Vitamin D is a vital nutrient which provides your body with an overall good health. The vitamin helps your body to absorb calcium which is one of the main building blocks for maintaining and developing strong bones. Your body needs this vitamin to allow your muscles to move and your nerves to receive/send messages to your brain and body. Your immune system uses the vitamin to fight off bacteria and viruses therefore helping your body to remain in a healthy state.

For individual’s to effectively raise and maintain enough vitamin D in their bodies, they need to be consuming it from the right food groups. Such as:

• Oily fish/ salmon
• Shrimp
• tuna
• Egg yolks
• Red meat
• Mushrooms

However, you are also able to receive the vitamin from the sunlight. Spending some time in the sun for an hour or so can allow your body to have its daily vitamin D. This is known as the sunshine vitamin. It’s one of the easiest vitamins to obtain.

When it comes to how much we should be consuming, it varies between the age groups. For instance, for children, adult’s and breastfeeding women, should be receiving 15mcg. Babies of up to 12 months should receive 10mcg. This recommended amount is needed to ensure our bones, teeth and muscles remain healthy, especially in children as their bones are still growing.

Not having enough of this vitamin can develop deformities such as rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. People who don’t receive it from sunlight or other food groups should be taking daily supplements throughout the year to maintain a good level of vitamin D in the body. We rely heavily on vitamin D supplements in the winter months as we have less sunlight during the day.

If we are consuming too much of this vitamin we could be doing more harm than good. For instance we could be harming our bones and organs. Eating foods with too much vitamin D or supplements for a long period of time could result in too much calcium to build up in the body. This therefore could weaken the bones and damage our kidneys as well as the heart.

In addition, if you are worried you are consuming too much/too little of this vitamin, it’s important you discuss this with your doctor. Speaking to a professional could educate you on how much vitamin D you need to stay strong and healthy.

Get in touch with Swinton Pharmacy near Manchester for more information on this vitamin service, their supplements and advice.