Mayo Clinic Minute: Do you need more vitamin D in the winter?
Vitamin D is a nutrient your body must maintain your bones healthy and robust. It additionally has properties that assist your immune system and neuromuscular health.
Dr. Jesse Bracamonte, a Mayo Clinic household medication doctor, says one in all the major methods your body will get vitamin D is thru direct daylight on the pores and skin. And throughout winter in the Northern Hemisphere, that may generally be a problem.
Journalists: Broadcast-quality video (1:01) is in the downloads at the finish of this put up. Please courtesy: “Mayo Clinic News Network.” Read the script.
Winter means the days are shorter and you spend more time indoors the place it is heat. But with an absence of solar publicity, are you getting sufficient vitamin D?
“It comes from the sun in the form of UV light in which your body uses that UV light to help to synthesize, or make, vitamin D,” says Dr. Bracamonte.
But, he says, the solar is not the solely supply of vitamin D.
“There are many foods that have vitamin D. Foods also are fortified with it, such as cereals, orange juices and milk have vitamin D. If you get enough from your sources, such as even eating fish such as tuna or salmon, that’s an adequate source,” says Dr. Bracamonte. “In cases where you don’t think you’re getting enough, a low-dose vitamin D supplement may be beneficial to help the bone health, help your musculoskeletal health and maybe stave off some additional diseases. Low-dose vitamin D is usually in the general multivitamin. That typically suffices.”
He says he recommends taking the complement in the morning with food. And if you’re involved that you’re not getting sufficient vitamin D, ask your clinician for a easy blood check to test your vitamin D ranges.