With Public Health England altering the supplementation guidance, vitamin D is a hot topic at the moment! We’ve been receiving lots of questions from customers around dosage, and it appears there is a little misinformation out there about vitamin D supplementation at this time, so we’re going to lay down the latest facts from Public Health England and let you know exactly WHY vitamin D is so important for our health!

Firstly it’s important to start by saying, vitamin D doesn’t prevent anyone getting COVID-19, this isn’t why the guidelines have been changed. Public Health England has extended their vitamin D supplementation guidelines as we’re all spending more time indoors, and might not be getting enough sunlight. So, let’s work our way through what they’ve said!

Public Health England: Vitamin D guidelines 

Public Health England issued new guidelines on vitamin D in 2016 based on the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition’s (SACN) scientific literature review on vitamin D and health. The guidelines were issued due to the essential role vitamin D plays in bone and muscle health and immunity. Since then, they have recommended that during autumn and winter months everyone in the UK should consider vitamin D supplementation equivalent to an average of 10 micrograms.

As we head into autumn and winter, with many of us not being able to get outside, this guidance has now been extended by Public Health England. This means that the majority of people in the UK should consider continuing with a vitamin D supplement, like our Vitamin D Complex. 

The importance of Vitamin D 

Vitamin D is essential for so many processes within the body - it supports us in so many ways! Firstly, it’s integral for strong immunity.  We know that there are vitamin D receptors present on our immune cells, specifically B cells, T cells and antigen-presenting cells. These immunologic cells play a key role in our bodies immune response as they have vitamin D receptor sites, and are all capable of synthesizing active vitamin D. Essentially, this means that our immune cells are constantly on the lookout for vitamin D! It’s for this reason that vitamin D has been shown to modulate the innate and adaptive immune responses, and support our immune system.

Another reason why vitamin D is so important is because it helps to support the regulation of our bone and muscle health as well as supporting and maintaining normal blood calcium levels. If you want to find out more about vitamin D you can head to our blog all about vitamin D here. 

Libby Limon on vitamin D 

We asked nutritionist Libby Limon about vitamin D deficiency and she highlighted exactly why vitamin D is so important, particularly during this time! 

“Vitamin D deficiency is commonplace in the northern hemisphere. Common symptoms are fatigue, low mood and feelings of anxiety. These can often make you feel like you are overwhelmed or unable to deal with everyday stresses.”

Why choose our Vitamin D Complex

We’ve recently updated our vitamin D formulation, and it’s better than EVER! You can find 1000iu of Food Based Vitamin D in each capsule, and to boost absorption we’re now including 75 mcg of vitamin K1 per dose. Vitamin K contributes to the maintenance of bone health and supports healthy blood clotting - together they work synergistically in regulating blood calcium levels. Our bespoke formula doesn’t stop there! To this, we’ve added vitamin-D rich shiitake mushroom, which boosts our formulation providing additional immune support. You can find out more information about our Vitamin D complex here.