Vitamin D – the sunshine factor?

It is the time of the year to relax and get some sun and sand as summer approaches! In Australia, exposure to sunlight is our prime source of vitamin D. When sunlight falls on our skin, a cascade of complex chemical reactions take place on our skin to form vitamin D3 and D2. These vitamins are then transported to the liver and kidney respectively to produce the active form of vitamin D.
Despite our plentiful sunshine, evidence suggests that large numbers of Australians are vitamin D insufficient. In 2007, van der Mei et al., showed in their study amongst Australian women that 40.5% in southeast Queesland, 37.4% in the Geelong region and 67.3% in Tasmania are vitamin D insufficient. This was a shocking revelation! It is estimated that 1 in 5 people in the general community are vitamin D deficient which is much worse than a state of insufficiency! This is because deficiency states lead to rickets (characterised by bow legs and knock knee) in children and osteoporosis and osteomalacia in adults. All these conditions lead to increased risk of bone fracture. Thus the big fallacy that Australians receive adequate vitamin D from casual exposure to sunlight has been dispelled.
In 2007, a study by Creighton University published that a significant supply of vitamin D can reduce the risk of certain cancers by more than 75%. Now, this should make us sit up and take note. Getting sufficient vitamin D can actually save our lives!
The current vitamin D recommendations for Australians are as follow:

Tags: Osteoporosis