Vitamin D Supplement or not?

Vitamin D is available in very small amounts from dietary sources such as oily fish, fish oils, and egg yolk. Our bodies make this important "vitamin" in our skin, using sunlight.

The amount of UVB radiation required to meet the body's requirement depends on your skin colour. Fair skinned people need only one tenth of that required by people with darker skins.

For many years we have been told that if we take a good and varied diet, we should not need to take supplements. Now, new research shows how much we need this vital hormone.

Use of sunscreens, and traditional and religious traditions which encourage women to wear all-covering clothing reduces sun exposure and the body's ability to create this.

Regardless of skin colour and other factors it is impossible for anyone living within the UK to achieve sufficient sun exposure, in fact, from October to March, anyone living beyond 52 degrees north, must draw on reserves or take a supplement to avoid a deficiency.

The impact of this deficit is already being demonstrated in hospitals and Doctors surgeries, with the return of Rickets and other deficiency diseases which were considered the long-gone problems of the Victorian era.

Supplementation is now recommended by the Department of Health for all children aged 6 months to 5 years. Early studies show that with a Vitamin D supplement, the incidence of Rickets is reduced and so is the incidence of seasonal influenza.

Vitamin D influences almost every tissue in the body and does far more than simply maintain a healthy skeleton. There is increasing evidence that milder degrees of Vitamin D deficiency may predispose to a range of longer term problems such as diabetes, lung disease and, even some cancers.

There is still a lot of research ongoing. So far, the argument on favour of supplementing the diet, particularly of children, with Vitamin D is overwhelmingly in favour.

Towards the end of 2012 Health Professionals are expecting a further update on this important topic.