Take in the Sun to Get Your Vitamin D
Apparently in England, once the winter comes to an end half the population is low in vitamin D. The reason for this? Too little sunshine. Vitamin D occurs in very little natural substances apart from sunshine. True, some foods such as oily fish, eggs, liver and meat fat are natural sources of the vitamin. But, apart from mainly those foods the other key source - sunshine - is one some of us don’t get enough of, though not necessarily by choice. For people, say, living in Spain it isn’t such a problem. They have far more sunshine in that part of Europe, along with Portugal and southern France, than other countries such as the UK, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe. But, keep youself covered up, or stay out of the sun completely, and you could be suffering from vitamin D deficiency. The chances are it is virtually impossible to get enough vitamin D in your diet even if you eat plenty of oily fish and fortified foods. Now, that does not mean we all have to hop on a plane and travel to Spain to soak up the sun. It just means that for most of us we can take the opportunity to take in a little sun when we can, as the amount needed to make enough vitamin D is a lot less than the high amounts that cause tanning or sunburn. Striking the balance between getting enough sun to take in vitamin D and not going overboard and getting sunburn is essential. No one wants to get skin cancer, and the suggestions are to avoid sunburn by staying in the shade during the hottest part of the day (11am-3pm), and to use protective clothing and sunscreen lotions.