12 January 2024 , 14:05
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A vitamin which can cost as little as 2p a day and boost almost every Brit through the colder months has been recommended by the NHS.
Vitamin D is needed to help keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy and is usually absorbed from sunlight, but in the darker months it can become lacking in the many people and cause issues such as muscle weakness and pain. It also helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body.
A NHS spokesman said: "A lack of vitamin D can lead to bone deformities such as rickets in children, and bone pain caused by a condition called osteomalacia in adults. Government advice is that everyone should consider taking a daily vitamin D supplement during the autumn and winter.
"People at high risk of not getting enough vitamin D, all children aged 1 to 4, and all babies (unless they're having more than 500ml of infant formula a day) should take a daily supplement throughout the year."
Sources of vitamin D:
From about late March to the end of September, most people should be able to make all the vitamin D they need from sunlight as the body creates vitamin D from direct sunlight on the skin when outdoors.
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But between October and early March we do not make enough vitamin D from sunlight.
Vitamin D is also found in a small number of foods:
- oily fish – such as salmon, sardines, herring and mackerel
- red meat
- liver
- egg yolks
- fortified foods – such as some fat spreads and breakfast cereals
In the UK, cows' milk is generally not a good source of vitamin D because it is not fortified, as it is in some other countries.
People at risk of vitamin D deficiency:
Some people will not make enough vitamin D from sunlight because they have very little or no sunshine exposure.
The Department of Health and Social Care recommends that adults and children over 4 take a daily supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D throughout the year if they:
- are not often outdoors – for example, if they're frail or housebound
- are in an institution like a care home
- usually wear clothes that cover up most of their skin when outdoors
If you have dark skin – for example you have an African, African-Caribbean or south Asian background – you may also not make enough vitamin D from sunlight.
Should I take a vitamin D supplement?
Advice for adults and children over 4 years old
During the autumn and winter, you need to get vitamin D from your diet because the sun is not strong enough for the body to make vitamin D.
But since it's difficult for people to get enough vitamin D from food alone, everyone (including pregnant and breastfeeding women) should consider taking a daily supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D during the autumn and winter.