Too little of the 'D'

The sunshine vitamin plays a vital role in overall health, but it needs to be in balance

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Vitamin D, known as the 'sunshine vitamin' because sunlight helps our bodies to produce it, is essential for maintaining strong bones and a healthy immune system, as well as keeping muscles and brain cells working. Too little or too much can have adverse effects on your health.

“Vitamin D involves a complex interplay between environmental and individual factors. Either deficiency or overdose of vitamin D can affect overall health, yet understanding individual vitamin D requirements can be complicated,” explains Dr Jay Narainsamy, a specialist physician and endocrinologist at Netcare Park Lane Hospital in Johannesburg.

“Individual factors such as having darker skin, preexisting illnesses, higher body mass index (BMI), cultural aspects and our modern lives' tendency towards more indoor activities may contribute to vitamin D deficiency, even where there is bountiful availability of sunshine in a climate such as ours.

“Most studies on vitamin D deficiency have been conducted in other countries, where the climate, demographic and socioeconomic factors differ from our local context. Data on South African populations is scarce and a lot more complicated to interpret, given the different sun exposures across provinces, different ethnic groups and general lack of recent information,” she explains.

WHY DO OUR BODIES NEED VITAMIN D?