Vitamin D Deficiency

.j.e.j

Mojisola wrote: »

You'd better tell the DoH that their advice is wrong.

LOL yes, maybe

Feral_Moon wrote: »

Only for those who recognise they're deficient and request appropriate blood tests. Many people are unaware they're deficient.

That's like advocating that everyone takes iron tablets in case they're deficient and just don't recognise it/haven't had the test done. Taking supplements is generally not a good idea unless there's a medical need for them. (iron during pregnancy, for example, if the woman tests as deficient)

Taking ANY supplements should not be necessary in a normal healthy person with a balanced diet.

GwylimT

.j.e.j wrote: »

LOL yes, maybe



That's like advocating that everyone takes iron tablets in case they're deficient and just don't recognise it/haven't had the test done. Taking supplements is generally not a good idea unless there's a medical need for them. (iron during pregnancy, for example, if the woman tests as deficient)

Taking ANY supplements should not be necessary in a normal healthy person with a balanced diet.

Taking vitamin D in the UK is perfectly reasonable, foods containing vit D contain small amounts, if you work outdoors all year due to our positioning you aren't exposed enough to make adequate amounts of vit D.

GwylimT

.j.e.j wrote: »

You don't need to - the liver stores it over the winter months, providing you get some sun during the summer. Also, many foods are fortified with vitamin D, and some contain it naturally, - mainly fish and dairy.

Not UK suitable advice I'm afraid, unless we had 12 hours of sunshine every day from March to late September and all walked around outdoors for those hours either exposing all of our arms or legs with zero suncream, we aren't going to get enough vitamin D.

From a kid who grew up on a farm and worked virtually everyday of the year outdoors in shorts and a t-shirt for four years after finishing school and ate plenty of fish, with a vitamin D deficiency caused by the light levels where I lived.

I have kidney disease, I would need to take around 50 800 tablets per day to cause a minor health problem.

.j.e.j

GwylimT wrote: »

Not UK suitable advice I'm afraid, unless we had 12 hours of sunshine every day from March to late September and all walked around outdoors for those hours either exposing all of our arms or legs with zero suncream, we aren't going to get enough vitamin D.

From a kid who grew up on a farm and worked virtually everyday of the year outdoors in shorts and a t-shirt for four years after finishing school and ate plenty of fish, with a vitamin D deficiency caused by the light levels where I lived.

I have kidney disease, I would need to take around 50 800 tablets per day to cause a minor health problem.

You have been diagnosed with a deficiency, which is a whole different kettle of fish.

Obviously the amount of calcium you're absorbing is going to be different if you're deficient in vitamin D due to other health issues.

:wall:

.j.e.j

GwylimT wrote: »

Taking vitamin D in the UK is perfectly reasonable, foods containing vit D contain small amounts, if you work outdoors all year due to our positioning you aren't exposed enough to make adequate amounts of vit D.

That is the current 'fashionable' advice but it is actually incorrect.

Rickets is pretty much a disease of the past, now.

coffeehound

.j.e.j wrote: »

That is the current 'fashionable' advice but it is actually incorrect.

So fashionable that even the NHS is getting in on the action!

Because vitamin D is found only in a small number of foods, it might be difficult to get enough from foods that naturally contain vitamin D and/or fortified foods alone. So everyone, including pregnant and breastfeeding women, should consider taking a daily supplement containing 10mcg of vitamin D.
Between late March/April to the end of September, the majority of people aged five years and above will probably obtain sufficient vitamin D from sunlight when they are outdoors. So you might choose not to take a vitamin D supplement during these months.
However, some groups of people will not get enough vitamin D from sunlight because they have very little or no sunshine exposure. So the Department of Health recommends that people should take a daily supplement containing 10mcg of vitamin D throughout the year if they:
are not often outdoors, such as those who are frail or housebound
are in an institution such as a care home
usually wear clothes that cover up most of their skin when outdoors
People from minority ethnic groups with dark skin, such as those of African, African-Caribbean or South Asian origin, might not get enough vitamin D from sunlight – so they should consider taking a daily supplement containing 10mcg of vitamin D throughout the year.

.j.e.j

coffeehound wrote: »

So fashionable that even the NHS is getting in on the action!

Yet not to the extent that they're willing to actually test us for possible deficiency? :think:

Hmmm

Mojisola

.j.e.j wrote: »

That is the current 'fashionable' advice but it is actually incorrect.

Rickets is pretty much a disease of the past, now.

There's a big range between being so deficient that you develop rickets and having optimal levels for the best health outcomes.

Unless you can move the UK to sunnier climes and get people to strip off and sunbathe without using sunscreen, most of the population need to supplement with vit D.

GwylimT

.j.e.j wrote: »

You have been diagnosed with a deficiency, which is a whole different kettle of fish.

Obviously the amount of calcium you're absorbing is going to be different if you're deficient in vitamin D due to other health issues.

:wall:

My calcium absorption doesn't change at all, I'm also not deficient due to any health issue, I'm deficient because of where I live. It also isn't fashionable advice, unless solar influences have changed dramatically.

.j.e.j

Mojisola wrote: »

There's a big range between being so deficient that you develop rickets and having optimal levels for the best health outcomes.

Unless you can move the UK to sunnier climes and get people to strip off and sunbathe without using sunscreen, most of the population need to supplement with vit D.

If there was an actual need (as in, a genuine danger of deficiency of vitamin D) for all healthy people to take Vit D supplements, they would be adding it to people's foods or prescribing it free of charge

Vitamin B gets added to ALL flour here in the UK, for example.

In short: 'official' advice seems to be lacking at best, and is basically incorrect.