Whichever way you cut it, for the vast majority of folk, getting older means becoming less active and less mobile. The question is, does becoming less active mean more time indoors (less exposure to sunlight) leading to vitamin D deficiency, or does vitamin D deficiency precede and actually cause the older population's greater degree of difficulty in climbing stairs, getting out of a chair or into a car and so on?
This new research from The Netherlands wasn’t designed to figure out whether the chicken or the egg came first. However what the study did determine was the presence of vitamin D receptors on muscle cells, with binding to these receptors responsible for activating more than 300 genes! To say that the scare campaigns that have kept us out of the sun or protected by sun-blocks have been misguided would be a gross understatement.
So no matter what age or life stage, but particularly vital as you get older - get some sun on your body every day! At the risk of repeating myself
- Ensure it’s a clear day without pollution
- 10-15 minutes exposure between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm
- Expose 40 percent of your skin area
- If this isn’t possible, use oral supplements of D3 to achieve 40-60ng/ml (100-150nMols/L)
RULE OF THUMB: For every 100IU ingested, there is increase of 1ng/ml
ADULT MAINTENANCE DOSE: 2,000IU/day
And there are multiple benefits from ensuring adequate vitamin D status at the beginning of the life cycle too! See all my blogs during week starting Monday 15th
PREGNANCY DOSE: 4,000IU/day
BREASTFEEDING DOSE: 6,000IU/day
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