Many of my personal contacts on my FB personal profile would have read my personal note about my health problems recently. Besides finally getting an answer to all my health woes, I am becoming even more convinced that many people should be more concerned about the rise of diseases from the lack of Vitamin D.
Today, BBC Breakfast News highlighted the fact that rickets cases in the UK have increased 5 fold in the the last 15 years. Rickets was almost eradicated in the modern world and yet it’s making a comeback. The main cause of rickets is the lack of Vitamin D. And many of my health woes were also due to the severe lack of Vitamin D.
Why is it that the level of Vitamin D is decreasing today? Let’s see a few of the major reasons:
- Since most of Vitamin D is absorbed through the skin from real sunshine, the scare of skin cancer have made many people wear too much sunscreen (even in places that get less sunshine like Northern Europe).
- People are also spending more and more time indoors due to modern technology (working on computers, less farming). Children are spending more time studying indoors and less time playing outdoors. Even in school, Physical Education (P.E) time has been slashed to accommodate other subjects.
- Even women in sunny Asia are found to be lacking in Vitamin D as the belief that ‘white skin’ is more beautiful than being lightly tanned and more women are covering up due to religious and cultural beliefs.
The UK is finally making recommendations that children up to the age of 3 receive extra doses of Vitamin D everyday. I think that is not enough. In France, where I’m living right now, children receive extra Vitamin D up to the age of 12 as their bones are at the most active growth process till that age and that ensures the optimum process. My lack of Vit. D only became highlighted when the doctor wanted to check my level due to the fact that I’m newly pregnant. Again, in the UK, no checks were done on me while I was pregnant nor any advice given to me to take extra doses while I was expecting. And since breastfeeding is being promoted, I was also not told to take extra even though I was fully breastfeeding till my daughter was 2 years old.
The medical establishment in France has long given extra Vitamin D to not just babies and children, but also to pregnant and lactating mums and older people. And it’s now in the UK they are looking to propose the same. I wonder what the recommendations are like in other EU countries.
Do you know the kind of diseases that are exacerbated by the lack of Vitamin D? Or really what Vitamin D can help reduce or prevent?
- Heart diseases
- Depression
- Osteoporosis and other bone diseases
- Diabetes
- Multiple Sclerosis
- a few types of Cancer
The few months I was based back in Singapore in summer 2010 was the healthiest my family have felt in a long time. It made my husband’s skin problem literally disappear, I lost post baby weight pretty fast and my children had such healthy glows. I’m pretty sure it was due to the fact that we spend a lot of the day outdoors being active and getting that essential 20,000 i.u of that precious free Vitamin D from the sun.
So if you’re feeling a little lethargic and have been plagued by flu or some other illnesses, maybe it’s time to get that blood tested? It’s a small price to pay (if you have no insurance to cover the lab costs) for a peace of mind and avoid a whole hosts of expensive diseases like diabetes or heart problems in the future.
Here’s the link to the news article-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8570542.stm
