Our body needs sunlight to make vitamin D. The days are getting longer again. But long enough to fill the stores again? Some people should help out.
Vitamin D has a special position among nutrients: because our body can produce it itself through the UV-B radiation of the sun. Even though the days are slowly getting longer, the sun is still low and has little power. A reason to take vitamin D supplements?
Body produces vitamin D in stock
Let’s start at the beginning: Vitamin D is the general term for a group of fat-soluble vitamins. Our body needs them to build calcium and phosphate into our bones. If we lack vitamin D, the risk of osteoporosis increases, as reported by the Federal Center for Nutrition (BZfE). The bones then become porous and break more easily.
Practical for the winter: our body can store vitamin D in fat and muscle tissue as well as in the liver, according to the consumer advice center. So during the dark time of the year, the body falls back on what it had in summer. According to the consumer center, it is sufficient for most people to get through the winter without any deficiency symptoms.
Babies and the elderly are at risk for deficiency
But not at all. There are groups that are more likely to be vitamin D deficient than others – and therefore more likely to need supplements.
According to the BZfE, these are babies, for example. Because they should not be exposed to the sun unprotected. In addition, breast milk contains comparatively little vitamin D.
According to the BZfE, older people also tend to have a vitamin D deficiency. This is because the body produces less vitamin D as we age. And: Some older people need care or have limited mobility – and are therefore less likely to be out in the sun.
Discuss supplements with doctor
Whether you are in a risk group or not: What can you do if you fear a deficiency? The BZfE recommends having your vitamin D supply checked by a doctor with a blood test.
If you want to take a vitamin D supplement, you should better not follow the logic “a lot helps a lot”. Because the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) rates high-dose preparations of 50 or 100 micrograms as unnecessary. They can even be harmful: If you take such high-dose preparations daily over a long period of time, the calcium level can rise so much that the kidneys can be damaged.
Wouldn’t it also be possible to help with nutrition? That only partially works. According to the Federal Center for Nutrition, large amounts of vitamin D are only found in high-fat sea fish such as mackerel, salmon or herring.