Health & Family Lockdowns: Don’t forget Vitamin D

Given the current lockdowns and all the time being spent indoors, it’s probably more important than ever to take the sunshine vitamin.

- 36% Australians become deficient in Vitamin D during winter months
- Vitamin deficiency is more prevalent in South Eastern states - almost every second person is deficient in ACT, VIC, Tasmania and Victoria. Surprisingly it’s relatively uncommon in QLD.
- Vitamin D levels drop significantly lower towards the later half of winter and I am sure Covid lockdowns are making things even worse.

I took a booster dose this afternoon and can already feel the difference. Highly recommended to get your levels tested if you are feeling a bit down as supplementation is cheap and easy!

 

Good point. I was taking it before covid and stopped. Strange. I am buying some now.

 

I take the opportunity to lay on the sun lounge, in the back yard.

 

There is no better source of vitamin D than lounging in the sun but you need up to 2 hours per day (with most body exposed specially legs and arms) and any sunscreen would dramatically reduce how much vitamin D your body can absorb.

I once tested vitamin D deficient in the middle of summer when I was spending entire Saturday in the sun (umpiring my kids cricket games in the morning) and playing my own games in the afternoon.

I am not suggesting supplements are the only way but they surely are a convenient way to boost levels - obviously check levels first and consult your GP on how much you need to supplement.

 

Great post and something that unfortunately doesn't get talked about much.
There is a lot of studies proving Vitamin D can prevent a lot of respiratory illnesses including COVID.
Doctor Seheult below was talking about it since March last year. Long presentation but very much worth going through it:

 

Important to note that some ethnicities will not be able to increase their vitamin d levels through the sun. That is, anyone with dark skin. The melanin in their skin doesn’t allow for absorption and so this group of people should take supplements.

 

Brisbane interestingly has very little vitamin D deficiency compared to every other Australian state. I would think just living in Brisbane should give anyone a fairly good chance (85%) of having adequate Vitamin D levels. There are different theories on how much exposure in the sun is actually required and sunscreen manufacturers have also spread a lot of misinformation to the point of making this whole debate a bit controversial.

Think about this - human ancestors from every culture spent a lot of time out in the sun with no sunscreen or supplements.

 

I lived in Brisbane half my life but after 10 years living in Perth I had a vit D deficiency for a couple of years and I couldn’t shift it with supplements and purposely going outdoors for ten minutes a day. I moved to Brisbane for 2 years and I was cured! Been back in Perth 8 years now and still no issues.

 

I wasn’t purposely going in the sun while I was in Brisbane but also got a melanoma and BCC diagnosis/removal also last time I lived there, so be careful in the sun!

 

I was under the belief that those with coloured skins could still get sunburn.

 

Takes a lot longer, much more sun exposure is required to get to the stage of burning. Same with Asian skin. And this is kinda strange. Asian skin is pale, but less susceptible to sunburn. I don't know how that works. I guess there's been long term evolution that's happened over centuries and provided this benefit, with most of Asia being near the equator. I'll take it

 

There are a lot of factors affecting vitamin D absorption through skin. Obviously skin color is the biggest one and people with lighter skin will absorb more vitamin D than those with pale/darker skin. People with dry skin or older people will absorb way less vitamin D regardless of their ethnicity. There are also issues around general climate/weather/humidity levels which have a massive impact on Vitamin D absorption.

In Sydney weather, I don’t sweat at all even while running for some odd reason. During my various school holiday trips to Brisbane, I notice my skin improves even within a week due to all the detoxification through sweat which also results in better vitamin D absorption.

Other risk factors for low vitamin absorption are obesity, NAFLD and high cholesterol as vitamin D binds with fat cells being a fat soluble vitamin and gets stuck in fat cells rather than being available to the body.

 

I believe skin color is just one of the factors. Sydney has almost 50% people deficient in Vitamin D in winters and there is definitely a bigger Caucasian population in Sydney.

Having adequate vitamin D levels (50nmol) is still way lower than ‘good vitamin D’ levels (150nmol) and the most I ever had was 88nmol. Just being a particular skin color and having some sun exposure wouldn’t guarantee anyone an A on their vitamin D levels.

I believe supplementation and regular testing should be a must for everyone as trying to get all vitamin D from sun exposure has its own risks.

 

Climate change will impact positively on vitamin D levels. As the globe heats up companies with vitamin D products will find growth difficult.

But Australia is poised to really super charge the vitamin D levels of its population. 1.5 degrees, globally, means large land masses will warm even more than that.

I feel positive about the Vitamin D outlook.

 

Too much sun = skin cancer, not enough sun = Vitamin D deficiency...just can't win can you?

 

Have donned the swimmers and currently slobbing on a camping mattress under the clothesline (keeps the sun off the phone)

Certainly not a pretty sight, but hoping the VitD tan also conceals the old hag varicose veins in time for summer