Vitamin D is essential for the human body and helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body, which is needed to keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy.
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.
Vitamin D is also necessary for the proper functioning of your immune system.
Our body creates vitamin D from direct sunlight on our skin when we're outdoors. According to the NHS from about late March/early April to the end of September, most people should be able to get all the vitamin D we need from sunlight.
With the current circumstances and people not going out, it’s really important you get your quota of sunlight by sitting/playing outside when you can.
Vitamin D is also found in a small number of foods, so do make sure you’re getting your fix!
Sources include:
- Oily fish -such as salmon, sardines, herring and mackerel.
- Red meat
- Liver
- Egg yolks
- Fortified foods - such as most fat spreads and some breakfast cereals or
- Dietary supplement.