Do you know about Vitamin D?

Ever felt constantly groggy and tired for no reason at all? Aches and pains, again for no reason? It might not just be 'life' guys, you might actually have a vitamin D deficiency. I wanted to write this post because it's actually worrying the amount of people that so through life with these symptoms and don't pop to the doctor for a simple blood test, thinking that they are normal symptoms of having a busy lifestyle. Personally, I was getting shin splints really easily and quite badly that made me pop to the doctors. I knew it wasn't normal that I couldn't even power walk to the train station after work. I was also REALLY tired, like unusually tired. I don't think I remember not feeling tired to be honest. When my blood test results came back and the doctor said I was massively deficient, it didn't surprise me.  

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The 'Sunshine' vitamin is actually a little difficult to produce, by a little, I mean bloody annoying in the UK, especially with the limited sunshine we actually get. Thanks rain, another one up on us all. With only 10% of your recommended daily amount can being found in food, it's practically impossible to get the amount we need. So, knowing that, a few fun facts for you! Up to 50% of the white population of the UK is likely to be deficient, 90% of the multi-ethnic population and a quarter of all children and there has been a 4x increase in a Rickets diagnosis in kids. RICKETS! I don't know about you but I was sure that had pretty much disappeared after the Victorian era. This was a disease that was associated with poor children in the slums of Victorian England. That's a little terrifying.
I wanted to write this post because it genuinely does scare me that so many people are getting diagnosed with this deficiency and we don't really know how to even get it. It's not something we're taught about or really even told about. Obviously, we can get it from being out in the sun for around 15 minutes a day but popping on sun cream will stop any vitamin D being absorbed so if you do burn easily, I would recommend a supplement. They are actually really easy to get hold on, and actually quite cheap. I use this Vitamin D supplement from Holland & Barrett which is £17.99 for 250 tablets so when you're only taking one a day, it comes to around 7p a tablet. Worth it if it stops you from getting diabetes, tuberculosis, rickets and broken bones, eh?
Do you know enough about Vitamin D?