In recent years everyone has been talking about vitamins we get from sunlight. Unfortunately we are not getting these in sufficient quantity, as new investigations suggest. So we are amending ongoing discussions about how much vitamin D one should actually take.
Sunlight as the main ingredient
In order to produce vitamin D, our body needs sufficient time in the sun. In the cooler seasons of the year, however, we cannot refuel outdoors in order to achieve a proper vitamin D level. For this reason, it has been recommended for some time to take the sun vitamin in the months from October to May. For those of us who do not spend time outdoors all year round, this also applies to the summer months.
Fivefold amount of vitamin D3 required
Recent studies suggest that the amounts recommended so far are far from meeting the needs. According to the scientists, the dose recommended so far should even be increased fivefold. In concrete terms, this refers to the 20 µg/800 I.E. (international units) per day mentioned by the DACH societies (Germany-Austria-Switzerland): according to many recent international research results, these are far from adequate.
Specialists recommend an intake that depends on your body weight. Values of 50 I.U. per kg body weight are mentioned here, which corresponds to a daily dose of 4,000 I.U. for a person with 80 kg, i.e. 5 times the mentioned amount. Your doctor will be able to help you find the right vitamin D for you.
In the winter months more than 80% of the population is undersupplied with Vitamin D.
The majority are undersupplied in winter
These include a US study by the University of California in Davis, published in the prestigious Journal of Nutrition, which calls for an increase in the vitamin D reference values.
A serum content of 50 to 150 nmol/l 25 hydroxy vitamin D3 is currently regarded as the normal range. In the winter months, however, up to 80 percent of the persons examined fall below the limit value of 50 nmol/l and are therefore considered undersupplied. With the higher limit of 75 nmol/l recommended by experts, this percentage is correspondingly much higher.
Does darker skin require a higher intake?
The researchers’ credo: In order to achieve healthy values, both the body’s own production of vitamin D must be stimulated and the intake through food must be increased. Furthermore, differences in the pigmentation of the skin must be taken into account: The American researchers found that people with stronger skin pigmentation do not produce sufficient vitamin D even when they are in the sun. Accordingly, average values of 42 nmol/l and 24 nmol/l vitamin D were measured in dark-skinned persons with high sun exposure and low exposure to the sun. In light-skinned persons, however, the values were 60 nmol/l for sun worshippers and still 35 nmol/l for stay-at-homes.
In order to achieve sufficient vitamin D values above 75 nmol/l, an additional requirement of approximately 32 µg/1,300 I.U. was calculated for light-skinned persons exposed to the sun and 2,100-3,100 I.U. (corresponding to 52 µg-77 µg) for dark-skinned persons. In order to ensure the optimal availability of the absorbed vitamin D, its biological team player, magnesium, should not be ignored.
Role models from the animal kingdom
A further publication describes how simply the problem of vitamin D supply in the animal kingdom is regulated: The chameleon adjusts the duration of its sunbathing exactly to its vitamin D requirements. In a diet rich in vitamin D, the chameleon is more likely to switch to the shade than in a diet poor in vitamin D. The researchers suspect that the chameleon’s sunbathing time is exactly adapted to its vitamin D requirements. The researchers assume that animals possess special brain receptors for the vitamin, which “prescribe” the right amount of sun for them. Unfortunately, we humans do not have such a valuable control system and remain dependent on science.
