Millions of Brits 'should take vitamin D tablets'

Millions of Brits need to take more vitamin D because they are spending too much time inside, according to the Government.

People need 10 micrograms of vitamin D a day to maintain a healthy lifestyle and according to new advice, this has become difficult for people to achieve due to a lack of sunlight exposure.

The main source of vitamin D for most people is made in the skin by the action of sunlight and is used to regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body.

A lack of vitamin D can lead to bone and muscle diseases such as rickets.

Dr Louis Levy, Head of Nutrition Science at Public Health England (PHE), said: “A healthy, balanced diet and short bursts of sunshine will mean most people get all the vitamin D they need in spring and summer.

“However, everyone will need to consider taking a supplement in the autumn and winter if you don’t eat enough foods that naturally contain vitamin D or are fortified with it.”

“And those who don’t get out in the sun or always cover their skin when they do, should take a vitamin D supplement throughout the year.”

PHE has advised Brits to take supplements

Rickets was virtually eradicated in the 1950s but cases have more than doubled in the last decade, with 450 children admitted to hospital with the disease each year.

PHE data shows that nearly a quarter of adults in the UK have low levels of vitamin D in their blood

Ethnic minority groups with dark skin have been advised to take vitamin D supplements throughout the year as they may not produce enough through sunlight.

People in institutions who will not receive regular exposure to sunlight have also been advised to take supplements all year.

As well as sunlight, the vitamin is found naturally in a small number of foods including oily fish, red meat, liver and egg yolks and in fortified food like breakfast cereals and fat spreads.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in