By Sasha Moedt (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: November 30, 2011
Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin, and that in itself poses a problem. As students holed away during the final weeks of our semester, and as Canadians, we don’t see much sunshine, some questioning if it even exists. So how do we get our daily intake?
Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and phosphorous, which are essential for skeletal health, and are linked to preventing cancers, cardiovascular disease, and strengthening immunity in the body. It’s a necessary nutrient and a preventative for various bone structure complications, deterioration and weakening.
Health Canada lists that the daily recommended intake of vitamin D for the average adult is 600 IU (international units), assuming minimal sun exposure. To put that into perspective, there is about 154 IU in three ounces of canned tuna, 41 IU in an egg, while a tablespoon of cod liver oil will give you your daily amount. But the issue is, other than those, there isn’t a lot of food that naturally contains a substantial amount of vitamin D. As a result, most of the foods we get our vitamin D from is fortified with the vitamin. Milk, cereals, margarine, and orange juice, to name just a few food items commonly fortified with vitamin D. There is 100 IU of vitamin D in a 250 ml serving of fortified milk, while a tablespoon of fortified margarine has 60 IU.
Canadians generally meet some of their vitamin D needs through sunlight. But, evidently, recommending sunlight as a source is a dangerous thing. People are running to tanning beds for enough reasons. We’re told: “Banish your Seasonal Affect Disorder! Rid your self of unsightly pale skin! And now: get your daily dose of vitamin D!” I’d rather force cod liver oil down my throat.
According to the US National Institute of Health, Ultraviolet rays (UV rays) are what causes the chemical synthesis in our skin that creates vitamin D. Researchers have suggested that up to an hour of sun exposure a week is sufficient. This would be a hard thing to come by in our world of no sunshine, our BC winters, with the perpetual cloud cover that reduces UV rays by 50 per cent. Even if it is one of those cold but sunny days, UV rays don’t penetrate glass, so you would have to expose skin outside. But UV rays are unavoidable in the daylight, and will always be a source, however minimal. Keep in mind, though, that UV rays are the cause of most skin cancers in North America. We shouldn’t be making an effort to expose ourselves to UV rays unnaturally or carelessly.
Vitamin D should come from consistent food sources. The problem with relying on sunlight for vitamin D is that here in beautiful British Columbia, we can go months without seeing any – and in the summer, we are exposed to the opposite problem. During the winter months, vitamin D supplements are an alternative option if you’re not one to monitor your diet too closely, or if you are vegetarian.
Now, for the threatening part: Health Canada states that vitamin D deficiency will cause calcium and phosphorus blood levels to decrease. This causes problems with weakness in the bones because of the body’s effort to maintain stable blood levels by taking calcium out of the bones. This process can cause medical complications with the weakening and softening of bones and disorders such as osteoporosis and rickets.
On the other hand, Health Canada warns that too much vitamin D can cause too much calcium in blood levels. This leads to calcification (hardening due to calcium) of soft tissues including the heart, lungs, kidney and blood vessels.
Vitamin D is an essential nutrient for your body. If you don’t maintain vitamin D levels, things might start to fall apart… Like your bones – which are kind-of important. However, if you have a regular and consistent intake of vitamin D, feel free to stay hidden in the basement all year round.
