This isn’t an easy topic to write about nor is it an easy topic to find information about since it’s quite complex, however, we will share with you as much information as possibly can about this subject so that you no longer have any questions left un-answered by the end of this article.
What Is Vitamin D?
Found in some mushrooms. D3 is the more powerful of the two types and raises vitamin D levels almost twice as much as D2 Almost every cell in your body has a receptor for vitamin D. It’s essential to many processes, including bone health, immune system function, and can help protect against cancer
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D helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body. 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.
Information: There have been some reports about vitamin D reducing the risk of coronavirus (COVID-19). But there is currently not enough evidence to support taking vitamin D solely to prevent or treat COVID-19.
Can You Get Enough Vitamin D From The Sun Alone?
Some people will be able to get enough vitamin D just from sunlight.
In the Northern Hemisphere, a person may not get sufficient vitamin D from sunlight during the winter. In the summer, a person does not need to be out in the sun for very long during this period to make enough vitamin D. The amount of melanin a person’s skin contains affects how much vitamin D they can make. People with more melanin in their skin have better protection from the sun, but take longer to make vitamin D. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that Mexican-Americans and non-Hispanic black people are more likely to have vitamin D deficiency.
These varied factors make it difficult to recommend how much sunlight a person should get to make the vitamin D that their body needs. The Vitamin D Council gives some examples: At noon during summer in Miami, someone with a medium skin tone would need to expose one-quarter of their skin to sunlight for 6 minutes. At noon during summer in Boston, someone with a darker skin tone would need to expose one-quarter of their skin to sunlight for 2 hours.
Some people may not absorb enough vitamin D from sunlight because of specific lifestyle factors. The body can only make a certain amount of vitamin D at once.
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