So many Brits feel grey and lethargic during the months of October – March, and so often it is due to lacking the all-important Vitamin D. Lacking vitamin D can have big impacts on our health and wellbeing. Otherwise known as the ‘sunshine vitamin’, Vitamin D is created by the body when Sunlight strikes the skin, which is why so many people lack it during winter. In fact the NHS recommends everyone should take a vitamin D supplement from Oct – Mar. According to a recent study published by professors at Birmingham university up to 1 billion people are believed to suffer from Vitamin D deficiency worldwide! Yikes that’s a lot and that’s why we think Vit Stix are the perfect way to top up your vitamins.

Important for so many reasons, Vitamin D helps build and reshape bones to help strength. It also absorbs calcium and assists with producing protein too. This helps reduce risk of osteoporosis, as it ensures you have a good calcium intake and bone mass. Not to mention the fact that it increases our serotonin levels to make us feel happier. All these reasons are why we have put 50% of your daily vitamin D into every single Vit Stix!

We have compiled the top ways you can boost your intake of vitamin D during these cold winter months.

Get Out

Even brief exposure to the sun can help boost our vitamin D levels. So, our first tip is simple – get yourself outdoors. Using the app dminder is a great way to do this. It gives you optimal times to be in the sun depending on your body, location and time. Go for a walk, or a run or simply just soak it up.  Ideally you want 10-30 minutes of sunlight each day but just 5 minutes will help.

Diet

By making some changes to your diet, you can increase your Vitamin D intake with every mouthful you eat. Oily fish like salmon is awesome, and so are things like mushrooms, egg yolk and fortified foods. Because vitamin D is found almost exclusively in animal products it can be hard for vegetarians and vegans to get enough in their diet, but often non-dairy alternative milks are fortified with extra vitamin D so look out for these.   Check out our blog with 5 of the best foods.

Supplements

Sometimes no matter how hard we try, we need a little helping hand. Around 50% of world population don’t get enough sunlight that’s why Vitamin Supplements are a great way to ensure you are gaining the recommended Vitamin D intake. These prevent you from playing a guessing game of if you’ve had enough. Our personal favourites are Vit Stix which have 50% of your recommended Vitamin D (along with lots of other vitamins), and so two Stix a day are enough to keep you topped up!

Light Therapy

In extreme cases, light therapy could be an option. SAD lamps are great for giving off light similar to that of natural light. If you have to spend a lot of time indoors for work, then it might be a good idea to get a SAD light to boost exposure to synthesised natural light.

Cod Liver Oil

If eating fatty and oily fish isn’t your thing, then you could also opt for a cod liver oil. They can come flavoured so don’t let the name put you off – they’ve come a long way! These ones are great as they come in capsule form and negate any unpleasant tastes that we tend to associate with the stuff!