VITAMIN D

Vitamin D, the “sunshine vitamin,” is produced when the sun’s rays interact with our skin but in Canada we don’t get as much sun as we need to produce adequate vitamin D.

Your skin can make vitamin D when exposed to the sun but there are many factors that can impact how much vitamin D your skin can make:

• Time of year: In Canada, reduced daylight, and skin exposure to sun between October and March make it hard to make vitamin D.
• Skin exposed to the sun: Relying on sun exposure to get vitamin D is not considered reliable for Canadians as skin pigmentation as well as many environmental factors limit the amount of vitamin D you can make from the sun.
• Age: Our skin’s ability to produce vitamin D from the sun decreases as we age.

The best way of getting vitamin D is through both food and supplements.

*Never take more supplementation than is required or prescribed.

Vitamin D is fat-soluble.

Fat-soluble vitamins are stored in your body, when they are not being used, which means they stay in your body longer than water-soluble vitamins. If you get more vitamin D one day, and not enough the next, the extra vitamin D from the previous day will balance out.

Ingesting more vitamin D than you need through supplements can cause harm.