An important milestone was reached recently, when the clock in my car was finally correct again. With the clocks changing and the days becoming shorter, winter and the year end is fast approaching. I admit I quite like this time of year. Bonfire night, everything pumpkin spiced and then onto Christmas. Yes, I am, I’m afraid, one of those people!
The changing seasons can though, have an impact on our health and wellbeing, so here are a few thoughts on how to keep ourselves healthy over the next few months.
‘Here Comes the Sun’
You don’t want to hear me trying to sing along to the Beatles classic, but when ‘it’s been a long cold lonely winter’ we can sometimes forget the positive effects of sunlight. Vitamin D is made when sunlight hits our skin. Of course, we all need to be careful about harmful sun exposure but as a source of Vitamin D the sun is important. We need about 10 micrograms (or 400 Internation Units) of vitamin D daily. During winter months we need to get more of our vitamin D from our diet instead.
The Department of Health and Social Care recommends that adults and children over 4 years should consider taking a daily vitamin D supplement during Autumn and Winter. Of course, there are also dietary sources of Vitamin D such as oily fish, red meat, liver, egg yolks and fortified cereals.
Further information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vitamin-d-for-vulnerable-groups/vitamin-d-and-clinically-extremely-vulnerable-cev-guidance
Your local pharmacist will also be able to advise you, and of course you can speak to us at The Nantwich Clinic too.
Vitamin D and clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) guidance – GOV.UK