets and capsules.