do any of you take vit D off your own back.

No, mine, AD Cal 3 has been prescribed because I have osteopaenia. If you do decide to take it, please be careful because vitamin D can react with eg some diuretics. Because I have Macular disease, I can only sit in the sun for 20 minutes x3 a week provided that my eyes are shaded, to get the natural vitamin D.

Yes, I take every day as living in Scotland, at times, we have very short days in winter. If the weather is miserable I don't always go out and therefore miss out on daylight. My daughter lives in Aberdeen and during her pregnancies took prescribed Vit. D. It's also prescribed for babies and children. I think it's essential that the further north you live you should take it. My GP agrees.

I'm the same as Charleygirl, just started on the prescribed Ad cal3 eight weeks ago for the same reason. I didn't take any before as I spend much of my time outside so reckon I get a reasonable dose of vitD anyway

I too am Charleygirl. Here in the north west and I'm sure further north, random blood tests in Jan/Feb evidently show the population to be low in Vitamin D.

Remember that vitamins A,D,E and K are fat soluble, therefore they store in the body. I seem to remember reading about a woman "addicted" to carrot juice (high in vitamin A) who almost killed herself with the amount of stored vitamin A. There was a warning on the veal liver that I buy from Lidl (when they have it in stock, for a very brief period) that one shouldn't eat more than (can't remember!) so much a week.

Vitamins B & C are water soluble, so even if you were to eat (for example) 10 oranges today, you would still need vitamin C tomorrow.

Apparently everyone could do with a supplement of vit D in the winter. We can't store it and there is no way we can get enough in the winter in this neck of the woods.

I take it with calcium. When I remember.

I thought we could store a little of it. How else would people have survived northern winters before vitamin supplements existed?

I don't take vit D supplements. I just make sure I get some from food (animal fats) and from being out of doors with some skin exposed.

I'm not saying that it mightn't be a good idea to take D supplements, only that I don't.

I'm pretty certain (99%) that we can and do store vitamin D! As per post of 18.56.

I take vits D, B6&12, C+lysine, calcium + magnesium.

I take vitamin D with calcium because I have osteoporosis.

You're right phoenix. Just googled and it seems you can and do store some if you get a huge amount. But we are unlikely to be able to store enough to see us through for very long.

Yes, it runs out within weeks if we don't get a booster from either sunlight or supplements.

I wonder whether taking a walk in the sunshine in Winter helps store VitD

I try to walk with the sun on my face if I can when walking in the Winter I figure it can't hurt . I don't really want to take supplements.

I take Vit D during the winter months. I've been advised by new GP to take calcium too (which I do) but no one bothered to suggest Vit D which complements the calcium and helps absorbtion. Don't think our practice is clued up on nutrition etc since my original GP resigned.

Not resigned....she retired b****y iPad at it again.

Yes we do, definitely store it and there is research on submariners to show how levels decline over time. It's the only supplement I take (one capsule of cod liver oil a day) and here is my reasoning:

1. We evolved to make this essential substance in our skin, while walking around in the African sun with no clothes on
2. when European ancestors migrated out of Africa to less sunny climes (and probably started draping themselves in animal skins) they evolved white skin to enable them to make vitamin D more effectively. This evolution was probably pretty swift as rickets affecting the pelvis is a good way of making sure that neither mother nor baby survive.
3. Most of us do not sunbathe much these days - and if we do, in our age group, only our arms and legs maybe. The less skin you expose the less vitamin D you make.
4. Older skin (and darker skin if your heritage is not European) makes vitamin D much less efficiently than younger skin.
5. Cells in the immune system are covered with receptors for vitamin D molecules - why bother having a post box if you don't want any mail?

You have just reminded me to take mine. I keep getting low levels in the winter.

I must go and do some,, shhh!!! housework before I go out to play over lunch.
Shout at me if I post again before evening!

I do now. I've just had some delivered this morning to top up my multivitamin. Just watch, we'll all be bouncing off the ceilings next week!

The blood test that I had done last week apparently shows that I have extremely low VitD levels at the moment so I've collected the prescription ones from our surgery. Must say that I am very surprised as I spend a lot of my time outside. Back in 10 weeks to have bloods taken again and in the meantime lots of sardines, eggs etc. I had thought that my diet was quite good but perhaps not

Yogagran don't know about you, but I don't sunbathe like I did when I was younger. I wear a hat so only arms and, if it is warm enough, legs get a light tan. There were only a couple of days last year when I felt like going out in shorts. Never my torso. Also older skin makes vitamin D more slowly.

New NICE guidelines
https://www.nice.org.uk/news/press-and-media/millions-of-people-at-risk-of-low-vitamin-d-need-better-access-to-supplements-to-protect-health-says-nice

Yoga as we get older we don't always absorb vitamins and minerals as we once did.

And as it says in Jess's link, in the UK from mid-October to the start of April sunlight doesn’t have the correct wavelength to create vitamin D in the skin.

Thanks for that Jess, a very helpful article. Seems as though I might be on these VitD permanently rather than just a short course. You're right about covering up, I invariably wear a hat through the winter too, in the summer I prefer cropped trousers rather than shorts (legs don't look as good as they did!)

Ana Does that mean that wearing my bikini out in the garden isn't doing me any good just yet?