30 minutes of Midday sun can produce up to 20,000 units of vitamin D.

Low levels of Vitamin D is an Epidemic

This is no understatement, in fact in the Northern hemisphere it is probably justifiable to call it a pandemic. A person low in Vitamin D will feel symptoms

  • PAIN

  • Back pain and general aches in your muscles and joints

  • Fatigue and Tiredness

  • Low mood, Depression and Anxiety

You may have been diagnosed (sometimes incorrectly) with

  • Growing pains (Children)

  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

  • Fibromyalgia

  • Depression

  • OsteoArthritis

  • Non-Specific back pain

All of the above can be diagnoses mistakenly made when the correct diagnosis is vitamin D deficiency.Research studies show significant reductions in pain (up to 50%) when a correct dose of vitamin D is prescribed over 6 Months.

How low can you go?

Vitamin D is measured in nano mols per litre (mol/L)

  • <25 nmol/L = Severe Deficiency - You will definitely be in pain, tired and miserable.

  • 25 - 50 mol/L = Deficient - You can expect all of the above but perhaps in more subtle form.

It is probably worth mentioning at this point that a blood test result of 50 mol/L will be considered "Adequate" by your NHS healthcare practitioner. However at this level you will very likely still be suffering from the symptoms above. It is not uncommon to have a genetic defect that means you are excessively susceptible to the symptoms of low vitamin D and will need quite a bit more than 50 mol/L to be comfortable. "Adequate" is not Optimal.

  • 50 - 85 mol/L = Still Insufficient. Your ability to absorb calcium is related to your levels of vitamin D. At 85 mol/L your body will absorb 65% more Calcium than were you at 50 mol/L. That is a huge difference and may go some way to explain some peoples Osteopaenia/Osteoporosis.

  • >85 mol/L = Adequate. (Who wants to be Adequate?)

  • 100 - 200 mol/L is considered optimal based on measurements taken from people that work or live mostly outdoors in warm and sunny climates, lifeguards, farmers and indigenous African tribes.

Sunshine

To be meaningful in the production of vitamin D Sunshine has to be of the midday variety, that is to say it must make a shadow of your body only as tall or shorter than you are. If your shadow is longer than you the sun is not strong enough to stimulate vitamin D production in your skin.30 minutes of Midday sun can produce up to 20,000 iu (international units) of vitamin D. It is not advisable to burn or even get pink in the sun and not necessary for vitamin D production. As a guideline you should know your own personal burn time (the moment at which you begin to get pink) and spend approximately half that time in the Midday sun. You must not wear sunscreen during this time, only applying it after you have your vitamin D dose. You cannot produce vitamin D in the shade and you must expose at least 25% of your body to the sun's rays, face, arms and a good bit of leg please.This should give you a good dose of vitamin D.

But what about Winter?

From October to April the UK midday sun is definitely not going to give you the strength of sunshine you need so you must dose up on supplements, pills, liquid or lozenges. How much should you take?It is helpful to know your own vitamin D level to accurately dose yourself. https://www.vitamindtest.org.uk is where you can buy a simple finger prick blood test, here is a video showing you how.A dose of 5000 iu (125 mcg) would be a great maintenance dose for most people over winter but if you are overweight then due to the fat soluble nature of vitamin D you can tend to store your vitamin D in fat cells rather than have it available for use in the body. It's suggested that you should increase your dose by 1000 iu (25mcg) per stone of additional weight you carry.Here is my test result and how to use a handy chart to more accurately determine your appropriate dose.Here is the chart;It is very difficult to overdose on Vitamin D. Remember you make around 10-20,000 iu by spending half the time it takes to get pink in the midday sun. It is possible to cause yourself trouble by taking more than 40,000 iu daily for several weeks but why would you? Please don't!Do the test, check your optimum dose and enjoy improved health and comfort that comes with good vitamin D levels.

Should anyone NOT take vitamin D?

IF you have been diagnosed with Sarcoidosis it is NOT appropriate to take vitamin D.